The Druze

It is always satisfying to know that you will be doing something fun on your birthday. Today my program traveled to the beautiful Mt Carmel and had a day with the Druze. My birthday was also different and awesome in that I shared my birthday with another member of the Tikkun Olam Program named Lara. The Druze are a special religious and ethnic group that are Arab and Arabic speaking. They can be found mostly in Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. Israeli Druze for the most part live in the Mt Carmel area of Northern Israel and the Upper Galilee. There is also a significant community in the Golan, but they are different than the other Druze in that they were loyal to Syria and are afraid to become Israeli in fear that if the Golan is returned to Syria that they might be targeted. The Druze are different in that they serve in the IDF and speak Hebrew. The Druze found refuge from persecution in Cairo where the faith was founded in the Galilee, Lebanon, and Syria. Their religious practices are shrouded in mystery and only those that are religious know what to do. It is a religion in that you either practice it or you do not. There are no streams like Judaism, or Christianity in the Druze faith. They have a very unique culture in that women play a very central role in society as religious figures. We visited the Druze IDF Memorial in Daliyat al Carmel and met a man that talked about a mechina(gap year) program for the Druze. We also visited a group of women who talked about the role of women in Druze Society. I also had the delight of eating delicious food from the Druze. I went a group of friends on the program to a restaurant for Labneh( a delicious cheese that has the taste of yogurt), hummus, and stuffed grape leaves. To cap it off I shared some knaiffeh a delicious Druze and Arab dessert made with cheese and covered with crunchy phyllo soaked in sugar syrup. I obviously had cake and I will be going to a halloween party tonight as Senor Davey. I picked up a sombrero near the shouk so it should be cool. More to come from the Eretz soon.