Eitan Update 4.4: Torah, Illness, Weddings and Funerals...
Eitan Levy
BS”D/בס"ד
Eitan Update v.4, issue 4-----March 1, 2007 / יא אדר, תשס"ז
This ‘Eitan Update’ is dedicated to the memory of Erez Levanon (HY”D).
I. Introduction:
The last few months have been defined, for me, by four things which seem to me now to come in pairs: learning and health problems, weddings and a funeral. The first in each pair is about life, learning Torah which is a tree of life and getting closer to Hashem, the source of all life, and weddings being the beginning of a new stage in life, the formation of a new organism, and the entering into a union which will produce more life. On the other side, illness, decay, the struggle to remain alive at all, and the funeral obviously reflecting what happens when we fail to do so.
II. Yeshivah Life, Torah and Health Issues:
I spend most of my waking hours each week praying and learning Torah. It’s been an incredible experience to be osek b’Torah (working in/applying myself to Torah) in such a full, complete, focused way. Psychological blocks have opened. New and important insights have appeared. And I am aware, on a level I never was before, of the imminent presence of the Creator of the Universe in all that I merit to see and do in the world. When I enjoy the beautiful view out my window, looking down into the rocky valley where David slew Goliath, with olive groves perched in terraces on the opposite slope, and the forest at the top extending down into the valley, my view extending from the peak of Har Etzion, to the towers of Tel Aviv, and the glittering of sunshine off the Mediterranean, I don’t just have an aesthetic experience. I am utterly aware of the kedushah (holiness) of what I am seeing, and of that moment, and of a higher purpose of which I grasp only a little bit, which all of this, and my role in it is serving. I credit this opportunity to learn Torah in this wonderful place, here in Bat Ayin, with opening me up to this level of life.
On the other hand, I have been ill for much, if not most, of the Winter. I get a cold every few weeks, it seems, which inevitably turns into a sinus infection, and the whole thing drags on for a couple of weeks before I’m well again, only to start again shortly thereafter. In desperation I went to a naturopath in Efrat, recommended by a friend who has had much success with him, and he started me on a six month diet including all sorts of different foods and herbs and what-not to strengthen my system, and then he wants to do more ‘body work’ of the chiropractic, bone moving variety after that. We’ll see about that. But in the mean-time, the diet seems to be helping. I’ve still been getting sick, and even infections, but they’ve been much more mild the last few times, and I’ve been recovering quicker.
III. Weddings:
As to particular events, weddings are everywhere. Since I’ve been at the Yeshivah I have been to four weddings. To understand the significance of these events, one needs to have some idea of what an Orthodox, Jewish wedding is like in general, and particularly the Israeli variety. It is not the roughly 30 minute ceremony followed by an orderly procession to the reception which goes for a few hours until the happy couple split for their honeymoon, which many of you may be familiar with. These affairs are 6-7 hour marathons of joy, sometimes ecstatic, sometimes emotional and thoughtful. But more than the length, there’s an organic quality to the flow of a Jewish wedding, only increased by the ‘Israeli Principle of Disorganization’ by which any ‘undue’ organization is considered treasonous, and is considered a capital crime. So people flow into the wedding hall for a few hours, in which time the groom and bride—in separate rooms—have their separate little parties. At some point the two crowds converge as the man’s group goes to the woman for the bedecken (where he puts the veil down over her face) and then moves on to the chuppah (canopy) where the ceremony commences. Then the bride and groom are whisked off to a private room for a while, while everyone else starts eating, and when the bride and groom come the room explodes into dancing and singing for hours and hours, until everything is over and you go home, usually around 12-1 at night.
I had the good fortune to be present at 3 wedding connected to the yeshivah since I’ve been here. Two were for friends of mine at the yeshivah, and one for the daughter of the Rosh Yeshivah (head of the yeshivah), Rav Natan. They were all interesting experiences, all very different and yet much the same. However, the last wedding I was at was that of my very dear friend, Ze’ev. For this, I had the honor of being his shomer, or guard, for the last few days leading up to the wedding. The halachic (Jewish-legal) reason for this role is to make sure the bride and groom don’t see each other, as there is a custom to keep them apart entirely for one week before the wedding. Practically, these days, especially in a big city where chances of running into each other are not so high, the shomer is more like a caretaker for the person getting married. It’s their job to keep the bride or groom from freaking out, which largely entails taking care of many of the last minute details of the wedding. The night before the wedding, I confiscated his phone, and thereafter it wrang about TEN TIMES an hour, sometimes more, until the wedding. It ended up being more difficult than I expected, with more to do, and less time to do it, but B”H everything turned out great.
Ze’ev is the type who sometimes requires great patience to wake up in the morning, and occasionally feats of strength. I knew Ze’ev was ready to get married when, on the morning of the wedding, I gently woke him by telling him the time, and he got up almost right away… and that was at 4:30 in the morning! We went to the Kotel (Western Wall) to daven with a netz minyan (earliest possible/sunrise prayers). Then we went to immerse in a mikveh (ritual bath) in the Old City, and then back to the hotel, where he took a nap, and I ran all over the city, renting cars, picking up dry-cleaning, delivering blow-torches to their required destinations, and whatever else had to be done with no-one else to do it. The wedding was beautiful, and I am so thankful to have been able to be so involved in making it happen.
IV. Murder. Erez Levanon (HY”D):
I have also learned that Israeli funerals follow a similarly organic structure. On Sunday evening this week, a member of the yishuv (‘yishuv’=small town, NOT ‘yeshivah,’ which means a place of Jewish learning. The yeshivah is located in a yishuv.) was murdered. Erez Levanon (HY”D=May G!d avenge his blood), a father of three, went out into the forest about 500 meters from my window to meditate and pray privately, and in the midst of prayer he was attacked and brutally stabbed to death by two Arabs from Beit Omar, the nearest Arab village.
For more on the events themselves, I give you these links to a news story and other media files, I will continue to describe only my experiences:
-This link is the best article I’ve seen about the basic events, with lots of pictures and movies also.
-This link is an audio file of one of Erez’s friends describing the incident.
-These two links, here, and here are to two songs, written and performed by Erez on the CD he put out a while back. They’re both beautiful and full of hope. I recommend listening to them both.
I found out about the murder on Monday morning, and the funeral was at 2 o’clock that afternoon. To steal a simile from a reporter from Arutz Sheva, it was like the heavens came down and joined us, and were crying with us for Erez. Bat Ayin was still enveloped in the same thick fog in which he had been killed. Everybody met at the main synagogue in the center of town, a few very short eulogies were given there, and my heart broke when I heard the cracking voice of Erez’ young son reading the Mourner’s Kaddish (the traditional Jewish prayer of mourning, usually said by the eldest son for a departed parent). Then the body was loaded into the hearse, and the crowd walked, slowly, up the hill, through most of Bat Ayin, stopping just before the gate. From there the crowd split up into cars to go to the cemetery up the hill in Kefar Etzyon. I ended up hopping into the back of a truck which was driving by and getting there pretty quickly. At the cemetery there were a few more short eulogies, and the body was buried, and it kept raining, in the fog and the mud.
So, the obvious question is, what does this mean for Bat Ayin? What does it mean for me? I didn’t know this person, so my connection is purely communal. I obviously feel a strong connection and sense of mourning for this dear person who was murdered for no other reason than being a Jew living in the Land of Israel, but life goes on. The security situation is no worse today than two weeks ago, and I have no intention to change any of my plans as a result, except to perhaps look into getting a weapon permit again. There’s no need for any of you to worry in particular for my safety. As usual, you can count on me keeping my head about me, and not taking unnecessary risks. As for the town of Bat Ayin, there’s sadness. Earlier today there was a memorial service at the site of the murder. A number of prayers were read, and in the end we made a pile of stones on the spot where the murder took place. Not a little pile of pebbles, but a big pile of stones up to my waist. It seemed like the fog came back for the event, as we had clear skies for the last few days. They say that righteous men (tzaddikim) are taken for the sins of the rest of us. When someone like Erez Levanon is taken in such a horrible way, the only way to move forward is to look deeply inward at what we are doing wrong and work to improve ourselves, to continue to seek righteousness and purity and justice in the world according to G!d’s will. Anything else would be a betrayal of his memory.
V. The Future:
Sunday is Purim for us here in Bat Ayin, and Monday is Purim for the holy city of Jerusalem, so I get to celebrate twice by means of a one day migration (for details see a competent halachic authority)! There will surely be much drink and merriment, and I will try to get some good pictures and/or videos to share with y’all.
In two weeks a good friend of mine at the yeshivah is getting married (m’afela l’orah=’from darkness to ligh,’ yeah?). And then the next week I’m heading home to Denver for a 3 week visit over the Pesach (Passover) holiday. I hope to see many of you there.
May we all merit the coming of the Messiah, and an end to all violence and strife soon and in our days. And in the mean time, may Hashem watch over and protect his children.
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B’ahavah (with love),
-Eitan Levy
Yeshivat Bat Ayin
Bat Ayin 90913
Israel
052-626-6389