Sari Friedman – Independence Day at the Sachne
I fell in the middle of an Israeli street yesterday, passed out for a moment, was lucky that traffic stopped. A soldier helped me back up. I wasn’t sure I would wake up this morning, but I did wake to the intensity that is Israeli sunshine and the ecstasy that is life.
Yesterday was a day of mourning here for those who have fallen in battle or been murdered by terrorists in the Intolerance Olympics.
But today I’m in the Israeli north in the Valley of Springs and it is Independence Day.
People BBQ here by an ancient spring called the Sachne. Romans bathed here during their conquest. Today young men from every imaginable tribe jump into the deep water (across from the sign telling them not to do this in four languages). Their women like fertility goddesses so breathtakingly ripe. Most of the children wear floaties.
Independence from fear and suspicion. Independence from a scarcity mindset. My cousins are Arab, Druze, Jewish, Christian, Baha’i. They are every imaginable skin color.
Yesterday tears. Today life
