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THE PRIZE AWARD WINNERS The walls of Israel By Laura Goldfarb Plus 10 more winning essays THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS B2 [ THE CJN PRIZE ] MARCH 16, 2017 WINNER Award for The walls of Israel Excellence in Jewish LAURA GOLDFARB to my shadow as my soles dragged through Writing the scalding sand. In the distance, we t isn’t often that I overhear discussion caught sight of two silhouettes reclining of Israel or Judaism in my residence in the shade of a large boulder. Aroused I building, which happens to overlook by the prospect of external interaction af- the giant, monumental cross of the Water- ter days without it, we approached them. loo Seminary. However, a few days ago, as From their ankle-length black cloaks and I was walking back to my room, the word cylindrical white head coverings, our guide “Israel” slipped out from underneath my identified them as Druze, and introduced neighbours’ door. As though it was a com- herself in Arabic. She conversed with the mander’s order, I halted immediately. two men animatedly, as though she was “My cousin just told me that she’s going catching up with old friends. Gradually, to Israel,” the first girl announced indif- however, their conversation began to take ferently. “Israel…,” the other pondered, on a discernibly earnest tone. It was then “that’s the Jewish one with all the walls, that our guide started translating what the right?” men were saying. My curiosity was piqued, and as I eaves- They told us about their younger brother, dropped, ironically through the wall, I who served gallantly as a combat soldier began to wonder if my neighbour’s per- for the IDF during the Second Lebanon ception was right; if the significance of Is- War. Tears escaped from their eyes, damp- rael to those who had no connection to it ening their dehydrated cheeks, as they de- could be distilled to just “the one with all scribed the events of their brother’s cap- the walls.” I ruminated on this point, and ture and his tragic death at the hands of From left: Carl Ehrlich, director of the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies, I believe that she was, in a way, right – but Lebanese fighters. The younger of the two CJN Prize winner Laura Goldfarb and CJN editor Yoni Goldstein. only half right. weeped silently, while the other recounted Ever since kindergarten, I’ve been the utterly devastating details of their of a different ethnicity, and of a different to. But, I can’t help wondering whether taught that Judaism cherishes shalom brother’s week-long captivity, culminating language, but the barriers that existed be- her perception would change if she knew – peace – and achdut—togetherness. I in his untimely death at just 19 years old. tween us disintegrated almost instantly. In that, in a sense, walls are also broken can recall one seemingly endless Tanach With his gaze unblinking and fixed in the that moment, they were our brothers, and down in Israel quicker than in any place class during which we deconstructed distance, he explained that, sometimes, their brother was our brother, too. We lis- I’ve ever known. That an unmistakable the phrase, “Behold, how good and how when they imagine the four dark walls tened and we felt their pain, and no walls infusion of openness imbues the stagnant pleasant it is for brothers to dwell togeth- that imprisoned their brother, they be- separated us. desert air and engenders the overly can- er in unity!” from Ketuvim. As I now read come sick with a sort of claustrophobia – I would be mistaken not to count this did, wonderfully forthright behaviour of over my lazily scribbled notes, I learn that “or maybe it’s just the grief creeping back”, as a uniquely Israeli experience. In Israel, the Israeli people. That the many religious the word “brothers” is often interpreted, he wondered. Regardless, that’s why they when you accidentally make eye-contact and cultural walls, along with their appeal quite self-referentially, as any people who come out here, he said, because the desert with someone on a bus, the person doesn’t to be knocked down, allow for those un- successfully “dwell together in unity,” sug- has no walls, just “vast openness,” as our dart his eyes away in embarrassment like avoidable connections and that spirit of gesting that faith, and ethnicity, and lan- guide translated. a Canadian does, he stares. When people brotherhood that permeates every city, guage are immaterial to the question of It’s true, in some areas, the Israeli land- lock eyes, they accept the connection, town, and kibbutz in Israel. brotherhood. scape is expansive, spacious, freeing. But they don’t shy away from it. It’s only in Israel that a group of Eng- I think back to an encounter from my it wasn’t just the landscape that was unob- Admittedly, in spite of my anecdotes, lish-speaking teenage girls can sit in the summer on Biluim Israel. structed, it was our empathy, our connec- there are walls in Israel. Literal walls. heart of a bustling market with a group of We were well into the sixth hour on the tion, our understanding, too, that was un- Walls that segregate people. Walls that Arab women whom they had just met, and third day of our five-day hiking trip. The obstructed. On that day, in the desert, we hold great political significance. These are speak about food and the weather and smell of burning rubber stubbornly clung encountered two men of a different faith, the walls that my neighbour was referring current events like old pals. Only in Israel can such an eclectic group come together over a traditional freeqa and falafel. Only in Israel do partitions between people The CJN Prize Event crumble like fistfuls of Bamba. So, my neighbour was, in a way, right. Israel is the Jewish one with all the walls. But she was only half right, because Israel is the Jewish one with all the walls being brought down. In Israel it’s plain to see that those who choose to live together in unity, those who hold sacred the values of shalom and achdut, no matter their faith, ethnicity, or language, are brothers. Is- rael’s significance extends far beyond the walls that stand, its significance lies deep- ly in the “vast openness” of its vivacious culture. ■ Laura Goldfarb is in her first year of communication studies at Wilfrid Laurier CJN Prize winner Laura Goldfarb, third from right, with family and friends at the event reception. University. THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS MARCH 16, 2017 [ THE CJN PRIZE ] B3 Runner Up When the fast is slow Award for Excellence in struggled to focus on the conversations ing ever is) but I was living spend most days around me because I was so distracted by in accordance with my val- Jewish Writing of the year feel- the cruel, abusive voice inside my head. I ues. I believe this is the key ing unworthy and spent many holidays hiding in the bath- to living a life without regrets. struggling to feed room, trying to breathe through a panic Somewhere along the way, I lost yourself, perhaps attack or just finding a safe haven from the person I used to be to my ill- Yom Kippur should be the chaos. ness. I know there is only one way to a time to embrace com- Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are a restore a valued life, and that is through passion. After all, what is forgive- time of renewal. We celebrate the new the ultimate fresh start– beginning a new ness but an act of compassion? Not only year and we are granted a fresh start. life that does not include the abusive part- compassion towards others, but also to- We reflect on the ways in which we have ner called anorexia. wards oneself. strayed from our values and we aim to do One of the barriers to recovering from Anorexia is a very complicated condition better than the year before. anorexia, for myself and for many others with many biological, genetic, environ- This year, I spent some time considering I have spoken to, is feeling undeserving. mental and psychological factors involved. how my disorder prevents me from living Feeling trapped in this painful disorder Recovery is not a simple or easy process by a valued life. Not only does it interfere with can really take a toll on one’s self-esteem any means, but for me, it is composed of celebrating joyous occasions, but it inter- and self-worth. This is why the holiday of small and manageable steps. One step that HAYLEY DANZIGER feres with my ability to be my true self. I Yom Kippur has a very different meaning I can take is to find meaning in the holiest am not fully present to engage with my for me these days than it used to, and I of the holidays by choosing to forgive my- s a child, the Jewish holiday of community and participate in charitable have come to approach it in a non-trad- self, to take care of myself, and to be the Yom Kippur always bewildered projects, be a supportive family member, itional way. Instead of fasting on Yom Kip- best version of myself. For it is through be- A me. I would watch my parents and or pursue my passions. pur, it is one day of the year when I will ing compassionate towards ourselves that grandparents abstain from food, and I ob- As a child, I loved to write stories, poetry 100 percent commit to feeding myself.

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