The Desert People

This week I spent 24 hours at the home of Amal and Zaid and their four children in the Bedouin village of Tel Sheva.  

This post is intended to be apolitical; my words are not meant to contain any judgment, but to reflect what I heard from Amal and her immediate family, including their children. The older children asked that their pictures not be included in the blog.  

During the  evening I also met Amal’s parents, three of her five sisters, one of her three brothers and many of their children.   We had gathered in Lekia at her parent’s home (the family home) just to visit "for a few minutes" and ended up staying for several hours which included dinner.  In the Bedouin tradition all the gathering is done at the family home. So if one sister wants to visit with another sister one calls the other and they meet at the family home.  Amal's mother is an amazing cook. 

                              

Stuffed peppers

Stuffed zucchini (stuffed end to end)

We were at the family home for several hours; they hardly spoke English, and of course I spoke no Arabic.  We shared a few words in Hebrew but mostly I sat and observed.   During those hours we seemed to be able to communicate and develop some type of relationship. The children were intrigued by my camera and they had fun fooling around so I could take their pictures. 

Two cousins (l) plus Amal and Zaid's youngest - Mayar (r)

Amal is a gynecological emergency room nurse at a large teaching hospital in Be’er Sheva and Zaid is a genetic researcher studying epilepsy at Ben Gurion University.  Amal explained that her marriage to Zaid, a member of the Original Bedouin group, as well as her desire to became a nurse, were not easily accepted by her father.  Zaid described his journey – literally walking from the desert 7 km each day to attend school in one of the villagesl – to becoming a physician.   They both prevailed, very successfully.

Rather going to the local school in Tel Sheva which is considered to be less than optimal, Amal and Zaid have chosen to send their children to a Jewish school, where they are clearly a minority as I saw when we picked the children up at school.  I was impressed with the knowledge that the children have about the culture, the language and the practice of Judaism.

My exposure to the Bedouin culture has been limited to the tents and tiny lean-to type buildings seen as we drive through the desert.  I knew little of their history other than what I’ve read in tour books. 

Amal patiently explained that there are two groups of Bedouins, one large group, known as the “Original” Bedouins, and one small, known as “Falach”.

The Original group, from which Zaid's family comes, historically lived in the desert in tents. Now many of the Original Bedouins live in the recognized villages and many have chosen to stay in the desert in unrecognized areas.  Those who have stayed in the desert still move from place to place every few months so their animals will have grass and other foliage to eat.  Much of the food of the Original Bedouins comes from their animals: cows, sheep, chickens and camels, which are used not only for meat, but for their milk as well.  The livelihood of the residents is also dependent on the animals and animal products such as milk and soap made out of the animal fat. 

The Falachs, a much smaller group who lived in caves and houses, consists of two families.  The Abu Karin, came from Gaza and settled in the village of Lekia. Amal's family is from the Abu Karin family.  The Drujat family came from the West Bank and lives in the village of Drujat.  

Amal’s great, great…grandfather came from Gaza over 200 years ago and brought spices to Lekia. The Bedouins came from all around to buy the spices.  Her grandfather became quite wealthy and built the first constructed house in the Negev which located in Lekia.  The house, known as the “Palace”, has stayed in Amal’s family all these years.  

When Amal brought me to her home I was surprised to see that they live in a large, modern house with everything we would find in our own homes.  I hadn’t known what to expect, and as I mentioned previously, my only knowledge of the Bedouins' housing was in the desert. 

Amal and I spent a long time talking about the range of Bedouin living situations, from tents to apartments and houses.  She explained that the Israeli government created 7 villages in the Negev for the Bedouins.   Many of the Bedouins moved to these villages and many have chosen to stay in the desert in unrecognized locations, and continue to move around as they have for years.  

Amal explained that living in the villages have not been universally or enthusiastically accepted.  Living in the desert provided a regular and substantial income for the Bedouins.  As well, the work of caring for the animals and their products was shared between husbands and wives, both equally important to their success.  For the families that moved to the recognized villages, many of the men go to work, generally in Israeli jobs.   Women's roles lost their significance in the villages, leaving them to stay home raising their children. With the women mostly uneducated, moving into the villages has significantly changed the way they feel about themselves.

Bedouin embroidery

Bedouin made jewelry

Amal has taken it upon herself to improve the quality of life for women in the Bedouin villages.  She has taken over the Palace and is turning it into a museum, displaying what Bedouin living quarters look like, the clothing, jewelry and products that they weave and embroider.  She has recruited the women in the villages to help her with the work it takes to accomplish this.  Amal doesn’t have money to pay them right now, but any profit that is made in the future will go to the women.   This not only provides something for the women to do during the day, but also gives them some training and a purpose.

Amal and I had some very interesting and intense conversations. We both listened respectfully to each others’ perspectives on the land situation. During my visit I learned a great deal about the Bedouin culture, making it both educational and very emotional. It opened my eyes to the impact some decisions of the Israeli government have had on one specific culture, introducing me to information of which I had previously been unaware.

Cooking

Friday morning we made magluba, a delicious combination of vegetables, chicken and rice.   I'm sure there is some way to make this vegetarian, but the flavor of the chicken combined with the spices and the vegetables make this an unforgettable dish.  

Amal's kitchen is modern and was easy to cook in it.   Having two of us to prepare and cook all of the ingredients made it very efficient.  When we finished, the entire family and I sat on the cushions on the floor and devoured it.  

We didn’t have time to do other cooking, but I have been invited back to their home any time.  Amal is as enthusiastic about teaching about the Bedouin culture and cuisine as I am learning about it.  

Sliced potatoes being fried in oil

Frying cauliflower and layering the vegetables

Preparing to unveil the magluba

Getting ready to eat

Magluba

1 whole chicken, in pieces
4-5 med potatoes sliced into ½” pieces and salted

1 med eggplant sliced into  ½” pieces

1 whole cauliflower, cut into large florets

2 onions thickly sliced;

4 whole garlic cloves

vegetable oil (or other non-olive oil)

salt

ground black pepper

1 pound basmati rice (approx 2.5 C)
2 tsp turmeric

3 tomatoes, sliced

Put chicken in large pot and cover with water.  Bring to boil, then cover and simmer until chicken is fully cooked.

Heat ½” oil over med-hi.  Add potato slices in single layer and cook until brown. Repeat with remaining slices.   Repeat the process with the cauliflower, then eggplant.  Repeat with onion and garlic together, and generously add salt and pepper.  Cook until onions are soft.

While vegetables are cooking soak the rice for about 2-3 minutes then drain well.  Add to the rice about 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp pepper.

Drain chicken keeping the broth. Place the chicken on a separate plate.

In the same pot that the chicken was cooked in, layer in the following order, trying not to waste space in the pot.

-       sliced tomatoes

-       chicken pieces

-       onions

-       cauliflower

-       eggplant

-       potatoes

Add rice mixture to pot, spreading around to cover.  Add the broth in correct proportion to rice, 1 C rice: 1¾ C broth.  (2.5 C rice: 4 ⅓ C broth)

Place pot on stove, bring to boil then turn down to simmer.  Cook until rice is done.  Add more broth if necessary.

Let cool for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid of the pot. Place a large round platter upside down on top of the pot and flip the pot and the platter so the pot is upside down on the platter.  Carefully lift the pot off the platter and the magluba will fall out of the pot.

Serve with varieties of Middle Eastern salads and pita.

Magluba

Giving Back

Coming to Israel for an extended time is like living here. Unfortunately, you're not entitled to that special bus pass or senior discounts unless you make aliyah.  Really though, being in Israel does feel like home, even if I can’t understand most of what people are saying.  So when we live somewhere and benefit from resources in the community, whether public or private, we have a responsibility to give something back.

Some of us also connect with Hashem (G-d) by serving others – this is what is expected of us. For me, it helps me understand my own relationship with Hashem. I recently read an article, The Jewish Response to Hunger, which gives traditional, compassionate and textual references to why we, as Jews, need to respond - as if we needed to justify it.

Someone recently asked me why I am spending my precious time in Israel volunteering when I’m here for such a short time. I explained my belief and values, and she replied “just by being here you’re giving back - to the economy - and we’re so appreciative of that”.  For me that’s not enough.

Yesterday I started helping at an organization called Meir Panim – the “Jewish Charity for the Hungry and Poor”, as it calls itself.   Here is it’s mission.

… to alleviate and diminish the harmful effects of poverty on thousands of families across Israel by supporting a range of food and social service programs aimed at helping the needy with dignity and respect, including free restaurants, meals-on-wheels, school lunch programs, prepaid food card distribution, vocational training and after-school youth clubs.

Meir Panim has a lot of similarities to Seattle’s Jewish Family Service, where I’m on the board of directors, in that it helps people that are challenged in providing for themselves. So it was natural for me to select an organization such as this.   

Lining up the trays and
keeping the food warm

I volunteered at the Jerusalem's Free Restaurant which is designed to look and feel like a restaurant.  There are currently six Free Restaurants in distressed cities throughout Israel.  There had previously been more but the economic downturn in 2008 forced closure of some. The hope is to begin increasing the numbers of restaurants again soon.

The Jerusalem free restaurant is open Sundays – Thursdays from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm.  Anyone who is hungry can come and eat, any age, religion, culture... no questions asked.  Many of them come every day, and many bring containers to fill and take home. Still – no questions asked.

 

A well filled plate

The food is mostly donated, generally from restaurants where the quality standards are high.  When I was there yesterday the menu consisted of couscous, rice, an eggplant and vegetable stew, green beans, lamb shanks and chicken.  When the lamb and chicken were gone, out came Hungarian Goulash, and when that was gone out came more chicken.

The clients that came yesterday were fewer than usual – the weather was very warm and it was explained to me that when

there is extreme weather fewer people leave their homes and come out, even for food.  But even with fewer clients there was still an atmosphere of respect and appreciation.

There are only a few paid employees, most are either volunteers or people from the community that are doing this work to avoid judicial penalties - otherwise known as "community service".  Yesterday there was a father and son from Alaska that come to Israel every year to volunteer with disabled adults and also help out at Meir Panim.  Another volunteer, Jeff, has been volunteering here for five years.  Everyone, without exception, was warm and friendly to the diners.  

Scraping and stacking

The volunteers set up the room, bring food to the diners on trays with well filled plates, a roll and a cup for water. We also cleaned off and stacked dishes and trays when diners were finished.  

We provide a bit of social interaction with the diners as well, which is equally important. They don't feel like strangers, they feel welcomed and well fed in more ways than one.

My Hebrew got me through the day.  I could say Shalom, Mashlomech or Mashlimcha ("How are you" to a woman or to a man) and “At/ata rotzeh/rotzah lechem o mayim” (do you want bread or water)?  They often responded or asked for something I couldn’t understand but we worked it out.

Making sure I saw him

One man in particular let me go on and on trying to speak Hebrew and trying to make him understand, finally said clearly “I speak very good English”.  We both laughed.  See him below.   When he left he made sure that I saw him and waved goodbye.

Another woman who had asked me for some more rice (orez) and some extra rolls, was so appreciative that when she was leaving she came over and said “todah, todah, todah” (thank you…) and gave me a kiss on my hand.  I gave her a kiss on the cheek and she was thrilled.

There were several interactions like that, and it just warmed my heart to know that I gave something, whether it was rice, bread, words or just a smile, and made their day a little better.

I plan on continuing to volunteer at the free restaurant of Meir Panim every week that I’m in Jerusalem.

A Very Old Neighborhood

I spent two days in Tel Aviv this past week. I did and saw a lot less than I thought I would.  I took my time and just enjoyed what I was seeing rather than rushing through to check sites off my list.  What a pleasure.

 

Neve Tzedek, located in south Tel Aviv, was the first Jewish neighborhood to be founded outside of ancient walls of the Jaffa port.  The neighborhood is quite lovely, with colorful flowers throughout.  Its narrow streets and beautiful historic buildings give us hints as to what the area was like in earlier times.

Agnon House

 More commonly known as the Agnon House, the house is also worth recognizing as the Abulafia House.   The house was built in 1907 when Shlomo and Rebecca Abulofia were married.  Shlomo’s great-grandfather was one of the first to arrive in Israel in the 16^th century following the Alhambra decree in Spain. In building the house in Neve Tzedek the Abulafia family became one of the first landowners that founded Tel Aviv.  Abulafia is a well known name in the Seattle Sephardic Community (and the name of my hairdresser - Joseph Abulafia of Salon Joseph).  In 1908 Shlomo and Rebecca rented the attic to Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes who later became a well known Nobel author, better known as S.Y. Agnon.  The house is actually mentioned in Agnon’s book “Only Yesterday”.

The Agnon / Abulafia house is now occupied by glass artists Hava and Dani Ronat. I was very impressed with Hava’s jewelry that she creates out of beads she makes herself.   Dani’s work in stained glass was also seen throughout the house. 

Built in 1914 the Eden Cinema was the first of its kind in Tel Aviv.  It was quite a a sophisticated facility at the time, also holding opera, theater performances and elegant balls.   In 1927 a second theater was built right next to the first.  Each holding 800 seats, the two featured silent films shown with a live orchestra providing the music.

Eden Theater

My favorite story about the cinemas describes an officer of the Tel Aviv police who was attending a screening where a mail train was being robbed.  The officer jumped right up to the train’s rescue, pulled out his gun and fired directly into the screen.

The cinema was finally closed in 1974 and has stood neglected for many years.  It was recently purchased by a private investor and the front of it will be preserved.

The Suzanne Dellal Center is the home of two modern dance groups – the Batsheva Dance Company and the Inbal Dance Group.  Also a home for the children’s theater group Orja Porat, the Center also holds many outdoor activities and festivals throughout the year.

Once an educational compound, it was the home of two schools – one for boys and one for girls.  The schools were managed by three Zionist organizations and not surprisingly, there was a lot of tension among them, primarily about the languages spoken in the schools.  The organizations that supported speaking Hebrew took over the girls’ school and the other that supported learning to speak French took over the boys’ school.   Parents who were strong Zionists and wanted their sons to learn Hebrew sent them to the girls’ school.   Several well known male Israeli’s, including the painter Nahum Gutman and the former prime minister Moshe Sharet, both attended the girls’ school.


The schools ultimately closed due to low attendance, and in 1989 the buildings were purchased by the Dellai family of London, who named it in memory of their daughter Suzanne.  The campus is open and quite lovely, with citrus trees planted throughout. 

The Rokach House was the first house built in Neve Tzedek, in 1887 by Shimon Rokach. The house has been preserved as it was originally built and now serves as the home of a collection of photographs of the early neighborhood.  What I like best about the house, however, is its other function.  It serves as the private muse to display the sculptures of Lea Majaro Mintz, Shimon Rokach's granddaughter.  Majaro Mintz saved and restored the house when it was scheduled for demolition. 

Restaurant Rice: xxx, Moroccan and Yeminite

Nearby Neve Tzedek is the Yeminite quarter, Kerem Ha-Teimanim.  The neighborhood architecture was based on the designs of the former Jewish ghettos in Yemen with colonial British and ancient Hebrew features.  I was curious to go there because my son-in-law Ilya's family has a long Yeminite history. 



In Neve Tzedek I actually found Rahov Shar'abi (Sharaby Street) - Sharaby is the last name of Ilya's Aunt Lena and Uncle Dave z"l.

Before returning to Petach Tikvah where I was staying with my cousins, the Goldreich's, I did want to find the Levinski Market, a five block area set in the Florentin neighborhood in south Tel Aviv. The neighborhood, and subsequently the shuk, was founded in the 1920's first by Greeks, followed by Turks and Bulgarians in the '30's.  The Florentin neighborhood was named after Solomon Florentin, the first vendor in the area.  His uncle, David Florentin, was part of a small group from Saloniki Greece that were leaders in developing the city of Tel Aviv. 

This shuk (market) is quite different than the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv and Machane Yehuda in Jerusalem in that each vendor has a separate shop along the streets rather than being inside a defined and covered building.  This area is quite unique because many of the shops have been there for 60-80 years, and managed by multiple generations of the same families.  

The shuk (market) contain bakeries, spice shops, delicatessens, fish stores and other shops selling olives, grains, sweets and a myriad of other wonderful items. The magazine, Food and Wine, named Levinski Market one of the top spice shops in the world.  

Mosaic panels showing the history of Neve Tzedek

Following is a recipe for Gundi,  a popular soup from one of the Persian restaurants in Levinski Market.  The recipe is from an article about Levinski Market in the February, 2013 issue of Saveur magazine

Gundi - Persian Chicken Meatball Soup

Ingredients

¼ cup canola oil
1 lb. chicken wings
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 medium onions (2 roughly chopped, 1 minced)
3 medium carrots, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
8 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1½ lb. ground chicken
1½ cups chickpea flour
2½ tsp. ground turmeric
2 tsp. ground coriander
1½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. ground cardamom

Instructions
1. Heat 3 tbsp. oil in an 8-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Season wings with salt and pepper; cook, turning once, until browned, about 13 minutes. Add roughly chopped onions, carrots, and garlic, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add stock, bay leaf, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook until slightly reduced, about 25 minutes. Strain broth, discard solids, and return broth to pan.

2. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Add minced onion; cook until soft, 3–4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and mix with remaining ingredients. Using wet hands, divide mixture into six 3" balls. Bring broth to a simmer; add meatballs. Cook, partially covered, until cooked through, about 17 minutes. To serve, divide broth and meatballs among 6 bowls.