Bees Borekas and Bibi

There is a great deal of discussion in today’s news regarding the recent conciliation between Israel and Turkey. Behind the news is the fact that the agreement is part of a process that dates back to the days of the old testament.

The ancient Israelites were known to have imported honeybees from what is modern-day Turkey. A team of Israeli archaeologists recently found thirty intact hives made of straw and unbaked clay, with evidence that there had been over 100-200 more, on the site of the joint Israelite-Canaanite city of Tel Rehov. According to some evidence, the bees were probably imported from the region after the locals proved easier to handle than the Israeli bees, which had proved to be extremely aggressive.
The history of the Jews in Turkey encompasses 2,400 years. There have been Jewish communities in Asia since at least the 5th century BCE, and many Spanish and Portuguese Jews expelled from Spain were welcomed into the Ottoman Empire in the late 15th century. Despite emigration during the 20th century, modern-day Turkey only has  a small Jewish population. I have several friends in Haifa who immigrated to Israel from Turkey at various times since 1948.

Turkey was the first Muslim country to  recognize the State of Israel in 1948. Turkey and Israel have closely cooperated militarily and economically. The formal diplomatic relations between the nations has seen many ups and downs. However, there is a strong social-cultural bond between the peoples that continues to thrive and even strengthen.

I write this post at a Turkish café in the port area of my home city of Haifa. The “Namal” is a bustling area with ships both commercial and passenger bound for their destinations throughout the world. The owner of the café immigrated to Haifa from Turkey in 1970. We talked about the massage energy discoveries and proposed energy pipeline to connect the nations of this region. Eli still speaks the ancient language of Ladino which he learned in “The Old Country”. We enjoyed my favorite Turkish contribution to Israel  borekas and a  strong cup of sweet Turkish coffee.

Borekas are a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as phyllo (or yufka). It can be filled with cheese, often feta, sirene or kaşar; minced meat, or vegetables. It was most probably invented in what is now Modern Turkey, in the Anatolian Provinces of the Ottoman Empire in its early era, to become a popular element of Ottoman cuisine. A börek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as individual pastries. The top of the börek is often sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Israel and Turkey trumpeted their recent agreement to restore full diplomatic ties after a six-year hiatus, with the Israelis welcoming the economic benefits and the Turkish emphasizing the easing of the embargo on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and its humane benefits. Many people believe that Turkey could serve to bridge the gap between Israel and the Palestinians. We were discussing this at my Talmud group this week, my teacher Brume made the statement that any negotiations that may have a positive impact are worth the effort.

Speaking to reporters in Rome after meeting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi} Netanyahu said the agreement would boost Israel’s economy through natural-gas exports and help maintain the country’s long-term security. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the deal would allow his country to send humanitarian aid to Gaza with plans to build a 200 bed hospital, new power plants, residential buildings and other infrastructure. Mr. Kerry welcomed the deal. “It’s a positive step we wanted,” he said. “We hope it’s the beginning of others.”

How will this agreement affect my city of Haifa and the region? My neighbor Carlos is looking forward to increased prosperity as Haifa is located just east of the energy deposits He is a cab driver and expects increased trade as is my other neighbor Simon who a construction foreman. With the expected influx of foreign workers, this can only strengthen the economy and bring the benefits associated with this to my home town.

The hope that one day people in this region will live together in peace is widely discussed in the media. Conflict, very sadly, has been the nature of humanity since the beginning of time. Will political leaders and agreements bring Shalom? I have no idea. My strong conviction is that the improvement of social, cultural, and spiritual bonds between nations holds the best answer. Food of course is the universal peacemaker. I myself, am looking to more Turkish restaurants!

New Hope for Peace in Israel/Palestine?

The horrors of war cannot be described strictly from the aspect of pure physical suffering. How can you ever truly describe in world the loss of a child due to a bomb strike or a parent as the result of terrorism? Tragically, the people of Israel and Palestine have endured more than sixty five years of warfare. The struggle for the control of Palestine started long before the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.  One of the saddest parts of this conflict is that both sides have been the victims of injustices from outside of the region. Centuries of foreign conquerors and political exploitation have brought misery to Jews, Muslims, Christians and Druze in this part of the world.

Israelis and Palestinians both are fighting for their right to self-determination and security. The constant fear of an imminent outbreak of fighting, children sleeping in safe shelters, parents unable to work and support their families, and fearing for the safety of friends and loved ones has been a way of life in this region for decades. Hopefully, this current round of talks will produce movement toward peace.

I was honored to be chosen by The Focolare, the largest Catholic outreach movement in the world to write an Israeli perspective on the recent fighting with Gaza.

This current round of fighting in the south has been very depressing because of the fact that it had to happen. There has been no political way of getting the Hamas terrorists to stop firing explosives at our civilians.

This, tragically, has been the history of life in Israel since the Jewish people returned to their ancestral homeland in 1948. Many of my friends and neighbors have fought in several wars. Many of them spent their early childhood sleeping in bomb shelters.

I am particularly saddened by the fact that I know many Palestinians through interfaith activities.

Hopefully by the time the fighting ends there will be some important changes in our lives in both Israel and the Palestinian territories. Most of us yearn for the day when the people who have been enduring such rocket fire will be able to live normal lives. The missile attacks have spread from the south to much of Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Citizens throughout Israel live in constant fear of missile and terrorist attacks.

Our friends and neighbors in the Palestinian territories are suffering from our need to defend our right to exist. We are all saddened by the deaths and injuries of everyone on both sides of this battle.

We pray that a ground war be avoided. However, no one knows which way this engagement will turn. We are bracing ourselves for the worst, yet still hoping for the best.

Defeat in this region is not an option for Jews. The greatest hope is for a political settlement. Peace treaties will surely involve compromise. Peace will allow our children and grandchildren and their grandchildren to live without fear of being bombed. They will attend their schools safely, without the need for air raid sirens and bomb shelters. We would rejoice to see our Palestinian friends and neighbors live in peace and dignity with us. I am convinced that most Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze citizens in our region yearn for the fighting to end.

Until that day, we in Israel do not despair of the situation, and we make the best of what has been, until now, a satisfying and fulfilling life within the shadow and pain of the constant state of military engagement with many enemies.

Haifa Israel is The City of Peaceful Coexistence

This current round of battling in our South has been depressing in that it had to begin; there has not been any political way of getting the Hamas to stop firing explosives at our civilians. This tragically has been the history of life in Israel since the Jewish people returned to our ancestral homeland in 1948. Many of my friends and neighbors have fought in several wars. Many of them spent their early childhoods sleeping in bomb shelters. Hopefully, by the time it ends, there will be some important changes in the way of life here and in the Palestinian territories. Hopefully, the people who have been enduring such rocket fire will be able to live normal lives. The missile attacks have spread from the south to much of Israel including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. We yearn for the day that our Palestinian friends and neighbors will no longer suffer as the result of our need to defend our nation. We are all saddened by the deaths and injuries of everyone on both sides of this battle. It is a shame that the assassination of the Gaza Chief of Military staff became necessary. He had the blood of Israeli men, women, and children on his hands. He believed in terrorism and mass murder. He called for the destruction of our nation. Defeat in this region is not an option for us Jews, even though clear-cut winning/victory is also often not an option. The greatest hope is for a political settlement. Peace treaties will surely involve compromise. Settling the feuds will feel like a victory of sorts for all sides, and peace will allow our children and grandchildren and their grandchildren to live without fear of being bombed. They will attend their schools safely, without the need for air raid sirens and bomb shelters. Yet, there is hope for peace for the people in our region. I am blessed to live in Haifa, which is the city of peaceful co-existence. There is a popular expression in Israel: “In JERUSALEM people pray, in HAIFA they work, in TEL AVIV they have fun”. Haifa gives the impression of a world light-years away from the religiosity of Jerusalem and the skyscrapers of Tel Aviv.  Here everything is different; the city is positioned on top of a magnificent bay, and although the typical white stone that is characteristic of the whole country prevails, the buildings and skyscrapers have a variety of styles, and the port is busy with bustling commerce. The many industries in the area are mainly concentrated in the so called Krayot, surrounding villages. The city is dotted with gardens. The most prominent is at the world center of the Baha’i religion, with the tombs of the Bab (Mirza Muhammad Ali) and Abbas Efendi, son and successor of the founder of the faith, Bahá’u’lláh. The presence of the Baha’i, for so long persecuted in various Middle East countries, is evidence of the tolerant social fabric of this city. Haifa has a multiethnic and multi-religious population of 260,000, with a Jewish prevalence (91%). The well-integrated Arab minority is Christian (4.5%), Muslim (3.5%) and Druze (1%). Road signs in Cyrillic, alongside Hebrew, Arabic and English, are signs of the extensive Russian community here (25%). In the past, peaceful coexistence, however, could not be taken for granted. Here too, in fact, the birth of the State of Israel was marked by tensions and blood. Haifa’s port became the arrival site of thousands of Jewish immigrants after World War II and the departure port for the Arabs fleeing during the 1947–48 Arab-Israeli war. Clashes between Arabs and Jewish paramilitary groups led to numerous casualties on both sides. Over the years, many worked at rebuilding this social harmony and religious tolerance that has very ancient roots. Haifa, in act, is built on the slopes and foot of Mount Carmel, where according to tradition the prophet Elijah lived. A cave called Elijah’s Grotto is inside a Carmelite monastery and is venerated by Jewish, Christian and Muslim pilgrims. . The effort to integrate social, cultural, and religious identity in an area with a high risk of conflict has warranted the continued commitment of all the groups present in the area to administer it. The civic and religious communities both have a decisive role. I have been blessed to participate in some of the efforts to maintain and even improve the harmony between faiths and cultures in Haifa. Each month for the past five years I have participated in a joint study session promoted by the Catholic Focolare. Rabbi Edgar Nof developed this activity within the Jewish community. The Focolare does a myriad of spiritual, cultural, social, and economic programs worldwide- based on their primary tenet "Unity for All". The members of the Focolare live by the golden rule "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." We study each other's faiths with the goal of understanding not changing each others views and values. We have hosted and promoted an interfaith Choir performance which took part in a four day interfaith spiritual retreat at Kibbutz Nes Ammim in the Galilee. The event was done in the summers of 2009 and 2010. Jews, Christians, and Muslims from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian border took part in the retreat took part in a four day interfaith spiritual retreat at Kibbutz Nes Ammim in the Galilee. The event was done in the summers of 2009 and 2010. Jews, Christians, and Muslims from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian border took part in the retreat. We studied each others holy books, prayed together, and enjoyed meeting participants from dozens of countries. Our only real source of contention was the nature of the cuisine! We were the first Jewish participants in this convention in the history of Israel-Palestine. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DaJoxj63Es‎ We also sent a delegation to the world renowned Run4Unity. It was held for the first time ever in Haifa in the year 2008. Youth from Israel-Palestine participated in a variety of sports activities held at Haifa's Carmel Beach. Several hundred youth from Israel and Palestine shared this activity without contention. Jewish, Christian, and Muslim young people participated. The last event was held in Caesarea in May of this year. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jhF6oRrbRU‎ My favorite interfaith experience took place in November of 2009. We joined our friends from the local Muslim Ahmadiyya School in Haifa to host a youth "Soccer for Peace" program at their school in the Cababir part of Haifa. Jewish youth from Temple Or Hadash played soccer with the Ahmadi team from Cababir in a tournament of a three game event. The Ahmadiyya are peaceful followers of Islam. They have more than one hundred million followers in the world. Many live in Indonesia, Pakistan and England. . Our team coach was Timothy Crowe, a Southern Baptist envoy to Israel from Dallas Texas. The kids enjoyed the beautiful Haifa fall weather, and a feast of cookies, cakes, pizza and soft drinks that followed the games. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPEumZTPUcI‎ I am writing this post while sitting at The Ego Cafe in the world famous Dan Panorama Hotel and mall. The cafe is owned by Hannah whose family immigrated to Israel from Poland in 1948. The restaurant on the second floor of the center is managed by Muad who is a Muslim and my friend. On my way home I will stop to buy groceries at our local Macolet or quick stop grocery store. The owners are Christian Arabs who were born and raised in Haifa.  I am looking forward to celebrating Hanukkah with my Focolare friends as has been the case for the past five years. Joint celebrations of the holidays are common in Haifa. We will share Christmas together and plan activities for the coming year to bring harmony between the faiths in Haifa and throughout the region.