It Shouldn't be normal...

It’s scary how anything we do, if experienced enough times, could become just another episode on the forever-cycling story of life. To me, the very fact that an ER doctor or an OBGYN can call death and birth "normal," shows us we must announce in response, “it shouldn't be.” it should be as if every moment we witness a calamity, a rocket, a rape, a suicide, or any act of discrimination, that we cry out and remind our fellow “it should not be normal.” We must only state this one truth, because with it, the spell is broken, and justice will only grow uneasy once we all call out…

#ItShouldn’tBeNormal.

 It shouldn’t be normal that there were 24,923 reported cases of rape in India in 2012. (National Crimes Record Bureau, 2012).

It shouldn’t be normal that women, children and infants (kidnapped, purchased or orphaned) are objectified and under the viscous trafficking machine, and not seen as a tree with potential for fruits, but as tool to produce the most profit (WSJ, 2012).  

         

It shouldn’t be normal that 269.3 million people in India alone live below the poverty line with nothing to own but the clothes on their back, and the change in their pocket (Planning Commission, 2012).

It shouldn’t be normal that there are over 12,000,000 people living in the slums of Mumbai, where a child dies every day (World Bank, 2006).

It shouldn’t be normal that 626 million people use the bathroom in public; one can observe literally miles of human feces along the road. (UNICEF, 2008).

It shouldn’t be normal that 78,000,000 people go to sleep without shelter, and are often exposed to unsafe, and unsanitary conditions (slumdogs.org, 2011).

It shouldn’t be normal that the cashier points to the street when asking him if he has a garbage.

It shouldn’t be, but it is.

Protective Edge-Muslims and Jews: A Bow Shot Away

“And she (Sarah) said to Abraham, divorce yourself from this women, and her son (Ishmael): for this woman shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac. And the thing was very bad in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son (Ishmael). And God said to Abraham, do not let this be bad in your eyes because of the boy, and because of your bondwoman; in all that she, Sarah, said to you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac shall your offspring be called from you. And also the son of the bondwoman (Ishmael) I will make into a nation because he is your offspring…and she went (Ishmael’s mother), and sat down over a bow-shot-far away from him (Ishmael) ; she said let me not look at the death of the child; and she sat opposite him, and she raised her voice and she wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar (Ishmael’s mother)...arise, lift up the boy, and hold him strong in your hand: for a great nation will I make of him.” (Genesis 21:4-18).

At 7:40 every morning the children of the E.E.E Sassoon and Sir J. Sassoon schools gather in the courtyard to chant the morning songs and anthems in the compound’s courtyard. There are nearly 5000 students enrolled of which 95% are Muslim. A space that once echoed with the Shabbat songs, and holiday communal meals, has now become a story of the Jews, and a present reality for the Muslims living in Byculla, Mumbai.

Muslim woman comes to attend to her children in the E.E.E Sassoon High School, just across from my window.

The Magen David Synagogue is open daily from 8:45-6PM, and is guarded 24/7 by nearly a dozen Indian soldiers. In this picture, one will notice the children of Sir. J. Sassoon school being picked up by caregivers and/or parents.

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Of the remaining 5% that are not Muslim at the school, there are Hindu, Jain, and yes, Jewish students. There are four families, ten Jewish children, in attendance at Sir J. Sassoon School. (located at the entrance to the compound, while E.E.E Sassoon school located at the far end of the compound) Sharon and Sharona, send their three girls Teferet, Tehillah and Emunah to the school.  As I spend more time with their family, on Shabbat and late-night tea and musical gatherings, I have learned they feel quite safe and welcomed by the school and believe they are accepted for their Jewish practices and beliefs. Sharon says its safe, and believes that one should still be careful. Sharona says her friends from school understood her dietary restrictions and that they occosanially laugh about it with each other. When walking with Sharon after Saturday morning prayers, with smiles he greets the locals he knows. With “faith in HaShem” as Sharon puts it, his family feels blessed and safe in the nearly all Muslim community of Byculla… and the words of King David ring in their walls:

“Because I have heard the whispers of many, terror on every side, while they join to counsel against me; planning to take away my life. But as for me, to you I trust, HaShem; I have said you are my God (Psalms 14:15).”

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It is Ramadan now. The nights are packed with street-food vendors because of the breakfast, the call to prayers can be heard from my bedroom window, and decorum’s of men praying in white garb can be found through all the hours of the night at different street corners. As a foreigner and a undercover orthodox Jew, I cannot help but think back home to my childhood community of Monsey, NY  around the high holiday season and feel like I am somewhere between West Maple and Voila. I think to myself: If only I can get a little closer, I may hear Yiddish in a India accent…maybe.

Since being in India I have had many conversations with local Muslims around Islam and religion. Once or twice I revealed my identity (not to locals but in other areas of India) and have found our conversations stimulating and spiritually arousing. I look to brother Yishmael and I am saddened by our arrow-shot distance and closeness, but I still attempt to connect, and I do.

But then my heart reminds me of Zion, my prayers get intermingled with the saddening state in which my people must live; helplessly I must acknowledge the reality is not as fancily fit, and there are those who will do anything to see me at the bottomless abyss of the Mediterranean Sea.

In India, After the Pakistani-terrorist attacks in 2008, all security at Jewish institutions have increased.

The Thane (pr. Ta-nay) Synagogue also has constant surveillance and Indian soldiers with fire-arms.

Anti-Semetic and/or anti-Israel activities are found all around Mumbai and greater India. Just Saturday a Muslim boy was killed during an Anti Israel rally in Kashmir, India. Ramadan, the death of a influential Muslim leader’s family member, and the recent escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict has caused a wave of concern for the safety of Jews around the world, including India, but as any, life must go on, and we must not be afraid of the meditations of our enemies, and must continue to fight for justice and truth, along side the never ending battle for our right to existence and freedom.

The war in Israel, the murdered youth, the hundreds of casualties and the media’s ridiculous need to paint each side not as people who are hungry for something but as ravenous dogs who will hunt until satiated, I cant help but feel different about my neighbors here. I cant help but walk around with questions…

Why does this need to be the way our peoples relate?

Don’t we share the values of Abraham!?

Why do our peoples need to be seen by the world as the source of disaster and destruction?

I do not need the sources of praise that Maimonides mentions to appreciate this great people, I survey the streets of Byculla to do so. But at the same moment I question what the Almighty has in store for our peoples. I respect you brother Ahmed, but you believe that the covenant of our God to my people is no more, you have turned against me, but I I will not turn against you, for indeed “God was with the boy (Ishmael), and he grew; and dwelt in the wilderness” and I hope God continues to be. But I still can only ask “why?”

Why did he (Ishmael) have to turn away from peace and “become an archer (Genesis 21:20)?”why do bow-shots of missiles need to be the way in which you call to your brother? Why threaten those who simply want to live without numbers on their arms, in peace?

The Protective Edge for All

Fortunately, during the last 70+ years, the Jewish people, began the return, the return of all Jews to their city Jerusalem, to Zion. From the far corners of the earth communities began to leave their haven for centuries, we were gathered, and the new age of the Jewish nation began. Protective Edge is not a story of Chamas and Israel, but the story of Israel for nearly seventy years. If only we had a Protective Edge as our house was burned by Titus and the Romans or Nebuchadnezzar and the Persians, it was that Protective Edge that was missing, but not today, today our people stands for all in need, and all who seek refuge sincerely. The day will arrive when the Protective Edge will not be against any, but will be for all, we call on Jews and Muslims to follow our prophet:

“The world will be filled with the awareness of the ONE, just how the water of the ocean covers all (IN ONENESS) (Isaiah 11:9)…” together.

The Kalva Slums

Monday, The Kalva Slums

The census commissioner of India, C. Chandramouli determined that "A slum, for the purpose of census, has been defined as residential areas where dwellings are unfit for human habitation by reasons of dilapidation, overcrowding ... lack of ventilation, light or sanitation facility."

As the stench grows increasingly worse along the train ride, one knows they are but a few steps away from the Mumbai slum grounds; for us, it also means we are just a few minutes away from a day’s work—well, I wouldn’t quite call it work though, volunteers from the UK, America and Israel, and nearly one-hundred children aging from 3-10, make it a meaningful experience every time.

Every morning, we, the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the Gabriel Project Mumbai (GPM) fellows, enter the Kalva (pr. Kalwa) Slums to teach English, Social sciences, Music (and love) to four different classes. Our curriculum is built around the idea that we have nearly two months with the children and therefore, we should be aiming to reach the following goals:

1) Skill and content based knowledge.
2) Self-confidence in all areas of daily living.

3) A positive, fun and deepening experience with their American and British counterparts.

Each step is calculated when you enter the slums. Just getting of the train passed the throngs of slum dwellers, which include: residences, merchants, cow, sheep, dog, donkey, ducks, and…putrid combinations of feces  plastic, rotting food/animal is an experience of itself!  

Our classrooms are made out of thin metal sheets with ridges like potato chips (essentially a medal hut).  On a regular morning you see large numbers of people sleeping, hanging out, working, staring and following us as we make our way to the classrooms. One may also see naked infants roaming near their mothers. Its inspiring to know that it is under these conditions that these children aspire to become more educated.

The experience in the slum has been humbling at the very least, but has also awarded me a broader look at humanity. 

More to come!!!

The Ancient Jews of India: Empowerment, Mutual Respect, and Deliberate Thoughtfulness

After the destruction of the first Temple Jews were scattered to the far ends of the earth. The loss of sovereignty, and the turning away of “God’s face” as the fire consumed the epicenter of Judaism, traumatized our nation, and brought them to believe that they would never look back lest God’s wrath punish them once again. Through the waves of the unknown and shallow breathing, a fraction of our people arrived at the Shore of Alibag, India—nearly 2200 years ago…

“There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she birthed, and there is none to take her hand out of the children she raised (Isaiah 51:18)…”

Just before reaching port, the ship sank and all but seven couples perished, leaving their Torah and traditions not on parchment, but embedded in their memory. These couples are the survivors to take no for an answer, these are the people who managed to hold true what they believe in; these are the Jews to establish the “Bnei Yisroel” community of India.

We arrived at the Teeferet Synagogue just before sunset on Friday. The sanctuary had oil lamps hanging from the ceiling, and fans to combat the intense heat and humidity. The Hazzan sat at the bima and awaited the praying group to form. As others came to join us we all exchanged blessings to one another and began our Kabbalat Shabbat service. Each person was called on to read a chapter of the Psalms, each person was waited for when finishing the prayer, and each word was said clearly with intent. The Bnei Yisroel traditions remind us what truly is the only recipe for a people’s continuity: Empowerment, mutual respect, and deliberate thoughtfulness.

Shabbat morning I prayed at the Magen David Synagogue, which is located just 100 meters from our lodging. I was honored with taking out the Torah during services and also reciting the blessing over the Torah reading. I was really moved by the Indian Jews practices around honoring the Torah. Each person says a prayer about the Torah, each come to the front of the synagogue. I couldn’t help but feel they lost the Torah at sea, and now that it’s safe at shore, how could we not come close to it?

Today the Jewish population of India has dramatically decreased since the creation of the Israel. Though they took to sea after the Temple’s destruction, their memory called most of them home but again. “Surely I will go down…with you, and I shall also bring you up (Genesis 46:4).” As the Indian community makes up less then .0000001% of the country’s population, it is our duty as the JDC-GPM cohort to stand with and for this very small, and ancient body that makes up our Am Yisroel, the nation of Israel.

I am looking forward to sharing those moments with you soonJ

Mumbai: Day I, The Hustle

When I told my friends and family that I was planning on going to India for the summer, many reminded me that with the monsoon-like climate, Mumbai will reach “unbearable temperatures.” I was duly relieved when I landed, I feared I would melt upon exit, but was duly relieved to be in the mild 87 degrees, with humidity. If someone were to ask me what the daily forecast feels like, I would say, “ya know, like going swimming through a jacuzzi.” At this point, I’m getting used to being sweaty all day

As I exited the airport, many tried getting me to take a taxi with them, but our program had already sent a driver for me. At first I pondered, “what if they forgot? What if he left because my bags took too long? After a few short moments of surveying the many drivers with signs, I spotted my name written in big green letters, and…we were off!

After a thirty-five minute drive, we arrived at the E.E.E Sassoon Compound located in Byculla, Mumbai. Despite the fact that he was a the treasurer Baghdad, due to persecution and economic interests, Sassoon established an entire community in Bombay (Mumbai). The Sassoon Compound is a fenced in square-quarter mile of dirt road that is guarded by the Indian police at all times. At the entrance lay the 153-year-old Magen David Synagogue, standing nearly 5 stories high with a sky-blue exterior. Behind the synagogue is an open courtyard, E.E.E Sassoon High School and, where I live with my fellow GPM-JDC Fellows, the Sassoon House.

Following brief introductions with the other members of the cohort, the guys, myself included, decided to go to the Krawfur Food Market. Flagging down a taxi was the easy part, what was more difficult was finding the lines separating each lane, to then learn that there aren’t any! The streets bottle-necked with taxis and cars, motor-cycles being driven by women in burqas, the immense heat, and the curious native as they scan the taxi filled with Caucasians could be observed in the controlled-chaotic environment of the city’s infrastructure. Undoubtedly, Mumbai traffic makes one believe that NYC traffic is like riding a bike with training wheels—its quite remarkable.

The fruit market was filled with all different types of shops that one can get mango, tomatoes, watermelon, papaya, peaches, apricots, pomegranate, nuts, spices and others.

A man came over to help us bargain and get the best deals—I guess we unintentionally hired a middleman, for all of our shopping needs. This man spent two hours taking us from food store to ATM to clothing store to bathrooms, and at the end, we gave him what would be considered double a days pay, 100 rupees/$1.35. It didn’t quite register until that moment how cheap things are. I couldn’t help but feel guilty for being born into a world so different that it allotted me different circumstances of greater potential, while also feeling empowered and grateful for my socioeconomic status.

From Above the Clouds--The Authentic Spirit

“Any love that depends on a specific cause, once the cause is gone, the love is gone, but any love that does not depend on specific cause, that love will last forever.” (Ethics 5:16)

This Jewish principle extracted from Perkie Avot (Ethics of our Foreparents), guides us to seek purpose in our actions so that we constantly live in a state of questioning. “For what do I do, and for Whom do I do? Do I live a life of truth and honesty? Where do my intentions lye? Do I do for a specific rhyme or reason, or because it is the most real me? This maxim also suggests that the opposite of such may lead to the consequence of fleeting, unyielding fruit of inauthentic relationships—to the other, self or environ.

When questioning, we may be confronted with the reality that alterior motives do in fact guide many of my actions and many breaths are cast with Tohu VaVohu, the clear and unclear, the real and the fake, the genuine and the ingenuine. So when that moment comes, it is our responsibility to seek out our inner compass and ask, where does my most authentic self lye and how do I awaken him (her)?

From Above the Clouds-June 19^th, 2014:

Today, right now, I stand restless at the back of a 747 airliner after nearly travelling for an entire day. With 19 hours in the air and 2 hours in London, standing seems like the only viable option. As I stare at the screen, and the plane icon slowly passes my more frequented destination of Israel, I am reminded that this journey is not about my roots as a Jew, but as a person. Because as a person I know how to sing, laugh, and cry; as a person I fear and I long for connection. With the many struggles I will bare witness to, from heart to heart, I only hope I can be human: pulsing, emotive and authentic.

As I begin my journey, and as I bring you, the reader, on this journey with me, I only hope I can be authentic, that I can bring a love that is natural and does not depend on any specific cause. A love that can be nurtured for the children I serve, or the Jews I will join with; a love more precious then fools gold—all because I know, it does not depend on a specific cause other than authenticity.