I had a really great global issues class today. We listened to “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan, and then we talked about the meaning of peace. I think the reason that the class was so great is that my students are really starting to think for themselves. For example, we worked hard on trying to think of a definition for peace. Peace is a word that we use all the time, but when you try and explain exactly what it means, it can be really difficult. Some of the definitions that my students came up with were really great. I can tell that I am going to really enjoy the next couple of weeks of class.

I think this unit on peace and conflict is going to be one of the most meaningful in the course for me. As most of students know, I lived in Israel for two years, so I guess I have some experience of peace and conflict first hand. I can still remember sitting in a café in Jerusalem watching the jet planes fly overhead on their way to bomb Ramallah. I can also remember visiting my friends in south Jerusalem and hearing the mortar fire come from Beit Jalla as we were getting out of the car. I also remember my wonderful and beautiful high school students who were all going in the army the next year. I hope they are all okay. If only there were no armies . . .

Anyway, my students talked a bit today about peace and what it means to them. They also had to come up with some examples of peace. I want to share one of my personal examples of peace. When I was 28 years old, I was living and working on Kibbutz Palmachim. A kibbutz is a kind of collective farm, and on this farm there was also a huge concrete plant. My job was to work in the concrete plant three days a week, and then three other days of the week, I studied Hebrew. Anyway, this work was tough. We started work each day at six am, and we had to work outside all day cleaning concrete lines, lifting heavy machinery, and operating huge cranes. The work was hard, and most people hated it. Myself, I guess I kind of had a love – hate relationship with the work, because I hated having to get yelled at all the time by everyone, and sometimes I was really tired and dirty, but then again, sometimes I really liked being outside and doing physical labour.

Anyhow, the point of this story is that the work was hard. Most of the people like me were on the kibbutz to learn Hebrew. We were all Jewish. However, there were also some non-Jewish volunteers on the kibbutz as well. One of these volunteers was a young guy named Oliver from Germany. He was a really great guy, and we both got along together famously. We were always laughing, and whenever we worked together we had a good time. In short, we were friends.

One day, we were riding on top of a huge crane very early in the morning. We were both exhausted, and the day promised to be a hard one full of heavy dirty work. Oliver and I were just chatting as we rode on the crane towards where we would be working for the day. We were talking about how hard and crazy the work was. Suddenly, I looked at him, and I asked him, “why are you here?” I mean, I knew why I was there. I was Jewish, and I was learning Hebrew, but this guy was a German. He didn’t have to be in the middle of Israel working like a dog. He said that he was sent to Israel by a social club that he was in.

“A social club? You mean like a church group?” I asked.

“No, it is just a social club, and one of our activities is to learn more about the Jewish people and to do volunteer and welfare work in Israel”

I guess I was tired or something, but suddenly I looked at him and I just started to cry. .He didn’t notice that I was crying, so he just kept talking about this and that. However, before I knew it I started to really cry hard. In fact, I was sobbing loudly. Oliver looked at me like I was crazy.

“Why are you crying?” he asked.

I couldn’t even speak hardly. “You’re German” I choked out. I started to cry even harder. “You’re German and we are friends.”

I was crying because there we were in Israel, a German and a Jew working together in a concrete factory and we were friends. 50 years ago he would have wanted to kill me, but now we joked together, laughed together and were able to complain together. That, for me, was one of the most beautiful moments in my life when I realized peace is possible. History doesn’t have to dictate the future, and past hates can be buried in the promise of a normal tomorrow where two guys can sit on top of a crane and laugh about their lives.