[quote_box_right]This girl on my trip was talking about how a family she knew would hold their baby up to a light switch and hoped it flung his arm out to turn lights off and on during Shabbat because…[/quote_box_right]by Ricky Mulvey
In the words of Donald Trump, “I think I am actually a very nice person,” and when you think about it, there is a lot I share with Donald Trump: we both have a tendency to look at the bigger picture, see ISIS as a bunch of bozos, and both claim to have written “The Art of the Deal.”
Anyway, I try to be a nice person. There are times where that is tested.
We had this party in the desert a few nights ago. About twenty people were there, and for the most part everyone was in a great mood. One group leader approached me. He heard I had issues with my French roommates, (he was their guide/group leader/madrich), which was strange because this is something I do not publicize, and definitely do not write about. But I found it tough to say anything nice. I need to get better at that. Maybe you’ve seen examples of that struggle in this blog.
About thirty minutes after that, the cops rolled up to our little shindig. And to paraphrase the rap group N.W.A. “to heck with the police!”
(Even when the Po-po rolls out, you know I’m looking out for pictures for the blog.)
This worried me. I was not doing anything illegal, I think, but I was still worried about going to jail because I don’t speak Hebrew and my phone had a super low battery. Luckily, the cops just cleaned up the beer bottles some people had out, spoke to someone, played with this stick toy thing this girl brought, and then left. If only the good ole US was like this. This interaction made me take back the feelings that bond me and N.W.A.
I was in the desert because I was at this retreat called “Shabbaton” in the small town of Yeruham.
(I think the best way to describe the Shabbaton is the word “mandatory” and “fun” I’ll call it fundatory)
We learned all about Shabbat (or the Sabbath) and talked about being Jewish while sitting in circles for extended periods of time. Some parts of the Shabbaton wer
e okay. But I do believe some parts of this Shabbat thing is absolutely insane. This girl on my trip was talking about how a family she knew would hold their baby up to a light switch and hoped it flung his arm out to turn lights off and on during Shabbat because”
1) Jews on Shabbat are not supposed to do any work, which includes turning on and off lights
2) Young children/babies get a free pass to break the Sabbath rules.
I pretty much shouted “DOES ANYONE ELSE THINK THAT STUFF IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE,” but uhhh, no one really responded.
Stories I heard during this weekend made the trip worthwhile. I spoke to a former paramilitary soldier who told a story about losing his friend in combat a few years ago. They were searching a house in Palestinean territory for a suspect and heard a rustling in the bushes. They did not fire because they wanted to make sure it was not a civilian. It turned out it was an ambush. His friend got shot in the head. His friend got shot because they wanted to be humane. Even with that experience, he said he was happy that Israel tries it’s best to be humane during warfare.
While I am elated to be far away and forget Yerucham, that part will stay with me.
Former Loveland Magazine Sports Editor, Ricky Mulvey is in Tel Aviv for two months working for the newswire, NewsHound, and has allowed us to post his blog reports. He will also be sharing with Loveland Magazine his work at NewsHound. This is Mulvey’s second trip to Israel, his first was two years ago while still in high school.
You can subscribe, and receive Mulvey’s personal dispatches when he publishes, them at Middle of East.
