I'd been meaning to write about this for the last month and a half, but it's been hectic in our home with our house being remodeled to be more handicap accessible for Micaiah ben Malachi.
This year is the sixtieth anniversary of the Nation of Israel as a State. Israel became a Nation State as of May 14, 1948. Many Jewish communities of the Diaspora here in the United States and around the world held their celebrations, or are still holding celebrations. On May 7, Micaiah and I had the opportunity to attend one of the celebrations, which was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The only way Micaiah and I could attend was to have someone drive us to it since we don't drive. Since Jews and Non-Jews were invited to attend, we invited our closest neighbor to come with us; he obliged. Of course, when we first extended the invitation to our neighbor, he was reluctant, fearing that he would stand out like a sore thumb as a Christian in a sea of Jews. I believe he also feared that people would make suggestions that he should convert to Judaism. Upon assuring him that neither would be the case, he was more willing, and seemed happy to have been invited.
At the celebration, there was music and dancing at one end of the venue, trivia games being played at one or two other tables, and many vendors selling small samples of Jewish foods, artifacts, and T-shirts that read, "Israel @ 60". There was also a tourism booth and a Jewish organization; both of which handed out free brochures, outlining the services they provided for Jews and non-Jews alike. Many of the items for purchase cost more than what we could afford, but Micaiah and I did buy ourselves the T-shirts mentioned above. One of the other things for sale were shofars of different sizes. For any non-Jews who run across this blog entry, a shofar is made of a ram's horn and is blown on Rosh Hashanah. Since I can only see by touching the items, I got to feel the different shofars lying on the table. Even though we couldn't afford one, I was fascinated by the fact that shofars came in different sizes and shapes. Some were as small as large glasses in length and circumference while others were as long as my arm and as big around as the average pitcher. I also never knew that some shofars were spiral-shaped. I always thought that they were only straight like a tube. Not only was the fascination because I had never seen one before, but the shapes and sizes are not changed when the ram's horn is cut off of the ram. Though the shofar is coated to preserve the horn, the original shape is how G*d made the horn develop and grow. Whenever I examine something that is naturally made as opposed to manmade, I reflect on the fact that the item is how G*d made it. How G*d creates things never ceases to fascinate me. After looking at the shofars, we participated in some of the Jewish trivia game. Some questions were on Jewish history as a whole or about Jews in Minnesota, philosophers, holidays, etc. While Micaiah was able to answer many of the historical questions, one of the questions was to name the five leavened items prohibited during Pesach (Passover). Since bread is our main staple, and bread is made of wheat or rye, we could only name two of the five. The other three are sfelt, barley, and oats. We don't eat or drink anything with barley or sfelt in it, and the only time we eat anything that contains oats is when we eat cereal.
For the most part, it was nice to be able to attend a Jewish gathering, especially the celebration of Israel's sixtieth birthday. Most people didn't question whether or not Micaiah and I were Jews since we were wearing our kippot. I think, too, that it was a good experience for our neighbor. Even though one person at the tourism booth asked him if he was a Jew and our neighbor admitted that he wasn't, the lady making the inquiry made him feel welcome. She impressed on him that he was welcome to tour Israel even though he was a Christian, and didn't make any suggestions for him to convert. There was one lady who asked us what congregation Micaiah and I were affiliated with, though. We told her that we didn't officially belong to a congregation but that we had connections with a rabbi who officiated our conversion. At that, she asked us whether or not we had met or heard of Rabbi Funnye, who has a congregation in Chicago. We told the lady that we had read various articles about him, but that we had never met him or talked to him. We also told her that we lived here in Minnesota. Still, she kept insisting that Micaiah and I establish connections with Rabbi Funnye and his congregation. On the surface, she thought that she was helping us find ways to be more connected to the Jewish community. Beneath the surface, however, her referral was no better than calling "a spade a spade". Rabbi Funnye is a controversial rabbi in Chicago who associates himself with the Black Hebrewites. Micaiah and I are not Hebrewites; we are Jews! We also felt that her referral was a form of racism. Why couldn't she have referred us to a Jewish congregation that was integrated or was primarily White? All of Rabbi Funnye's congregation is Black.
There were many things to see or buy at the Israel At Sixty celebration, but I wish that there was more to the party. The party was held during a weekday evening for only four hours. I feel that the party should've been an all-day event held on a Sunday. The music and dancing should've included everyone in which people were taught the dances and songs instead of groups of people dancing and singing for an audience. A large cake decorated with a picture of the Israeli flag drawn into the frosting with sixty lit birthday candles on a table in the center of the activities would've also been very nice. Of course, people who attended would get a piece of cake as they passed by. All these things that weren't there at the party would've made the celebration more inclusive and festive.
Makedah bat Leah
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