Marketplaces of ideas and things to eat

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Jerusalem has forgotten that we are a month into autumn; it has been sweltering all week! I have enough reading to do that I could sit and study all day, but there is so much going on! I had to venture out to sample ideas and food.

Living
This week the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, hosted an international conference, bringing together thinkers from all over the world, to explore new ideas and possible directions for Israel and the Jewish people. I finagled an invitation as a Jerusalem Fellow and attended two amazing sessions.

One session was exploring issues of Jewish continuity. One of the panelists was a Chinese man, Youde Fu, who wants to use Jews as a model in China for reclaiming Chinese culture and religion that was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. Yehuda Kurtzer, a young professor at Brandeis, gave a very insightful commentary on the difference between the current generation of leaders and the next, saying that the current generation is very concerned with ethnic particularity (ie in-marriage, who is a Jew, etc) whereas the next generation is more interested in meaning. (I think Hillel folks should pay attention to Prof. Kurtzer.) Tova Hartman was also part of the panel. She is one of the founders of Shira Chadasha, the egalitarian Orthodox congregation where I spent Yom Kippur. Someone once dismissed her by saying, "Zionism comes from God, but feminism is from the goyim." It is such an interesting thing to consider how we decide what is in fact "continuity," what is in and what is out, and who gets to decide.

The closing ceremony included a debate between Ehud Barak (the former Prime Minister and currently Minister of Defense), Tzipi Livni (chairwoman of the Kadima Party, which is currently the opposition party) and Eli Yishai (Minister of the Interior and chairman of the Shas party, an ultra-Orthodox Sefardic party). Each one was asked to present a vision of Israel for the year 2020 and then address issues such as reform of the political system and the role of Reform and Conservative Jews in the Diaspora in shaping Israeli policy. The three come from such different political perspectives and all three are articulate and powerful speakers. The content of their speeches wasn't surprising to anyone who knows the ins and outs of Israeli politics and the audience cheered and booed - also not surprising. I was struck with how Livni and Barak expressed almost a kind of wistfulness in wanting all Jews to be proud of Israel. Shimon Peres closed the discussion and it was clear that everyone palpably felt the honor of being in the presence of Israel's greatest living senior statesman.

After all these interesting ideas, I went to Machaneh Yehudah this morning with my friend Esther. This is the huge mostly outdoor market where you can get anything from tomatoes and figs to fish to rugeleh and poppy seed rolls to pots and brooms to shoes and scarves for the lowest prices in the city. It is a crowded, insanely colorful, noisy, happy place. It is also getting more and more trendy; there are now little espresso bars and ceramic studios and designer clothes shops tucked in between the spice stalls and butchers. Esther told me that the old-timers are happy about the new fancy shops - it brings everyone more business!

Learning
I have been hard at work preparing for my first project workshop which will be next week. We each have three opportunities to present our work to the other Fellows and Mandel faculty. This first one is "only" an hour and a half. I have been reading to explore how to think better about the connection between social justice and spirituality. My first step, I think, is to tentatively move from using the word "spirituality" to using the word "contemplation." "Contemplation" is a little more specific (but not too narrow) and doesn't have the same "woo-woo" connotations as "spirituality." It turns out there is quite a literature related to social justice and contemplation from sources as wide-ranging as philosophers such as Simone Weil and Emmanuel Levinas, to studies from various foundations. I am looking forward to hearing from my classmates; I think some of them will have very different ideas! Wish me luck!

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Photos

Machaneh Yehuda
All different kinds of olive! You can also get hummus, various salads, stuffed grape leaves, fried chicken strips with sesame in the breading, and much, much more.

Challah comes in crates
The best challahs (Shabbat bread) are from the bakeries, of course, but these are pretty tasty too.

Veggies
It is astonishing how much less expensive the produce is at the shuk (outdoor market) compared to the grocery store.

Nuts, dried fruit, candy
More Whole Foods in approach, more Trader Joe's in price.

Comments

[lori bolotin]

I get hungry everytime I read your blog entries with all of the food photos! Good luck with your presentation.

[Julie]

I found your blog!
Lisa, that is so awesome that you were able to be at that conference. I wish I could have heard all of them in person. Your photos are great - It is making me hungry! Next time you see Danny, please give him a hug for me.

[Jen]

Lisa--I LOVE your market pics! I am kind of obsessed w/food markets, and have a dream of one day making a book highlighting markets from all over the world. I think they're so informative about a culture--what types of foods are grown in the region, what people eat, what they value, and how people come together to socialize. It makes me want to come to Israel even more! Eat some fresh figs for me, please, and some of those sesame-breaded chicken strips! Mmmmm....

[Nancy Nevin]

From San Diego
Lisa: My husband, Alan, is sharing your blogs with me and I am truly enjoying your comments and photos. I can "hear" your enthusisam come through in your written words. Interesting to hear about contemplation rather than spirituality. I will ponder that. And I will ponder these photos of the beautiful produce selection at Mechaneh Yehudah. B'Shalom, Nancy