I’m really looking forward to spending the next four weeks in Israel learning modern Hebrew. This trip to Israel, as an immersion experience in this country, is especially exciting to me for two reasons—one cultural and the other linguistic.

I visited Israel twelve years ago—as a tourist. As a tourist, I spent most of my time with my fellow tourists from the United States; we stayed in hotels for tourists; and we kept to the beaten track for tourists. I didn’t think much about how I was getting to the sites I visited, nor about whose territory I was passing through to get there—I just climbed on the bus at the appointed time and place and let the organizers of the tour think about the logistics of getting from one place to another. It was the first time I had ever been outside the United States–and I was naively inclined to be impressed by just about anything foreign and new.

This visit is altogether different. I’m not living in a hotel for tourists. If I go anywhere outside the gate of our lodgings, the responsibility for getting from one place to the next depends on me and my communicating abilities. I’ll still be an “outsider” in this country, but I won’t be a tourist. I’ll be immersed in this culture as a temporary resident who has to live and travel here on my own.

This time in Israel is also exciting to me for the role it will play in acquiring a language. I’ve studied biblical Hebrew for about five years now. I can read it fairly well with a dictionary. However, my knowledge of biblical Hebrew is basically a passive knowledge—I can recognize forms and words when I see them, but they aren’t on the tip of my tongue…they aren’t something I can actively produce and use. I hope this trip will change that—I’m really excited about acquiring Hebrew as an active ability.

My living quarters are situated between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. From the window of my room I can see the concrete wall that separates Bethlehem and the Palestinian territory only a quarter mile away… I’ve gone into the Old City of Jerusalem a couple of times. There is an Arab bus system and an Israeli bus system – separate from each other, of course. Having any but the most minimal conversation about directions with a native speaker is still difficult—but I’m getting used to the transpo system anyway. In addition to visiting the historical sites around the Old City, we went over into Palestinian Territory to see the Herodion – an ancient palace/fortress of Herod the Great’s on the edge of the Judean wilderness. The Israeli museum also has an excellent collection showing the historical development of settlement in The Land and its connections to the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East.

Regarding Journaling Task 1: I’ve found that the word “גזעי” used to mean something like “cool” – but it’s dropped out of usage for that these days. “חברתי מן” used to mean a “friendly person”–but will get you punched in the face today… (Better be careful what slang you attempt on the street!) My favorite bit of informal language is the phrase “az yalla bye,” which combines Hebrew, Arabic and English into one phrase meaning “goodbye.”

I’d recommend any of the sites mentioned above to future visitors of Israel—especially Beersheba and Tel Arad, as they’re very old, very well-preserved, and aren’t crowded with tourists (doubtless, due to the heat). Any of them demonstrate what an ancient city in The Land looked like. It’s surprising how small they were—especially compared to the vast sprawl of a modern city. The Israelis do a remarkable job with their archeological parks… (Though it’s perhaps worth noting that there’s a sometimes un-subtle concern to connect the political narrative of the modern Israeli nation-state with the ancient past.)

Regarding Journaling Task 2: Over in Tel Aviv there were some social protests during the first week of our stay. Some of the (relatively peaceful) demonstrators were arrested. When I asked about this, concerns were expressed about police “violence” against protests regarding social justice. Demonstrations are technically allowed—so there was uncertainty what had warranted the arrest of non-violent protestors. The protests stemmed from the high rent/cost of living in places like Tel Aviv. One person I talked to about this had lived in Germany, and drew comparisons with living there: relatively speaking, living in Israel is much more expensive; and, although it was felt that a good social system was in place in Israel, the feeling was also expressed that the politicians ought to do more to lower the cost of living. Two things strike me as noteworthy about the social issue and the perspectives expressed on it: first, like the citizens of most westernized countries, there was confidence that the politicians could do something about the social situation. But in common with other westernized countries(?), there’s sympathy for the protest (think the “Occupy” movement), but considerable unease with how the protest is received and handled by the authorities.

One notably entertaining—but also helpful—activity that I did in the evenings was to watch an Israeli sitcom. It’s called “Arab Labors” and is told from the perspective of an Arab Israeli. One of it’s many virtues is that it shows the difficulties of navigating between life in Palestinian and Israeli territories—but it does this without being preachy at all. Plus, once the writers hit their stride (in about the 3rd episode, I’d say), the show is hysterical. Check it out.

On Sunday I volunteered at a soup kitchen in Jerusalem. I spent the whole week prior trying to track down someone in the admin to speak to about coming. The person I was finally able to make arrangements with manifestly did not tell anyone else that I was coming. When I arrived, there a large group of young teenagers working in the main dining room—singing with great enthusiasm to American pop music from the late 90s/early 2000s. The only person in any sort of official capacity was the largish cook—who spoke no English (except for “I don’t speak English”). Our intensive Hebrew course hasn’t been geared toward working in a kitchen or describing the utensils or actions in a kitchen–but the cook and I made do. I chopped a lot of vegetables in the back—while listening to the enthusiastic chatter and singing of the Israeli youth group. Then I ate with the folks who come to the kitchen for lunch. (The conversation with them, in Hebrew, went a little better than the one with the cook.) The lesson I took away: humanitarian work, to be really effective, requires proficiency in the language. No surprise there.

Regarding Journaling Task 4: I’ve had several conversations with people in “minorities” in Israel. One of these was a woman of Russian descent. Israel has experienced several waves of immigration—and the Russians wave was one of the more recent. New immigrant groups get stereotyped in Israel much as they do in America, and the stereotype for the Russians associated them with drinking and drugs—but also with being good at math, art, music. In any case, said the woman, since the Russians aren’t the most recent, the stigma of being the newest goes to others—to the Ethiopian immigrants, who are often looked down upon as uneducated.

I also spoke with a group of Palestinian Christians. Clearly, the life of the Palestinians is difficult in general. But the Christians are stuck between a rock and a hard spot. They can’t move about and work freely in Israeli territory; but even in Palestinian territory they cannot get jobs in the government without family or other connections since the state is Islamic. One young man whom I got to know well has dreams of finishing a Master’s degree in social work. I wonder whether he’ll ever get the opportunity…

Another useful activity was an evening spent in Jerusalem with our two Hebrew instructors. We “toured” several interesting sites – a house museum, the residence of a famous poet, an Ethiopian church, a historic hospital, etc. – in the vicinity of Ben Yehuda St. We (the students) were the tour “guides,” so we researched our assigned sites and prepared a presentation/description of it in Hebrew. Afterwards, our instructors took us to their favorite street restaurant where we enjoyed an evening of pleasant conversation. A very helpful evening as far as modern Hebrew goes.

Regarding Journaling Task 6: I’ve asked several people about their views on America. The opinions expressed were usually positive over-all—but with qualifications. One woman expressed the opinion that Americans as individuals generally come across as optimistic, loud, pleasant people – and that nationally/politically America decides everything for Israel, while Israel can’t do much without America. The U.S. President is viewed favorably. My conversations with Palestinians also revealed some views about America: that it’s a land of optimism and opportunity. Yet there was also the feeling that America is largely silent about what the Palestinians are made to suffer in their political situation…

Broadly speaking, I found little difficulty “adapting” to the local culture. Getting around in the city and buying things in the markets was no great difficulty after the first week. Enough people spoke enough English that if I couldn’t make myself understood in Hebrew they could still help me with whatever I needed.

If there was any “culture shock” at all, it was only due to increasing perplexity as I observed the mutually difficult plights of the Israeli and Palestinian states. The concrete walls that separate the territories, the separate bus systems, and the limited political rights of some –these carry connotations of the Berlin Wall experience, segregation in the American South, and Apartheid in South Africa. I come away utterly perplexed as to what an equitable solution to the social situation would be. Neither side can simply yield and leave and go “back” home.

Since this was my first experience with modern Hebrew, my vocabulary was too small – even after four weeks – to carry on extensive conversations about anything except directions to the market and how much I like orange juice. However, it did serve the basic purpose of giving me the grammatical categories/forms used in everyday conversation. It greatly reinforced my command of the participle forms that are used so extensively in the modern language.

If I am ever able to return to Israel again and continue to work on the language, I think I would try to create for myself a set of basic words used in discourse about a specific political or social topic. Then I’d try to have multiple conversations about that topic, thus reinforcing my command of that vocab, learning by experience how any idioms associated with them are used, and expanding my speaking abilities outward from that specific center. And if I were to volunteer again at a soup kitchen, I’d make sure that I had a ready vocabulary for actions involved in working in a kitchen (“chop,” “dice,” “knife,” etc.)!

I thought that the practice of writing up a description of a site — as we did during the evening in Jerusalem with our instructors – was very helpful. I’d try to do that more often. At this stage of acquiring modern Hebrew, I felt that the time in the class room with patient instructors was more effective than trying to engage people on the street. Watching Israeli television was also very helpful. (Again, the sit com “Arab Labors” was hysterical – I’d recommend it to anybody for it’s wit, as well as for the informative yet comical way that it deals with the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.)

Postcard(s) from Abroad: