Encounters with individuals of real depth – Hasidic masters, NGO leaders, soup kitchen volunteers, and taxi drivers – quickly became a preoccupation in my first week. Israeli culture is given to cause-adoption. Virtually everybody is intoxicated with this or that religious, political, ideological cause. Yet when you meet somebody who is able to bring a reflective, seasoned approach to the complexities of a cause, along with a passionate intensity to it, then you know that you have something to learn from wakeful meeting and listening.
Reading Alex Singer’s book, Alex: Building a Life, has been one of the most significant ingredients in helping to make my Sabbatical as nourishing as it has been. Alex was a person of true depth and glowing humanity. As a Platoon Commander, he tells of Musa, a 43 Bedouin in his Platoon who didn’t know how to read or write. “What about Arabic?” I asked. No, not Arabic either. He says he has trouble with the public toilets where he doesn’t know which is the men’s room.” Yet as a shepherd with a lifetime of experience as a tracker, Alex concludes about Musa, “he is teaching me a lot.” Someone who never learned to read or write and has trouble going to the bathroom, still has much to teach the wakeful student.
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