His story: He came here in pre-war 1973 from New York. He fought in two wars: "If I knew then what I know now - that we'd still be fighting this war - I probably wouldn't have put down roots here." His three daughters are very committed to the State - one works here, one is doing her army service (on a leadership track) and the other is 15 and goes to the Jerusalem High School for the Arts (right now she's in the States with an international NFTY (Reform Youth) gathering).
He confirmed what we can see walking around the city: Jerusalem gets poorer and poorer as the ultra-religious are taking over, there's no industry and nothing to draw the revenue-producing secular; schools are shutting down and city services are shrinking rapidly. The secular, young and upwardly-mobile are moving out in droves. Interestingly, this high-speed light rail system they're constructing to "revitalize the city" will, he believes, be the final stake through the heart of the city: those who work here will move out to Modi'in (Remember the Chanukah story? Modi'in has gone from Maccabee territory to yuppie-ville) or other suburban communities and just commute in and out. Jerusalem is basically becoming an ultra-Orthodox inner city - a permanently dependent welfare state.
He directs resource development for an organization called Sikkuy: The Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality. They fight for equal rights for Israeli Jews and Arabs. He anticipates a major civil war as the systemically disenfranchised Israeli Arabs become a larger demographic. Apparently, the country's health care system is fully integrated as Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews work equally, side-by-side. He feels there is everything to gain by expanding this model into the society-at-large.
Meanwhile, I will work to stay focused on happily soaking up the culture and tradition of this historic and spiritual city as a clueless American tourist.
this reminded me of a friend who was working on a collective israeli farm in about 1951. he came back to the states, got drafted, and said u.s. army life was a piece of cake compared to israeli farm life.
ReplyDeleteYou know this seems to be happening in so many world cities, even if not religion but just economics- London, Venice, et cetera the really great parts of the city are too pricey (or here too Frum) to encourage the vital vibrancy of dynamism and diversity. It's a shame.
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