Sulha peace gathering

this past week I spent at a peace gathering with over 1000 Israelis and Palestinians. It almost brings me to tears just thinking and writing about this experience. I heard some of the most horrifying stories of loss and suffering from both sides of the conflict, things that you hear about on the radio but cannot really conceive of in reality. A group of neighborhood children killed in senseless cross fire, a mother who lost both of her sons on the same day, a son whose father lost both of his legs and then committed suicide, a man who saw three of his brothers stalked and killed within a month. To see these victims looking for peace, not as an ideal, but as an act of desparation was the most beautifulthing that I have ever seen. 

We ate meals together, slept together every night on thin foam mattresses in 200 person tents, shared arabic melodies and jewish songs, danced arm over arm for hours every night, taught each other arabic, hebrew, and english, and survived intense heat each day.

I am at a loss for words, honestly. I am at the same time horrifyed by the ugliness of humankind, and inspired by thecourage these people have to come together. Their ability to overcome intense lifelong fears, fears ingrained by ignorant societial understandings,  government controlled media, and terrifying experiences with war, and reach across the barbed wire electric fence brick wall to say shalom/salaam/peace was beyond amazement.

 

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Other happenings the last three weeks:

Got my bag, passport, poetry journal, and peruvian flute stolen in Jerusalem. Not so important--nothing I can't live without! Though I would have rather lost my ipod/camera/wallet because they are more replaceable. Gave my suitcase, most of my clothes, and shoes to charity and sent my valuables home. Camped for a night on the Jordan river with Arab-Israelis, which included an interrogation from the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) that ended peacefully baruch Hashem (thank God). Three crazy nights at an adrenaline rush klezmer festival in the ancient city of Tsfat. Every street packed, 9 stages, jams on every corner, and dancing until my sandal broke in another place (a shoe mendor fixed it somewhat). A mini-rainbow gathering in the valley of the goddess for the lunar eclipse. Had countless hours of conversation only in Hebrew, ironically mostly with Arabs who didn't know any English. Slept on the bare earth every night the past two weeks. Got better at making a fire wherever I was and cooking vegetables in it. Perhaps did not always smell so rosy . . . but certainly enjoying showers when available. Missing my family and friends, while also getting excited to go to India September 18th!

 

Shalom v'ahava lekulam (peace and love to everyone),

Lev

shedding skin

I have been shedding skin everywhere I go. One of my aspirations for this trip was to free myself from material possessions. For a while I felt a little frustrated that I couldn't mentally let go of having money, clothes, electronics, etc. Tel Aviv was somewhat of a miserable lonely experience--I thought I could stay with friends but that didn't work out, and in general it is just like a modern, shallow, Western European city, except without any fascinating history. 

In addition, the youth hostels there are rediculously expensive. So after a few days in one of them I decided to put my bags in a locker and sleep on the beach. I stopped taking any money out and when I needed food I played violin in the street. I realized that, though this new found independence felt amazing, I needed to get out of Tel Aviv. I dropped the Hebrew class I was taking before committing to it, bought a teach yourself book instead, and hitch hiked north. 

I got picked up by these hippie rainbow guys who run tea shops at festivals and parties. After working, and playing music with them for a few days at this incredible Israeli dance festival, I went on ahead to Zfat to take a free course on Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) on the campus of the organization I worked for at the beginning of the summer. There I learned that my last name is a combination of lev=meaning heart in Hebrew, and "enter;" that I was born the morning of the first day of passover, the Jewish holiday celebrating freedom; I learned the uplifting power of eliminating negative thoughts and actions from my life, and I realized that music is the highest expression of my soul, and that my purpose in life is to share this incredible gift and try to achieve this level of spirituality in all aspects of my life.

Tomorrow I am leaving my suitcase and most of my stuff and hitching to a student community in the desert outside of Jerusalem to meet other people I met hitch hiking, but who knows if that's where I'll end up. . . 
 

I cannot tell you how good it feels to be freeeee!

Other activities in the last couple weeks: learning to read, write, speak, and understand hebrew (albeit slowly), cooking all my meals, and watching amazing sunsets.

So, I think I may be traveling for long time. A ticket to India is unbelievably cheap from Amman, Jordan. I think I'll hit that up in a month or two.

 

Shalom v'ahava,

Lev