Bumbamella!
Bumbamella is a shanty festival that is held every year on the Mediterranean coast between Ashdod and Ashkelon – south of Tel Aviv. It is a three day festival of music, yoga, beach, camping, chilling out in the water…amazing… It wasn’t totally ideal – it was disgustingly littered with hardly any room to walk by the end without walking through trash of some kind – but I think that was because of the Israeli tendency to leave messes while they hike and camp rather than any mentality at this specific festival. There was also an average age of about 17…but so it goes. The music was a great spread – funk, reggae, Israeli pop, techno, folk…I got to use my new tent for the first time – thanks for the b-day present pops! I left with a good tan, sand in everything I owned, music flowing through my head, and a new appreciation for what it means to be “chiloni” in Israel. Direct translation: secular. Real translation: ?
America is a very religiously charged place – in some ways. Most people believe in God, pray regularly and go to a place of worship at least one a month. What does it mean to be secular in America? Wikipedia says that “secular” is the “state of being separate from organized religion”. Most parts of life in America are secular – are separate from an organized religion. Our courts, our laws, our rights, our legal status, our marriages – all of this is independent from any organized religion that we belong to or do not belong to. In America one leads a secular life and a religious life. For sure they do not exist in separate vacuums, but they are largely separate. Also, in America a person can choose to have absolutely no connection to religious organizations, rituals, communities, etc. A person can lead a completely secular life.
To say that Israel is a religiously charged place is a wild understatement. Everyone here is part of a religious society – people are defined by their religions (of course there are other defining characteristics as well). Religion has its hand in everyone’s life – it is in places you eat, food at the grocery store, immigration law, marriage and divorce courts, the national anthem, the school system, the history, the land – it is inescapable. Yet there are many Israelis who never choose to set foot into a shul, EVER. Most Israelis place themselves under the umbrella of the word – chiloni – translated directly, as I said above, as secular. But in Israel this means a very different thing, I think, than it does in America or any other democracy that separates between church and state and is not defined by a single nationalistic/religious group. Israel is Jewish. Its authors and musicians reference Jewish ideas, quotes, values, books, etc. Its calendar is the Jewish calendar. Its majority culture is a Jewish one – however one defines their Jewish culture. Its language is a Jewish language. Its people are a majority Jewish. Its army has kosher food. The examples are endless. You can’t escape religion here as a Jew – it is pervasive. True, you can choose to have nothing to do with organized religion here, but you can not avoid it as a part of the society and culture of Israel. An American Jew can easily live their entire life free of Jewish institutions, organizations, practices, and communities, culture. Here that is by and large impossible.
At a shanty festival, heavily commercialized and pop culture influenced as it was, there were religious and secular Jews mixing together enjoying the beach, the water, the music, the camping – so many Israelis who are secular came to shabbas services, lit candles, listened to stories the yeshiva bochers told, ate matzah, sang songs, talked with their religious hosts…but the really cool thing happened Friday night at a Moshe ben Ari concert – he is very popular in Israel and the beach was overflowing with eager energized listeners. As he introduced one of his band members he said his name and then described him as “ish tzadik b’dorotav” – “a righteous man in his generation”. These are words used to describe Noah in the Torah. You cannot escape religion here, it is pervasive and is there to greet you around every corner. I love it…most of the time. My conclusion about being “secular”? It’s a whole different ballgame here in the holy land…
a thirty foot high moses...black and chillin out in the "freedom area"
ashram area of the festival
i don't even have an explanation for this one...
my friend Ilana and i getting some sun before we went to play in the waves.
a guy from Brooklyn that I met on the beach - complete with two stars of david on his chest with the words "never again" written above...interesting cat.
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