Day 31 - Generations

Day 31 - Monday 14 June 2010

Today was the first day of the Mizrachi world congress, before the World Zionist Congress. I have some great pictures of the heads of Mizrachi Israel Political Parties, and all the delegates and some fantastic images of the sunset over Jerusalem from the Guest house at Bayit Ve'Gan where today's conference was held..

But beside all that, for me this image was the best for the day and hold a special message.

In the photo is Kurt Rothschild, the President of World Mizrachi, speaking to Solly Sacks, the Director General of World Mizrachi. The image that unfolded infront of me was that of generational continuity. Here was an elderly man, someone who's stories we heard throughout the week were inspiring and incredible, and still in his older years, manages to fly half way across the world to attend and represent the movement he holds so dear. And Solly, an immigrant himself, who runs the worldwide movement that I hold strong values and allegiance towards, representing the continuation of the baton - that one day he will be the older man passing on words or wisdom to the future generation.

To me, this was what the modern Zionsim is all about. The age old saying of 'you must know your history to be able to forge your future' really rings true. The messages, lessons, successes and failures of past generations must be passed on so that we now, in this current generation and towards the future can continue to bring about change and a secure future for the entire Jewish people.

Made me smile seeing it happen.. =)

Day 30 - Modern Zionism?

After yet again another crazy shift at work in the morning (crazy from the respect of I'd been working every day night/morning since Thursday) I received a call from the Lishkat Giyus (army drafting office) to come in for a meeting.

Being Israel, they asked for it to be 8am on Monday morning, which I couldn't do, his next response then was, 'OK, can you make it by 5pm today?' I look at my watch, 3.10PM, 'Sure thing' I tell him, 'See you soon.'

Luckily I was finishing work then anyway, so ran home to get changed and scoffed down an awesome Baba felafel on the way home (highly recommended!)

The meeting took all of 15 minutes, but it meant that I now am not having to wait a year for the process to start. And B"H I have my first test and all the medical checks in a month!

I wanted to take a photo of the Lishkat Giyus entrance sign, but wasn't allowed for security reasons. Funnily enough, this image was directly over the road and made me start thinking.

Day 30 - Sunday 13 June 2010

Apart from the fact that I was to be attending my first Zionist Congress starting on Monday, this next part of the graffiti art series evoked some thoughts. Roughly translated it reads:

"Zionism is a plague of death"

Now, this could have been done by an activist from the far left, or quite possibly an Arab Israeli citizen or a Palestinian - the main thing was that it was specifically tagged on a mail box directly opposite the headquarters for the army in Jerusalem.

IT makes one think, is the Zionism of today, what we have turned Zionism into, merely being seen once again as the days of the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' when Jews were hated for trying to 'take over the world'? Or is it that in today's modern world, people cannot differentiate between Zionism, Israel, Jew and all become intermingled into one big ball of 'something to be hated by the world.'

I don't for one second believe any of this, from the graffiti art to the thoughts above; but to be a Zionist in this modern world, to be a citizen in the modern world, one needs to think. We are in an age, far after the original enlightenment. An age where we are charged with the somewhat daunting task of having to think. Being open minded and able to question, answer and reason what we believe in and why we believe in it are very important values that we should cherish..

I'm going to call it quits here, because, as I'm doing this a week late, this is starting to verge on another discussion I will be having, come Day 34's photo.

Also, we went tonight to the Australia VS Germany match - from the highlight of wandering the streets in Aussie gear to the feeling of torn hearts at the hands of the Germans some 90 minutes later..It was a sad night..

Hope this wasn't too boring and just keep smiling =)

Day 25 - Keep Dreaming

So I was thinking, in doing a series on Graffiti art, I'll also do a series on bumper stickers! There will be more to come as I see them..

For all those who were lovers of the famous Dag Nachash song, 'Shirat HaStickerim', the bumper stickers really exist and are ever changing - here's a nice one I saw this morning, commemorating 150 years of the birth of Herzl. Something that I'm sure will be touched on at next weeks Zionist Congress..

This sticker reads: "Still today, it [zionism] is no dream.
To believe, to act, to change!"

A very pertinent message to all..

Day 25 - Tuesday 8 June 2010

Keep Smiling =)