Tell me Tel Aviv

I'm relaxing at my friend Anat's house in Tel Aviv right now. It's very refreshing to be here and not to be cramming my brain full of pessimistic political information. It's very hard to integrate everything I've heard and learned these last four days into a coherent narrative. Mom and I feel like our heads are spinning. So I'm taking a break today, but I will return to an update on some of the more fascinating experiences soon. Here's a cutie cute picture of Anat and Stephen, both of whom worked with me at the 92nd Street Y. This was actually taken in Jerusalem, where we dined in Stephen's Emek Refaim neighborhood.

We left Jerusalem early yesterday morning for Tel Aviv so we would not get caught in rush hour traffic, and so we would avoid the street blockages being created by the police in anticipation of the Jerusalem Gay Pride parade. As in years past, the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) of Jerusalem have protested the parade and have tried to prevent it, by taking the municipality to court, from "desecrating" the Holy City. The parade was actually cancelled last year, after a Haredi man stabbed 3 participants in 2005. You can imagine how sorry I was to leave Jerusalem just as this fascinating showdown between such disparate elements of Israeli society was taking place. In the end, 2,000 people marched, and 2 dozen haredim were arrested, one for carrying a home-made bomb. Tel Aviv is a much more liberal, accepting environment where the Gay Pride parade was held last weekend. My timing is all off.

Tonight we're enjoying Shabbat dinner with Dan and Fran Zetland, and Jeremy Zetland and his fiancee Elisabeth. I am really looking forward to a lovely evening!