Deityblog

exactly.
Thank you, Ilana, you're a lifesaver. Ladies and gentlemen, photos can be seen here:

Jerusalem--
http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=813311093982594427/l=32656991/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Sulha--
http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=613311093982339591/l=32656405/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

This better work now. Or maybe not. Maybe these images were just not meant to be viewed on a grand scale--they're too precious. Or something.

Ari--if you're reading this, how do I get a links bar on my blog like the snazzy one you have?

In other news, trying to not try to try to hold onto the effortless. Elul is a stream, please open me up to flowing with it, instead of questioning my every move. While speaking with Ami I realized that a deep-seated sense of guilt is so ingrained in me when it comes to doing tshuva that I'm not sure how to approach tshuva without it. Just another victim of Bais Yaakov, but really that's a copout, because it's up to me to go deeper. With Your help... Here at work, not much going on, just got an illicit hello from a certain wonderboy. Illicit only for another two weeks--and counting. And how.

Trying to book Eliyahu for a bunch of speaking and radio engagements when he comes to Balto, tentatively September 28-29. Trying to get him onto the Marc Steiner Show (local NPR) and to speak at Goucher and my shul, Tiferes Yisroel. Need some more protexia I think, but working on it.

Moving out of my apartment this weekend, back with the parentals. Should work fine, and it'll give me a chance to keep an eye on my kid sister and stop my mom from voting Republican (I'm not even kidding).

Okay, check out photos here:

Sulha:
http://www.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=14401806/PictureID=314385109/t_=13053878

Hangin' round the Holy Land:
http://www.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=14421999/t_=13053878

If you don't have snapfish, just get it and log in, it's worth it!

Back in Btown, somehow not jetlagged on this beautiful Friday morning, but not prepared to do much of anything either. Definitely can't even mentally approach the concept of starting work and school next week. On the other hand, seeing the family, chilling to Hadag Nachash with kid sis Emily, and getting amazing vibes from the best boyfriend in the entire universe all helped the situation...
Kind of weird, laying in bed last night looking at the same old ceiling, the whole month almost seemed like a dream, already so far away. I have to work to keep it real, to keep the beauty and consciousness going. I'll speak about it to anyone who will listen, and even those who won't. G-d willing, I've been blown too far open to just close up again. And it'll help to keep in touch with Habiba, Chaim, Ari, Azriel, Mahmoud, Devorah, and of course Eliyahu.
Now it really begins--Sulha was the easy part, it's making it manifest that's going to be the challenge. How to do this?
~throwing myself into www.stopabusingtorah.org --stay tuned for info, this is gonna be huge
~speaking about my experiences
~keeping in touch with the heroes and tzaddikim I had the merit of learning from
~praying, and working on my prayer
~learning more about various social justice and peace efforts in Israel and staying constantly involved
~walking down Park Heights Ave in my Sulha t-shirt
~having Eliyahu come speak in Balto soon--I know you're reading this, man

Any more suggestions?

By the way, the pics will be up by Sunday, so be sure to check in then.

Sitting here in front of the computer, I have absolutely no idea where to begin. This will probably be an excruciatingly long post, so just bear with me and skim for the juicy parts. Check out http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtVty.jhtml?sw=sulha&itemNo=467103 for real coverage of the Sulha. Oh, and be sure to keep look out for www.stopabusingtorah.org, a new project of my man Yaakov's which is sure to revolutionize the world as we know it, as usual.

Just diving in:
Thursday night--took the train to Tel Aviv, met Erica and Ariel there, two fellow seekers and temporary Nachlaot dwellers, hopped a quick train to Binyamina which turned out to be a very long train to Nahariya, freaked out for a bit, but eventually worked out a bus to Haifa and a ride with the most beautiful female cab driver I've ever seen to arrive at Park Shuni at around 1 am. First impressions: This is going to be insane, in a good way. Huuuuge site for the peace organizations, with booths all laid out. A winding path from the Welcome Center into the larger lawn, with netting and tents stretched out over the grass to form the Children's Space, the Bereaved Parents tent, the Meeting Tent, and the information center. Stage set up facing the grass, with a big tree to its right, whichwould become a central place for prayer, discussions, and gathering during the days. Said hi to Ihab and Sagi, then kept going up the winding path past many semi-permanent tents curtained by tapestries and carpeted with pillows and mattresses, the largest of which being the Ohel Sarah V'Hagar, the Women's Tent, a space for women to come together in an intimate, y-chromosome-free way and get some connection flowing. Said hey-lo to Eliyahu and pitched our tents in the dark, thinking, "this is real, I'm here.......hey G-d, let's go for a ride."

Friday: Woke up to Gabi on the ram-kol, arousing everyone from their sleep just like in camp, singing songs of peace, love, and get-the-hell-out-of-bed and help us down here, the bus from Ramallah is arriving momentarily. Went down to help Yoav and Eliyahu set up the site for the various peace organizations that would be arriving to have booths and give workshops, just in time to greet Firas in full PLC splendor, and Ibtisam with her usual glow of ultimate awesomeness. Rav Froman and Hadassah arrived soon after the Jordanian contingent, and then I turned around to see holy brother Casey-Baruch of Baltimore fame, tired and generally blissed-out from the Jerusalem bus ride. Casey, you made my Sulha just by being there, man. Also ran into Sareet, holy sister one-hour fresh off the plane from the States, making aliyah. I stopped in at the Bereaved Parents Tent as people were assembling there, and fell in with a loving crowd of young Palestinian guys, instant connection. One new friend with a guitar played a song about my name, Habiba el Habiba, kind of like Chabibi....that was it for me, right there, Sulha just being able to sit around and sing with these guys, at the prime age to be hate-filled suicide bombers, making peace with Israeli Jews, many of whom were current or former soldiers and/or settlement-dwellers. Everyone at the Sulha was making a committed choice--choosing life over death, love over war, and then putting themselves out there to make it a reality.

While the official opening ceremony wouldn't be until later, Gaby gathered everyone around the tree and shared a beautiful niggun that incorporated Ein Keloheinu with a chorus of "Lai lai, Il'Allah...." This was followed by the first listening circles, where everyone broke up into groups to get to know one another for the first time. Among many other holy souls, my group included Rana and Nevim, two women my age from Bethlehem, both fighting the good fight on their end (peacing the good peace?). We all went around introducing ourselves and saying what had brought us to Sulha, answers ranging from plain curiosity to hope, to wanting to be woken up from skepticism. Casey just wanted to meet some of his neighbors out there near Bat Ayin. Rana believed that Jews wanted peace, and wanted to see it for herself.

When the circle disbanded, Mahmoud brought me over to be interviewed on Al-Jazeera. Crazy! I think it went well, the reporter just asked me what the Sulha means to me, and I said that it means creating a consciousness for authentic and lasting peace to grow out of, in so many words. Don't know if the segment was live, don't even know if they used it, but it was definitely a unique experience.

Spent a good portion of the day fenagling stuff with the peace organizations. In the end, not many showed up, for whatever reason. Either they had no people to send during summer vacation,or things got screwed up, or they simply weren't interested in compromising their time and attention to be at the Sulha. Their loss, but it was quality instead of quantity all the way, with Bustan L'Shalom, Pathway Circle, Rabbis for Human Rights, and the Theosophical Society all making choice appearances. Check out these orgs, my friends. Their work is bringing us into the new world. Caught an impromtu mincha led by Rav Froman, screaming out to the Creator from the eye of a storm of peace. Let it hail, brother!!!

Made friends with Chaim, a refusenik who'd just been released from being in jail for a month for taking his stand. A really beautiful, sensitive soul, changed the way that I'd thought about people who refuse to serve in the territories for humanitarian reasons. I still have reservations, generally believing that the Israeli army tries very hard to do the right thing and isn't out to get the Arabs, just to protect Israel. In my circles, army service is a duty, even a holy thing, that you do even if you believe in peace, to defend Israel against many ever-present threats. So talking to Chaim was challenging for me. He'd been on the career track in the army, eight years running, when he got completely disillusioned by Operation Defensive Shield, April 2002 when Israel went into Jenin and Ramallah and conducted full-on terrorist raids. Personally, I believe these raids were justified or not after a month where there were terrorist attacks every single day, but Chaim read the reports of the army's actions there and became demoralized, choosing to leave the army and do time rather than continue serving. Heavy stuff, he'd been clearly shaken up by his experiences in prison, where he says he bonded more with the Druze prisoners than the Israelis. He planted an organic garden there, and is now reshaping his life by working with Bustan L'Shalom and doing organic farming. Love, blessings, and strength to you, Chaim.

First night of Sulha, I don't even have the right words to describe it. While a dedicated group of Arabs and Israelis worked nonstop making refreshments in the back corner of the lawn--including one elderly Bedouin woman who never stopped making lafa the entire time--seriously, I never saw her get up--the opening ceremony commenced. Rav Menachem and Hadassah Froman lit the first torch, and the Rav gave a rousing speech in his uniquely plantive, incendiarily loving manner, getting the crowd to scream Allah Hu Akhbar, saying that it means Ahava T'Natzeach--Love willl be Eternal. "Allah Hu Akhbar--Ahava T'Natzeach!!!!" Rav Froman is other-worldly. Other speeches included organizer Elias Jabbour explaining the significance of the Sulha, Zulu chief John Quizulini doing a peace dance in full tribal regalia, Tibetan monk Geshele urging both sides to be free of their attachments and work together, a messenger with an endorsement from Arafat which proved to be a bit of a bring-down (long story behind that), and many more. After the speeches, a concert began which lasted well into the night. First Shoteh HaNevuah (Fools of Prophecy) played, one of their chorus being, in Hebrew, "Nobody's leaving this place, so let's start to love." Sounds better in the original. The music was rocking beyond belief, including the young Arab indie-rock salaam band, the Israeli peacenik garage band, and Gaia, who totally brought down the house on an ecstatic, tribal revelation of Jews, Muslims, Arabs, Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, dancing and singing together for several moshiach-induced hours. The highest of the high.
Wednesday: Spent a few estrogen-filled hours in the women's tent with Sareet, meeting Israeli and Arab women who'd lost children, and more blessed sisters who just came to talk and build consciousness from the inside out. I remember saying that I felt like our spirituality had been hijacked by masculine forces of hatred and control, and that it's up to us to infuse the soul back into our peoples. My friend Leah spoke about being sick of feeling like it's wrong somehow to greet Arabs on the street, really wanting to break down needless walls. Ibtisam gave a moving testimony of her story. She'd been on an Egged bus and had been terribly humiliated by the driver, who told her to get off, and when she wouldn't, as an Israeli citizen and a human being, he got both the cops and a couple of soldiers to physically extract her, for no reason whatsoever. Bitterness burned in her heart for a long time after taht, especially when Egged did nothing about it. She thought all Jews were terrible human beings. Gradually, though, she began to meet Jewish people, opened up more and began to get seriously involved in peace work. So many skeptics, all it takes is a couple of conversations to know that the "other" is a person, is a friend, and that can be the world. As Rumi put it, "If you have a hundred cynical conceptions of G-d, make them ninety-nine!" All we did in the circle was go around and share our experiences, and by the end everybody was crying.

The Green Sheykh and Habibah came that day, so nice to see them. While the Sheykh sat on a panel of international leaders discussing peace as various energy circles and music went on throughout the lawn, I chilled out with my soul-sister Habibeleh. At least four times that day, we'd introduce ourselves to someone and they'd do a double-take at the fact that we have the same name.

That night was an intensely stirring Rosh Chodesh celebration, led by a group of angelic women, getting the crowd of 4,000 people to chant "Elohim Echad" and "Allah Hu Allah" together, interpersing the phrases, their voices dancing in and out and lacing them together until they were one, going from soft to hardcore on the jembe, rocking out to the Oneness, within and without. We were also greeted, via satellite, by Rav Zalman Shachter-Shalomi, the Patriarch of Jewish Renewal and a palpably righteous presence, who shared words of peace and blessing for the Sulha, for Israel and Palestine. Ari also came that night--yay!! So good to have some Ari energy around. Sitting in a circle with a group that included Sareet, Ari, Casey, Habibah, and new friend Yosef David, I was thinking it does not get any better than this. This is real, and we have to do everything in our power in this world to keep this going. This Sulha is a microcosm of what needs to happen on a grand scale and on every level, a utopia that we've proved can exist, even for a few days. Everything is here.

We said goodbye to our Palestinian and Jordanian friends the next morning, who needed to leave early because of delays they were expecting at the border. Orthodoxanarchist.com has a beautiful narration of the ceremony, where Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian leaders were given branches from an olive tree, resolving to plant them and bring back a piece of them the next year, to show that the symbol of peace is firmly entrenched and growing. All of the Israelis got up and handed t-shirts to our departing friends, sharing hugs and words of blessings. The t-shirt is a blessing itself, a yin-yang with an Israeli and Palestinian flag, showing that we're dancing, struggling, learning from one another, sharing the same space whether we like it or not. I gave a shirt to Rana, she liked the design and we resolved to keep in touch. She said that the Sulha had proven to her that Jews really are interested in peace, and that we all have to forget our inept political leaders (whoever is more of a problem, Sharon or Arafat, is still a divisive issue) and work together as people of this land. All the power to you, Rana.

After chilling with some friends who'd come to experience the end of the Sulha, I made a mad dash back to Jerusalem with Ari to catch Tamar's wedding, which was a microcosm of insane holiness in it of itself. Tamar's the first one from my high school class to bite the dust, marriage-wise, so it was a pretty blessed event. Tamar and Moshe, mazal tov of the highest order on your new life together, and you can't imagine how sorry I am for calling you at 2 in the morning on your wedding night trying to find my cell phone. So it goes....

Might sound like an anti-climatic end to the Sulha for me, but the truth is, it's still going. Last night we had a ridiculously delicious seudah-shlishit-melava-malka at Eliyahu's with all of the Sulha's international guests plus holy Nachlaot chevre. A groovy soul-stirring time had by all. Today I'll be travelling back to Shuni for a processing meeting with Sulha staff, should be interesting. I'll keep you posted, and thanks for reading this far.

The Days of Sulha are quickly approaching. I'm just finishing up here, doing some last-minute follow-up calls and running errands, and then I'll be heading up to the Sulha site tonight. Eliyahu's already there, and of course there's already a major controversy. I discussed before that the park is a memorial to the Etzel Fighters, an illegal extreme militia who defended the Jews in the area before the official establishment of Israel. More info from the Jewish Virtual Library:

Etzel: Armed Jewish underground organization, founded in 1931 by a group of Haganah commanders, who left the Haganah in protest against its defense charter. In April 1937, during the Arab riots, the organization split—about half its members returned to the Haganah. The rest formed a new Irgun Zeva'i Le'umi (abbr. Etzel), which was ideologically linked with the Revisionist Movement and accepted the authority of its leader, Vladimir Jabotinsky.

Etzel rejected the “restraint” policy of the Haganah and carried out armed reprisals against Arabs, which were condemned by the Jewish Agency. Many of its members were arrested by the British authorities; one of them, Shlomo Ben Yosef, was hanged for shooting an Arab bus. After the publication of the White Paper in May 1939, Etzel directed its activities against the British Mandatory autorities.

At the outbreak of World War II, the organization declared a truce, which led to a second split (see Lohamei Herut Yisrael). Etzel members joined the British Army's Palestinian units and later the Jewish Brigade.

From 1943 Etzel was headed by Menachem Begin. In February 1944, Etzel declared war against the British administration. It attacked and blew up government offices, military installations and police stations. The Jewish Agency and the Haganah moved against the Etzel in a campaign nicknamed the Sezon. Etzel joined the Jewish Resistance Movement and after its disintegration in August 1946, Etzel continued attacks on British military and government objectives.

In April 1947, four members of the organization were hanged in Acre prison. In May 1947, Etzel broke into the fortress at Acre and freed 41 prisoners. In July 1947, when 3 other Etzel members were executed, the I.Z.L. hanged two British sergeants.

After the Declaration of Independence, the Etzel high command offered to disband the organization and integrate its members into the army of the new Jewish state. Full integration was achieved in September 1948.


So I guess you can see why some Arabs have serious issues with having the Sulha at their memorial park, which, incidentally, used to be an Arab village. The Arab Sulha organizers were furious at first with the site, but everybody agreed in the end, more or less, that having it there is exactly the point of the Sulha--doing a healing between the two peoples on a disputed territory. Makes sense, beautiful, right?
So just when the Arab organizers calmed down, the Etzel memorial people started throwing a fit at the fact that we're having a peace gathering there. We've had this site for months, but nevermind that, they won't allow Palestinians to be there, they're not having any of it. For a few terrifying moments it looked like the entire Sulha was going to have to be cancelled. But they worked it out, we just can't use a few key facilities of the park, like the office we had set up and the ampitheater for all of the ceremonies.
But.....lo mishaneh. Peace will prevail on Earth, with the help of G-d. We'll defy the odds, with everyone's help. We even invited the Etzel people to join our talking circles and share their stories....should be interesting.
In other news, a humongous mazal tov mazal tov to Tamar Pieczenik and Moshe Gordon, who are getting married on Thursday, to Chana Leah Friedland-Wechsler and Betsalel Esterson, who are getting married tomorrow, to Bracha and Micha Hyman on the birth of Zahava Tsipia Hinda, to Leora Hessing on her recent aliyah to Israel, to Ari Johnson on his official appointment to go to the gold mines of South Africa to do AIDS research, and last but certainly not least, to my parents, the holy beloved Phil and Lisa Jacobs, on their 28th wedding anniversary this Thursday. So many incredibly beautiful milestones and changes, so much love, thanks to you all for allowing me to be part of your worlds.
Don't forget to check out the live webcast of the sulha--www.sulha.com.

...but it gets a little closer every day. At least this week it's sure feeling that way.
First, for those of you who won't make it to the end
of this epic poem of a post, just know to tune into www.sulha.com next tuesday-thursday for live video feed of the peace event I've been blabbing out--get blown away for yourselves, why take it from me?
This week has been so long, eventful, and busy that it's hard to look back and go through each day separately, but I'll try. Sunday I went with Eliyahu to Shvaram, an Israeli Arab city in the Haifa area, for a meeting with the top Sulha organizers, including Elias Jabbour, head of the International House of Hope, Gaby Meyer, original creator of the Sulha, and many others, including Ihab, an Israeli Arab from Yaffo who, after losing his business in Tel Aviv due to neglect from an anti-Arab Jewish landlord, became a Muslim "chozer b'tshuva" and joined the religious peace movement. Wonderful, remarkable people. We discussed particulars of the Sulha--like, how to accommodate the 200+ Palestinians who are coming in, through Bereaved Parents Forum and other organizations? Almost all overnight guests of the anticipated 3000+ will be staying with families in the area, except for some who choose to camp out at the park, staff included. I got a tent, I'm all set.
Eliyahu and I are the default liaisons to the religious English-speaking communities here, printing English flyers and making endless phone calls to various rabbanim to encourage them to come. it's an interesting phenomenon, actually--rabbis say they're hesitant to come because they don't feel there's reciprocation, but there are about thirty imams and sheykhs attending the sulha so far, and only about 2 prominent Israeli rabbis. So the divide has clearly got to be bridged, over fear and apprehension. I myself have a very good friend that wants to come, but says he can't because he's starting yeshiva. At some point, this has got to become a priority for a good amount of religious Jews, who always seem to be discussing the messianic era, but what about working to bring it? Anyway, I digress.
After the meeting on Sunday, we headed back to Jerusalem and attended a lecture by Yossi Klein HaLevi, the New York-born Israeli author who's book about his spiritual journey, "At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden, a Jew's Search for G-d with Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land," got me into this work in the first place, since Eliyahu was his guide into the Muslim world. The lecture turned out to be a reflection of Yossi's own inner dilemmas--how to continue believing in peace as a viable option after years of terror, after seeing Muslim voices for peace being increasingly marginalized by a torrent of hatred for Israel and the Jewish people? Yossi himself says there must be a two-pronged paradoxical approach--unceasing political and military strength, including the security fence, with the ultimate goal of disengagement. We have to get beyond our myths of what Israel should be, Yossi said, including the Right's myth of controlling all of Israel--a reality which has turned into a demoralizing occupation--and the Left's myth of "Land for Peace" actually working. At the same time, we should be reaching out, wherever we still can, for spiritual/religious-based peace, to create consciousness that will one day transcend the current political mess and marginalize voices of hate. During the question and answer period, I stood up and asked Yossi what he thought of the Sulha Project, shamelessly plugging the event, but I felt it needed to be said, and so did Yossi, he encouraged me to describe it and pass out fliers, all of which were distributed to the many audience members. Woohoo! When I met Yossi, I told him the great effect his book had on me (and on Yaakov), how it created hope for me that there were boundaries that could be transcended and work to be done, that a difference could yet be made. I think he appreciated hearing that, just as I appreciated his book so much.
The next day, a group included me, Eliyahu, and others from the Nachlaot community took the Green Sheykh from London and his daughter to meet Rav Menachem Froman of Tekoa, a self-described "primitive settler" who sees no contradiction in living in the settlements and meeting with Muslim leaders,including Arafat on occasion, to work for peace. Rav Froman is a deep, human, powerful force for change, who goes beyond all social conventions for the sake of making peace. I've never met anyone quite like him. The encounter between Rav Froman and the Green Sheykh was beyond anything I can say, but my friend Shaul Yudelman said it well, so, with apologies to him, I've shamelessly copied his email:
Yesterday I went with my friend Eliyahu and some other friends in a visiting of an unusual cast. We brought a Sufi SHeikh abu Khassam, who lives today in England but was born in the ARab neigborhood that was next to the Wailing Wall. This sheikh group up in the womens sections of the Wailing wall, climbing up the Wall to eat the sweet grasses that grew there, he recounted. His family is a Sufi family that were the guardians of Nebi Musa, the spiritual resting place of Moses' grave and a prayer site for both Jew and Muslims. He is known as the Green Sheikh, for he wears these green fabrics he started wearing after a strong vision he received telling him to stop wearing the jeans and cowboy belt he had started wearing in England. He came to Israel with his daughter, and is touring and visiting, praying and meeting. SO this was a very special meeting that my friend Eliyahu had arranged to visit with Rav Menachem Fromin, a jewish mystic, who lives in a settlement not so far from where I live, a place called Tekoa. We and the sheikh got into our chartered van in the middle jerusalem, and unusual combination of folks walking down the street, veils, peos, hawaiian shirts, and sandals-the commonest denominator. We travelled south from Jerusalem into the Judaean mountains and then headed east watching the land dry as we neared the town of Tekoa, overlooking the harsh Judaean desert and through the haze was resting the Dead Sea and then themountains of Jordan. Near Tekoa is the Herodian, a palace/ fortress built by Herod which holds a view to the east of the Dead sea, and to the west and the Mediterannean.
THe bustling house of Rav Froman recieved us.. THere is something very settling about the family nature of these spiritual leaders, The bustle of the kitchen was in constant accompaniement to the dialogue of spiritual sharing, stories and hopes that transpired. Many wide open smiles and jokes back and forth accentuated a beautiful sharing of visions where the traditional Other is incorporated into a greater vision of the We, and awareness of the ONeness of Hashem/Allah was the guiding principle in boths sense of the way to peace.
Rav Fromin, my friend Eliyahu and a deep part of myself feel that the only way to peace in this land is through the spiritual traditions of both people. The future of this land needs to be based on the faiths that have grown here, and are at the heart of both peoples here. This statement is with a grain of salt, given the large number of secular Israelis,
who strongly disavow the religious content of the state- but as a heard pointed out in a lecture the other night by Yossi Klein ha Levi, a main reason for the utter failure of previous peace agreements (oslo) was the fact that it was made between the secular elites of bothe sides... The heart of this conflict- are the keepers of the tradition on both side, religious settler movement and Islamic imbued violent nationalism.
Rav Fromin asked over and over for the Green Sheikh to take the same beautiful teachings he was sharing with us to the Arab public and the Israeli people. FOr the Israelis to hear a sheikh explain that Allah hu-Akbar doesn't mean death to the jews is already a deep step forward at this point. Rav Fromin suggested they both go, tomorrow to speak to the prime ministers of both peoples, which he has been doing in recent times with rabbis. THe Green SHeikh had no interest in politicians, and it was a agreed instead to set up visits with local SHeikhs and mukhtars and rabbis.

Back to DeDe: In addition to the encounter between the Sheykh and the Rav, I had an encounter of my own with the Sheykh's daughter. She's Habiba, my Hebrew name is Chavivah. We bonded, she's a beautiful person, very devoted to her faith and the beauty she sees so deeply within it. She whipped out a tube of henna dye and expertly painted an intricate design on my hands with it. We talked about Rumi, Rav Kook, Rav Nachman, her dad's work, what its' like to be a relatively normal British teenager growing up in a house with two wives and a father who's a pioneering spiritual leader. She's great, I can't wait to see her again at the Sulha.
After Monday, the days were most composed of making phone calls to peace organizations to finalize the workshop schedule and booths at the Sulha, a process which has been both endlessly interesting and tedious at times. The Big Event is approaching, check out the details at the updated www.sulha.com. It will also be accessible on LIVE FEED all three days, so tune in once in awhile, maybe I'll be waving hi :-)

Okay, no time or money to write much, but I'll include this tidbit copied shamelessly from an email to Yaakov:
This week has been pretty incredible, the most incredible thing being that I've only been here a week. It feels like a lifetime, with my eyes getting opened up wider and wider by the minute. The highlight of this week, I suppose, was going to Ramallah. Yes, that's right. I was at a meeting in East East East Jerusalem with the Palestinian delegation of the Sulha organizers--in the home of this guy on the Palestinian Legislative Council, Farsik, who is beyond us ONE HUNDRED PERCENT, which for me is incredible and awesome and wonderful. He's working on getting at least 100 Palestinians, in addition to tons of Israeli Arabs, to the Sulha. Also at the meeting were Gaby Meyer, the Sulha organizers who's a wonderful guy and a total hoot, this guy Mahmoud who's also on the PLC and is mamash a mensch, Ibtisam, a religious Muslim woman from the Galil who is involved in all kinds of community-building and peacemaking efforts, including this one, one of Eliyahu's best friends, and just more amazingly cool beyond beyond people that I was blown away at the honor to be with. Afterwards, Judius, a Catholic Arab from the Galil, suggested we "go to a falafel place for lunch right across the checkpoint", ok....suddenly we're across the checkpoint and in a taxi right into the heart of Ramallah to go to waht Judius says is "a really nice restaurant." I was a *little bit* freaked out, thinking of the lynchings of Israeli soldiers that happened there and all sorts of other awful things, but I tried to be cool, and it totally helped that I was surrounded by beautiful people putting their lives on the line to make peace. The restaurant was nice, had good salad I guess, but it was also an oasis for peacemakers, it seemed. The maitre'd is part of Chefs for Peace, two guys from the Arab Parliament walked in, the very same two Arafat had screamed at earlier in the week for their peacemaking efforts with Jews. So Ramallah, oddly enough, was a good experience. Draining, but good. And don't tell my mom. Really.