Thursday, August 29, 2013

The Israeli and the Keepah*

8/29/2013


This is a subject I’ve written about before, butBarcelona was a long time ago, so I’ll write about it again.

I was cooking some rice and peas in the kitchen when the dark middle eastern fellow standing next to me asked me in Hebrew if I would like to join him for dinner.

I like to speak Hebrew and it’s nice to get spend time with another member of the tribe.  So we ate together and while we were eating, in Hebrew, “You know, it’s probably not so safe to wear you’re keepah.  We have a lot of cousins** around here.”

“Just let one of them give me trouble.  I can handle myself.”

“It’s not just one of them you’ll have trouble with.  It’s a whole bunch.”

“I have mad skills.”  Maybe I do, and maybe I don’t.  But if I do take a beating for being proud of my people and my faith, then at the very least, I will weary my enemy’s arms.  And if enough people can be proud to be different, maybe their arms will get so tired no one will have to be scared any more.

* Definition:  A keepah, also called a skull cap or beanie is the cloth Jewish men put on there heads to hide their horns. - Free Online Dictionary

** It’s common for Jews to refer to Arabs as our cousins.  This probably comes from the legend*** that they are descended from Ishmael, the brother of Isaac our own patriarch.

***Legend, myth, historical fact?  I have no idea and don’t really care.  I also don’t know if footnotes are allowed on footnotes.

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