GLOSSARY OF A RELIGIOUS JEW
Mezuzah – a piece of parchment in an oblong wooden, metal or plastic case. The parchment contains verses from Deuteronomy, and the case itself is attached diagonally to the doorpost. This means of protection against the penetration of evil spirits will be noticed by a tourist on any door in Israel, including the door of his hotel room.
Menorah – a seven-branched candelabrum, an ancient Jewish symbol of light, faith and hope. A tourist can buy a mezuzah and a menorah in a souvenir shop and take them as a keepsake.
Tzitzit – fringed tassels on a garment that religious Jews wear under their outer clothing. Tzitzit protects a Jew from all evil and, in addition, encourages the observance of Yahweh's commandments.
Tefillin – two cube-shaped boxes with straps, inside which are parchments with religious texts. Tefillin are worn by Jewish men during prayer.
HOLIDAYS
On the seventh day of the week, Shabbat, observant Jews refrain from all work, do not light fire, do not cook food, and do not go farther than the nearest synagogue. On Shabbat, one cannot wipe one's nose; even pressing buttons is considered work, so not everyone will even turn on Banking Offshore on their laptop. Therefore, in the home of a modern Jew, there are clever technical inventions. For example, there are timers that automatically turn lights on and off, and photocells for flushing toilets. Regarding the Sabbath prohibitions, there are voluminous works by Jewish theologians. There are controversial points – whether it is possible to help a sick person (remember the parable of the Good Samaritan), to what extent one may perform work to preserve property, why the performance of marital duty is not considered work, whether a microwave oven is a source of fire – and so on ad infinitum. Shabbat lasts from Friday evening to Saturday evening, and one can only get somewhere by taxi.
On Saturday evening, religious Jews rest in the usual manner. It once happened that the author of the article ended up at the Hainmat Gaader thermal baths on the Golan Heights at this time. Generally, in the north of the country there are not many Orthodox; they are concentrated mainly in the center of Judaic studies and Kabbalah, the city of Tzfat. You can drive all day through Galilee and the Golan and not meet a single Hasid. Imagine my surprise when, entering the baths, I saw no less than two hundred observant Jews splashing in the hydrogen sulfide water. And imagine their surprise when they saw me. Some outsider had come, and with a cross at that. Even ordinary Jews do not go to the baths at such a time. It's not that there is a prohibition; it's just that at other times the baths are mixed – for women and men. On Saturday evening, women are not allowed in with men. And what's the point on a family day off to pay thirty-five shekels – and no women, no drinks, no music! Then something even more surprising came to light – according to their rules, Orthodox Jews, upon seeing a cross, were obliged to immediately leave the baths. But they are also human, and they also paid ten dollars for the right to breathe acrid fumes, bathe in warm, stagnant water, and treat osteochondrosis. In short, it worked out, and we all didn't waste our money.
The Jewish Passover, Pesach ("Festival of Freedom"), is celebrated in honor of the exodus from Egyptian captivity at the end of March to the end of April. During the seven days of Passover, Jews eat nothing leavened and consume the well-known unleavened bread, matzah, which is also known to non-Jews. This symbolizes the highest destiny of the Jewish people as a "pure, unleavened people, alien to moral corruption."
Shavuot is celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover; it is a holiday in memory of the giving of the Torah to the prophet Moses on Mount Sinai seven weeks after the Exodus.
New Year's Day – Rosh Hashanah – is celebrated in September. On New Year, Jews eat apples dipped in honey, gather near a body of water, recite prayers, turn out their pockets and shake bread crumbs and other debris into the water. This shaking is considered liberation from old sins.
The Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur – is observed at the end of September to mid-October. The well-being of the coming year depends on the prayers on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. On these days, synagogues are filled to capacity. Before the Day of Atonement, believers spend ten days in repentance for sins, because on Yom Kippur all people invisibly pass before Yahweh, and he pronounces judgment on each one. On the night before the Day of Atonement, Jews swing a sacrificial offering – a rooster or a hen, depending on the gender of the swinger – over their heads. The meat of the sacrifice is eaten on the night after the holiday.
Sukkot ("Festival of Tabernacles") – the harvest festival – is celebrated in memory of the forty-year wandering of the Jews in the Arabian desert on the way from Egypt to the Promised Land. During the wanderings, the Jews lived in sukkot – tents, hence the name of the holiday. On Sukkot, there should be fifty kinds of fruits of the land of Israel on the table – fruits, nuts, bread.
The joyful holiday of Hanukkah ("Festival of Lights") is celebrated in December in honor of the wholesale extermination by the Jews of a hostile neighboring tribe. On Hanukkah, fried pancakes are eaten.
Tu BiShvat – Tree Planting Day. Throughout the week preceding the holiday, Israelis (Jews and Arabs) plant trees. Seedlings in peat pots are handed out by gardeners. Planting sites are also predetermined. The forests and parks of Israel are the property of the Jewish people. If you are a Jew, then regardless of citizenship, you are the owner of Israeli trees. You can plant trees in Israel, but you cannot break them or pick flowers. The fine even for the most minor offense amounts to hundreds of shekels.
Purim – the most joyful holiday, even more joyful than Hanukkah. On this spring day, processions are held, children dress up in carnival costumes, and adults are allowed once a year to fool around and get drunk, "until they can no longer distinguish between cursing Haman and praising the miraculous deliverance." Who is this Haman? He was an advisor to the Persian king who persuaded the ruler to exterminate all Jews. But Haman did not take into account that the king was married to a Jewish woman, Esther. The king hanged the advisor and cut off his ears, and allowed the Jews to kill any ill-wishers. They took advantage of the right and slaughtered 80,000 Persians in two days. On Purim, it is customary to eat sweet triangular layered pastries – "Haman's ears."
AIRPORTS
Tourists from Ukraine mostly arrive at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. From here it is easy to get to Jerusalem or Netanya. But to Eilat – about six hours' drive with a stop at the Dead Sea. Eilat itself has an airport, and Western tourists, after getting off the plane, can be swimming in the sea within about twenty minutes.
The main thing when departing from Ben Gurion Airport is to arrive early, about two and a half hours, or even three hours in advance – and immediately get in line. Checks for all flights from Israel are long, tedious, and incredibly disorganized. The security service is in no hurry, and delays to flights due to hold-ups at the interview are not uncommon, and in such cases, complaints are not accepted. Don't regret it if you didn't manage to get into the duty-free shop to buy perfume, alcohol, or souvenirs. The range of goods is typical for Israeli stores, and the prices are higher or the same.
LANGUAGE
The official language of Israel is Hebrew. This is the only example in world practice of a dead language returning to everyday life. In the Middle Ages, attempts were made at mass study of Latin, but the people never spoke Latin. Esperanto also did not catch on. Jews today speak a language that their ancestors stopped using two thousand years ago. Many of us, without knowing it, sometimes speak Hebrew. Some words have passed into the Russian language from the Odessa criminal slang. For example, "khalyava" (freebie). Once upon a time, free milk was given out in Odessa schools. "Khalav" in Hebrew means "milk." And the word became a successful synonym for anything free. At eight o'clock in the Odessa prison, a daily inspection of cells and prisoners was conducted. Hence "shmon" ("shmone" – "eight"). Even in the criminal designation for a policeman – "musor" (trash) – originally nothing bad was heard. "Musar" in Hebrew means tradition, order. And the Russian "shabash" (distorted "Shabbat") is not only the end of work but also a "witches' gathering" and a "shameless orgy" (see Dahl's Dictionary).
PHOTOGRAPHY WITH ORTHODOX JEWS
For many tourists, the main exoticism of Israel is Orthodox Jews. Other passersby resemble residents of Kyiv on a hot summer day. But if a Hasid gets into the frame, then when viewing home videos, friends and relatives agree without further explanation: yes, folks, this is Israel.
In Jerusalem, Orthodox Jews live in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and in the Mea Shearim neighborhood. The latter is named after a Torah story in which Isaac plants a measure of wheat and receives a hundredfold harvest. The name has a meaning that defines life here: Orthodox families always have many children. Recently, atheist Jews (who are the majority in Israel) have become seriously concerned about the natural increase in the number of Orthodox – their program of religious reorganization of society is already approved by a fifth of the country's population. In the neighborhoods, "modesty squads" operate. The squad members, strong guys, do not work, do not have fun, but study for 12 hours in religious schools – yeshivas. They expend excess energy on maintaining religious order, and on occasion may beat someone or spray them with hydrochloric acid. A recent case with a Canadian journalist received publicity. Her car was stoned when she carelessly decided to drive through Mea Shearim on Shabbat and even started taking photographs. But this is an extreme, rare case. Much more often, a tourist sees that Orthodox Jews, when someone tries to photograph them, do not protest but turn away or run away.
An observant tourist quickly notices that Orthodox Jews are only seemingly identical. Here is a brief list of differences among the main Orthodox communities in Israel.
Gur Hasidim are named after their former homeland – the Polish voivodeship. They wear long black frock coats and white shirts, trousers tucked into socks in a military style, and on their heads, black hats – truncated bowlers. Like other Orthodox, in cold weather Gur Hasidim may cover themselves with a long dark cloak or coat, but in hot weather, it is not permitted to undress or even remove one's hat.
Belz Hasidim – from the Moldovan city. They are similar in appearance to Gur Hasidim, except that the ribbon with a bow on their hats is on the right, while for Gur Hasidim it is on the left.
Chabad Hasidim – followers of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Their clothing: a jacket, trousers, a soft hat with a depression in the center; the hat is always shifted slightly forward, onto the forehead. Chabad Hasidim are distinguished by particularly long payot and bushy beards.
The Toldot Aharon community was founded in the 1920s in the territory of Israel and is named after the founder of the movement; in translation – "The Life of Aharon." According to Aharon Roth, Jews should dress as their ancestors dressed: in a long robe (blue and green trims on weekdays, gold on Shabbat). They bring the material for their suits from Jordan or buy it in the Old City market from Arab merchants. On ordinary days, Toldot Aharon Jews wear black hats, with a white kippah under the hat. On holidays, the hat is replaced with a shtreimel, or spodik – a tall "boyar" fur hat. This is a kippah trimmed with twelve pieces of different furs, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. Shtreimels, and indeed any hats of Orthodox Jews, are expensive, and therefore in bad weather they are carefully covered with plastic.
Flat hats with wide brims ("flying saucers") are a distinctive feature of the Neturei Karta community (in translation – "Guardians of the Holy Walls"). They wear knee-length trousers and old-fashioned stockings. Members of Neturei Karta believe that Jews should not emigrate to Israel but should live where they live – the Messiah, after his coming, will call them to the land of their ancestors. They deny the existence of the State of Israel. The Jews of the Toldot Aharon and Neturei Karta communities are the most Orthodox of the Orthodox.
"The Association for the Protection of the Rights of Ultra-Orthodox Jews appealed to the High Court of Justice with a demand to begin distributing special gas masks for those who do not shave their beards for religious reasons. The head of the association, Haim Miller, stated that there is clear discrimination against religious citizens of Israel, since they were told that the distribution of special gas masks would begin only after the distribution of ordinary ones is completely finished." (From newspapers).
KOSHER AND TREIF. A SHORT COURSE
According to Jewish law, all edible items are divided by Jews into kosher – permitted, and treif – forbidden. It is permitted to eat the meat of animals slaughtered according to the rules of ritual slaughter. Moreover, the meat can only be from ruminant animals and domestic poultry. The pig is a vile, tasteless creature, unworthy of consumption even in the form of tender escalopes, jellied meat with horseradish, or ham with mustard. The main rule of ritual slaughter is to drain the blood from the animal. Blood is not kosher. Organs containing blood are not consumed: liver cannot be eaten. Not all fish are kosher. Eels, morays, and sturgeon are forbidden. But pike and St. Peter's fish (tilapia), which is found only in the Sea of Galilee, are allowed. Crabs, shrimp, oysters, octopus, and the like are prohibited. It is absolutely forbidden to have meat and dairy dishes on the table at the same time. Usually, Jewish theologians link this prohibition to the biblical commandment: "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk." Unconvincing! Many of us do not eat goat meat at all and have no intention of boiling it in milk, but borscht with marrow bone, seasoned with sour cream, is very much respected. Be that as it may, borscht with sour cream is absolutely not kosher. It would be a violation to eat a cheeseburger after a hamburger, or pelmeni with sour cream. With wine, it's simpler. Any wine is considered kosher if its production is supervised by a religious Jew.
Television constantly airs programs with angry rebukes to supporters of stores with non-kosher products. And indeed, today in Israel, with a good search, you can buy a pack of shrimp and a slab of pork. By the way, conversely, in other countries, with difficulty, you can also find kosher products and kosher restaurants. In Moscow, Israeli wines Carmiel and Yarden and kosher chickens are sold, and in New York, the author of the article was once invited to a restaurant of "Jewish vegetarian kosher cuisine," located on Manhattan's Columbus Circle.
What?! The reader thought they almost understood what kosher means? And then – bam! In the eyes of a layman, all vegetarian cuisine is kosher. Not so! Among lettuce leaves and rice grains, bugs and worm larvae may well be hiding. Eating an insect is an unforgivable sin for a believing Jew. Therefore, in the vegetarian restaurant at Columbus Circle, the preparation of food is supervised by a Chabad Hasid.