May 14, 2008
This day in mid-May is the day on the secular calendar that Israel issued its Declaration of Independence, as the British ended their Mandate. In that year, 1948, May 14th fell on a Friday and as expressed in the Declaration, the "Founding Fathers" (and Mothers) of the State of Israel had certain things in mind for the country. And so did the world nations. Many probably felt that Israel was an experiment, just as any new country might be deemed such. How many of the Nations could have imagined the degree to which Israel would come to occupy the world stage? It was ratified on the world stage, so all must have understood then why Israel mattered and many must have grasped why it would matter in the years and decades to come. But even today, Israel is not well understood - certainly has never been fully understood - amongst the nations, and I don't think it can be. Firstly, Israel, although functioning as a normal country, is an anomaly of sorts and, secondly, and probably for the reason just mentioned, Israel doesn't fully understand itself, so how can others be expected to?
Determining whether Israel, the "experiment," has been successful is a topic of unlimited and unregulated discussion - daily, in the newspapers and media, and in the cafes and living rooms, and on less frequent occasions such as anniversaries, be they the 25th, 50th, 60th or some other "special" milestone.
A passing grade or higher? In my estimation, from what I've read, thought about, heard, experienced, and seen in more than 25 trips over 25 years, Israel has certainly been unsuccessful in many areas. Important areas. But there's no surprise there, only disappointment, because we had hoped for more, thinking the years would have resolved the various issues, even as they created new ones. Anyone who knows Israel can list the wrongs, the failures, the inconceivable, and yet it's precisely because we can make that list, cross things off at times, and then add new ones to it, that Israel shows itself to be a success, an overwhelming success! That's right. The success is not just because we can list the successes, but also because we care enough to wonder - to wonder why this or that happened, didn't happen - to list the not-yet-accomplished (it sounds better that way), to be bothered by potential yet unrealized in a country that we, yes, care about.
I started caring about Israel when I was 18. That's when I first really experienced Israel, finally visiting for the first time. I arrived in August 1983 and was to spend a year - an academic year, that is, 10 months - of serious, and hopefully fun, study at a yeshiva almost an hour from Jerusalem and a half hour south of Tel Aviv, but minutes from the neighboring kibbutz chickens that seemingly stayed up late at night and awoke early in the morning; a slightly longer walk to the olive trees, and fields of cotton with lone tractors or other farm equipment that regularly maneuvered across the large parcels of land.
It was in Israel that I discovered photography. I had discovered aspects of it at age 13 back in the US, acquiring a Super 8 movie camera with some of my bar mitzvah money, but during my year abroad I experienced a new place. I had brought with me a Yashica 5-Star, a point-and-shoot camera with a fixed wide-angle lens, maybe 10 rolls of film, and also my curiosity. Combine innate curiosity with a new experience and it's a good mix. I explored many places in Israel during the year, Jerusalem on an almost bi-weekly basis, but other locations with organized trips, or some I'd take on my own. Towards the end of the year, I decided to share some of my photographs that I had taken over the months with the larger yeshiva community. I chose 50 prints from about 200 images that I had photographed and had processed at a Jerusalem photo shop and placed the 4x6s on a large sheet of oak tag (do they even make small sheets?). I assembled the photographs and labeled alongside them with corresponding numbers, and I stated the price hoping that people would order prints. Off I went to the Chader Ochel, the Dining Hall one day to post my photos on the inside wall right near the entrance, facing in so that people would see them once they were in the main room. Lunchtime came and there was activity, something new and different was on display. For 15 minutes people skipped their lunch to look at the photos, crowding around to see what this fellow on the American program had posted.
Well, in the end, no one ordered any of the prints, as affordable as I had priced them, and the distinguished Rosh Yeshiva (Head of the Yeshiva) mentioned to me a few days later, succinctly and in his deep voice, that "It's “asur, prohibited, to do this without permission." I must have responded with an apology and something along the lines of "that I wouldn't," but probably then explained why I did. He must have been surprised that someone was having a miniature photography exhibit right there in the yeshiva dining hall and I know on another occasion, when I was leading the Sabbath Musaf service, he had stopped me when I began to sing the Anim Zemiros song to "Erev Shel Shoshanim, Evening of Roses" a lovely Hebrew tune, but discernable in Israel as the always popular love song that it is. Not a religious tune, but a secular song, composed in 1957 and sung by numerous artists, and not only Israeli or Jewish ones.
Judah S. Harris
Photographer and Filmmaker
This day in mid-May is the day on the secular calendar that Israel issued its Declaration of Independence, as the British ended their Mandate. In that year, 1948, May 14th fell on a Friday and as expressed in the Declaration, the "Founding Fathers" (and Mothers) of the State of Israel had certain things in mind for the country. And so did the world nations. Many probably felt that Israel was an experiment, just as any new country might be deemed such. How many of the Nations could have imagined the degree to which Israel would come to occupy the world stage? It was ratified on the world stage, so all must have understood then why Israel mattered and many must have grasped why it would matter in the years and decades to come. But even today, Israel is not well understood - certainly has never been fully understood - amongst the nations, and I don't think it can be. Firstly, Israel, although functioning as a normal country, is an anomaly of sorts and, secondly, and probably for the reason just mentioned, Israel doesn't fully understand itself, so how can others be expected to?
Determining whether Israel, the "experiment," has been successful is a topic of unlimited and unregulated discussion - daily, in the newspapers and media, and in the cafes and living rooms, and on less frequent occasions such as anniversaries, be they the 25th, 50th, 60th or some other "special" milestone.
A passing grade or higher? In my estimation, from what I've read, thought about, heard, experienced, and seen in more than 25 trips over 25 years, Israel has certainly been unsuccessful in many areas. Important areas. But there's no surprise there, only disappointment, because we had hoped for more, thinking the years would have resolved the various issues, even as they created new ones. Anyone who knows Israel can list the wrongs, the failures, the inconceivable, and yet it's precisely because we can make that list, cross things off at times, and then add new ones to it, that Israel shows itself to be a success, an overwhelming success! That's right. The success is not just because we can list the successes, but also because we care enough to wonder - to wonder why this or that happened, didn't happen - to list the not-yet-accomplished (it sounds better that way), to be bothered by potential yet unrealized in a country that we, yes, care about.
I started caring about Israel when I was 18. That's when I first really experienced Israel, finally visiting for the first time. I arrived in August 1983 and was to spend a year - an academic year, that is, 10 months - of serious, and hopefully fun, study at a yeshiva almost an hour from Jerusalem and a half hour south of Tel Aviv, but minutes from the neighboring kibbutz chickens that seemingly stayed up late at night and awoke early in the morning; a slightly longer walk to the olive trees, and fields of cotton with lone tractors or other farm equipment that regularly maneuvered across the large parcels of land.
It was in Israel that I discovered photography. I had discovered aspects of it at age 13 back in the US, acquiring a Super 8 movie camera with some of my bar mitzvah money, but during my year abroad I experienced a new place. I had brought with me a Yashica 5-Star, a point-and-shoot camera with a fixed wide-angle lens, maybe 10 rolls of film, and also my curiosity. Combine innate curiosity with a new experience and it's a good mix. I explored many places in Israel during the year, Jerusalem on an almost bi-weekly basis, but other locations with organized trips, or some I'd take on my own. Towards the end of the year, I decided to share some of my photographs that I had taken over the months with the larger yeshiva community. I chose 50 prints from about 200 images that I had photographed and had processed at a Jerusalem photo shop and placed the 4x6s on a large sheet of oak tag (do they even make small sheets?). I assembled the photographs and labeled alongside them with corresponding numbers, and I stated the price hoping that people would order prints. Off I went to the Chader Ochel, the Dining Hall one day to post my photos on the inside wall right near the entrance, facing in so that people would see them once they were in the main room. Lunchtime came and there was activity, something new and different was on display. For 15 minutes people skipped their lunch to look at the photos, crowding around to see what this fellow on the American program had posted.
Well, in the end, no one ordered any of the prints, as affordable as I had priced them, and the distinguished Rosh Yeshiva (Head of the Yeshiva) mentioned to me a few days later, succinctly and in his deep voice, that "It's “asur, prohibited, to do this without permission." I must have responded with an apology and something along the lines of "that I wouldn't," but probably then explained why I did. He must have been surprised that someone was having a miniature photography exhibit right there in the yeshiva dining hall and I know on another occasion, when I was leading the Sabbath Musaf service, he had stopped me when I began to sing the Anim Zemiros song to "Erev Shel Shoshanim, Evening of Roses" a lovely Hebrew tune, but discernable in Israel as the always popular love song that it is. Not a religious tune, but a secular song, composed in 1957 and sung by numerous artists, and not only Israeli or Jewish ones.
Future
exhibits of mine would take place in galleries or
museums, and later on the web, all venues more attuned to presenting
the arts. But I did come to realize more fully during my year in Israel
that I
had this real
curiosity about people, about experiencing different
places, and a visual ability, which has developed over the years into
something
much bigger.
I've been back to Israel many times, and while I have traveled to and explored locations with names like Paris and London, exotic cities such as Istanbul and Venice, various Caribbean Islands, and many US destinations, still in Israel I seem to care more about the successes of the country I’m trying to get to know. I also don’t feel as if I’m just a visitor, although my photography always allows me to feel less the visitor and more as someone documenting a spot on the map, a way of life in most of the places that I go. My proficiency with Hebrew probably helps in terms of the Israel experience, but I think that the caring element plays a factor. Each of us connects differently, responds differently, and it’s fair to say that no two people experience the same thing alike. I do hope that my Israel photographs taken over the last 25 years allow more connection for those who’ve experienced Israel or want to, and I hope they’ll provide a partial answer and show that the modern-day State of Israel has, in many ways, been a very successful experiment. Certainly a very interesting one.
Judah S. Harris
Photographer and Filmmaker
Judah S. Harris is a photographer, filmmaker,
speaker and writer. He contributes to a wide
range of editorial projects
and produces visual marketing tools, incorporating photography, film and design, for corporate and organizational clients.
His work is widely admired for its narrative quality and distinct composition:
"Emotional, poignant to our times, rich, metaphorical - these are all the things that Judah does best."
Phil Rose, Creative Director, Hyperion Books
"His compositional choices, arrangements, angles and use of light and shadow put a creator's stamp on everything."
Barry Tanenbaum, writing in Shutterbug Magazine
and produces visual marketing tools, incorporating photography, film and design, for corporate and organizational clients.
His work is widely admired for its narrative quality and distinct composition:
"Emotional, poignant to our times, rich, metaphorical - these are all the things that Judah does best."
Phil Rose, Creative Director, Hyperion Books
"His compositional choices, arrangements, angles and use of light and shadow put a creator's stamp on everything."
Barry Tanenbaum, writing in Shutterbug Magazine
email: judah (at) judahsharris.com