I had decided on the previous day to join my nephew Shimon in Yerushalym (Jerusalem) for the day. We had talked about heading down to Eilat for the day, but plans were made to stay in Yerushalym and join his friends for a bar-b-que.
Yom Ha'atzmaut has some very different customs that we in North America just don't get. Spray snow is one of them. Kids - and some adults - will chase people in the street with cans of spray snow (it's very much like weak shaving cream) and blast them. It's a big game, and the stuff comes right off, so nobody cares. The second is hitting people in the street with large inflatable hammers that make a squeaky noise. These are sold everywhere for the standard Yom Ha'atzmaut price - everything costs 5 shekels.
And just about every car has an Israeli flag on it - for 5 shekels - some have 2 or more.
Everyone greets everyone else with "Chag Sameach" (happy holiday), a term we in North America use for religious holidays.
So I got into the car early in the morning, expecting to have to wait in line at the special security checkpoints that the news told us to expect. Took about the same amount of time as trips from Rochovot to Yerushalym, 45 minutes.
I got there early and cruised around a bit on empty streets. One custom here that is the same in North America is having a bar-b-que for the national holiday, in this case Yom Ha'atzmuat.
Meat was purchased to be grilled, beverages obtained, accompaniments - for during the meal and after arranged and everything, including grills and charcoal was taken down to the park in from of the Knesset - Israel's Parliament. We set things up on a nice grassy knoll, and got the fires started.
Each couple or group of friends brought enough meat to cook for about 5 or 6 people, and since there were only about 25 or so, we had enough food for about 100. The meat went on the barby and an Australian in the crowd names Hymie began to cook. I became his assistant and soon the beer and meat were ready for consumption. One wonderful thing was not worrying about the kosher food thing. All of Shimon's friends without question brought kosher food. It was great going to a pot luck and not worrying about whether the food would be kosher.
Did I mention the liquor laws in Israel? No? That's because there don't seem to be any. Drinking in the park is fine, walking over to the gas station to get ice with a bottle of beer in your hand is not a problem, sending your 5 year old to the store to buy it for you is ok too. Are there any drunks in the street? None. Very interesting. Maybe because it's not controlled, it doesn't become illicit.
So the party is going on, more and more people show up, including another Aussie who just got off of Army duty for the day - he had to go home to store his rifle but didn't have time to change out of his gear. About 4 guitars show up and singing starts and the beer is happening and the steaks are eaten - with humous and olives in a pita - and it becomes a very nice day, kicking back in a park named Gan Succar, next to the Knesset in Yerushalym, Israel, enjoying Yom Ha'atzmaut the way 5 million Israelis did today.
We played some frisbee, walked around a bit, ate and had a really fine day. At about 6 the call for afternoon prayers came from one of the gentlemen and we all got up and faced the Kotel (Wall) - just over that hill there - and the service was over in 5 minutes.
It got dark about 7:30 and we cleaned up the area - the soldier was meticulous - and walked back to Shimon's place, leaving a few people in the park, in the dark with their continuing accompaniments.
Shimon and I got back to his place and left all of the stuff. We got into the car and I went to the Kotel for evening prayers. I figured that it might be the last time I'm in Yerushalym this trip so I'd better go while I was there.
On the way back to Rochovot, just beside the highway entrance is a bus stop where dozens congregate looking to hitch-hike out of town. I figured it was a good thing to pick up someone - I was traveling by myself, so there was plenty of room - so I stopped and told the first fellow to ask my direction "Rechovot". He jumped in the front seat - he was going about 20 klicks to Latrun, and a woman with some grocery bags also jumped in, she was coming about 2/3 of the way. Then 2 more who were going along the way, and off we went with a full car!
Met some nice people, practiced my hebrew a bit, they practiced their english and everyone got to where they were going a bit sooner.
I did not have the camera with me today so there are no pictures. Even if I had the camera with me, I'm not sure that I would have taken many, as it was a college crowd, and you know how they can be when they are enjoying certain types of substances. (Neither Shimon or I joined in)
Thursday in Tel Aviv
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