The Mother of all Disclaimers: This story was written for fun. I do not mean to send any political or religious messages – Anthony is his own person, and he has his own thoughts, views and opinions, which I don't necessarily agree with. Also, I imagined magical Israel based on the three years of firsthand knowledge I have about this strange, lovely, tiny country. But admittedly, on many aspects, I do remain ignorant and any possible offense is unintentional. In that case, I apologize. And as usual, anything you may recognize doesn't belong to me.
The Strength of the Few
26/6/1998
Terry,
I made an impromptu trip to Israel to visit my family, and to get my sister and my dad to come back to England. I know I told you you'd see me helping with the reconstruction – Merlin knows it's basically expected of me at this point. But right now, I need this time for myself.
It's my first time in Israel, as you know, and I've gotten to see way more than I thought I would in three days – maybe not locations, but I got an idea of how wizards live here and it's pretty interesting. I just thought I'd share some of this experience with you, before I go back to England and you pester me about it.
As you know, Vivian and myself are the only Jewish witch and wizard living in Britain. Because of the war, my sister and my dad were granted status as refugees and in the meantime, Vivian was allowed to go to the local magical school. It was all too confusing for my dad, who chose to stay with his Muggle relatives and was forced to lie about Vivian going to an all-girls religious boarding school. I stayed with him for a couple of days, and I can tell he's fairly disoriented. I can only be proud of Vivian for being strong for the two of them, and for being brave enough to try to integrate into that society.
At the moment, I'm resting from the long trip from Haifa to Vivian's school. I have to say, this place is nothing like Hogwarts. It was built in the twentieth century in the middle of the Negev desert. More than a school, it's a full-fledged kibbutz, which is in essence a socialist community with a sustainable economy of sorts – I'll explain this better once I'm there. This particular kibbutz is home to six hundred witches and wizards, and it's appropriately called Koach Hameatim which appropriately means The Strengh of the Few. All wizards just call it 'the kibbutz' though.
As you may know, the kibbutz model is something that only exists in Israel. While private property exists – everyone has their house and their car, for example - everything education and health is public. There's a public laundry service and dining room. Everyone over the age of eighteen living there has to have a job within the community, and the Minister of Magic earns the same amount as a regular Herbologist, for example.
They grow everything they need. Their economy is based on the land – they export potions ingredients and plants, and breed creatures (magical and Muggle,) and they get to import everything they need. If they need someone to learn a trade, they're taught it for free. They even send them to university using the kibbutz's funds. That's a big difference between England and Israel – many Jewish wizards go to Muggle University or institutes. The Minister of Magic has a Muggle degree in International Politics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Muggle Studies is compulsory for this reason – they want people to be productive and successful in every possible area, because the success of one is the success of the whole community. Magical Israel is much more progressive and modern than old-fashioned magical England. Actually, they kinda laugh at us for our inability to adapt to Muggle technology.
Something you would love is that children are allowed to do magic within the boundaries of the kibbutz. You see children as young as seven learning simple magic, using their parents' wands under guidance. It actually helps them channel their magic – involuntary magic is practically unheard of. They only receive their first real wand when they came of age according to religion, at the age of twelve. In the seventies, boys received their wands at the age of thirteen –again, under religious principles - but it was considered unfair, since not everyone living there is Jewish. Religious studies aren't compulsory – Vivian opted not to pay attention to religion, which I respect.
Before you ask, yes, most of the wizarding Jews live in this community. It's just easier for everyone – in big cities they feel too isolated, but some of them leave the kibbutz to study and they just enjoy city life more. It happens. They end up giving back to the community somehow, but from far away, and that's okay. Many of them just work at preserving magical touristic locations.
Wizarding Muslims have their own communities, and there are good relations between magical Jews and Muslims. The Minister of Magic is Jewish on this term, but it's not the case in every situation. The last Minister was Christian, and the nice thing is that no one gives a damn about these things.
I've written enough for now – I'll be back to England in ten days, so I'll tell you everything then.
Anthony.
30/6/1998
Terry,
Very funny. You can tell me to stop rambling all you want, but you ask too many questions. It would take so much parchment to answer properly that Hermione Granger's History of Magic assignments would be a lighter read. You're worse than a girl sometimes, did you know that?
Anyway, I'm going to address briefly the whole social issue that interests you, because it's more complex than I could possibly explain on this letter, and it's the main cause of many debates.
It seems to me like Israeli Muslims and Jews are two different societies forced to coexist rather than two parts of a whole – among Muggles, that is. Surprisingly enough, there's a sense of community among wizards of different backgrounds. They have to work together to keep the secret, they effectively trade and help each other's economies, and most of them just wish we could all get along. Wizards of way too many backgrounds have inhabited this place (comma) and it's not a matter of religion, but tolerance and preservation of our collective inheritance. Still, because of the way this nation has developed in historical terms, the two schools and societies also developed separately.
I wish Muggles thought like us. It would make their lives so much easier.
Wizarding children can serve in the military if they wish. For Jewish Muggles it's mandatory, but with wizards it's more complicated. For one, they have to give up their wands for the entire duration of their service. The fact that soldiers basically live with each other during their service endangers the Statute of Secrecy, but mostly, the Minister of Magic refuses to let the magical community be represented in any Muggle war. A few kids enlist, but most don't want to give up their wands like that. All of them just want war to stop, Terry. In our world, there's always the struggle between light and darkness. They recognize light and darkness can be found on both sides, and wish that those silly Muggles would solve the problems among their own people instead of endangering the 'light' aspects of both. So yes, wizarding Israel is an example that light can prevail in the Middle East.
Blood purity isn't an issue here – it works the other way around, really. Muggle-borns tend to be respected because of the difficult choices they must face the minute they know they've got these powers to use and control. Religion does cause a rift, however. Among wizards, you don't get many people who practice religion too faithfully - I'm considered Orthodox by Wizarding standards, even though I pray once a day and observe only some of the holidays. Again, this is a reason why Muggle-borns feel so much shock when they find out about magic, and like you, a few become unwilling to believe in a God when magic exists. There have been cases of children being shunned by their ultra-orthodox families because of their powers, but they're adopted by the kibbutz and granted protection. That's how many Muggle-born Muslims end up in the kibbutz – they found solace nowhere else.
I'm sad I don't get to know more about wizarding Muslims living in Israel. There are a few in the kibbutz, as I said, but they're not the norm. Next summer I hope I have more time to do tourism and visit some magical Arab localities. Answering another one of your questions, both the Muslim and Jewish schools offer religion as electives. People decide which school to attend based on language, and both schools are free of cost. I think the Muslim school is a lot like Hogwarts – it's somewhere in the West Bank, it's centuries old, and it's really isolated. I can't say much more than that.
I really hope this answers your questions.
Anthony.
2/7/1998
Terry,
I do cry like a little girl. At least I admit it.
About the daily life here, you should ask Vivian, not me. I'm sure she'll be glad to speak about her time in Israel – I've been only here for a week. She was here for a year.
I can only tell you that she had a hard time, but there are so many foreigners and children of foreigners in Israel, they've learned how to deal with the situation. She'd receive private Hebrew lessons, got extra time in all her assignments and she's a smart girl, so she did reasonably well. Like you'd expect, now she talks in a mix of Hebrew and English.
She's fine, she really is. Ironically enough, her best friends aren't Israeli, but Ethiopian and Russian – I highly suspect she has a boyfriend who happens to be American, but it's not like she'll tell me. She says Israelis tend to be a bit hostile, but it's a matter of getting used to it. They are a bit rough around the edges, sure, but they're amazing, helpful people. She says that if some exchange student came to Hogwarts, she's certain that they wouldn't receive half the help she got here.
I can even say it for myself - they took me in for a few days, free of charge (trust me – that's a lot to ask when it comes to Israel!) and asked many questions about the war. They taught me some Hebrew and made me promise I'd visit them as soon as I could, so they could show me and Vivian all the magical historical places we still don't know. They mean it, too. They might be rude, but at the same time, they're always willing to help.
Right now the whole Goldstein family is together. Vivian and I spent the ride back making up stories to tell about the fake religious school she was supposedly attending. Needless to say, we had a laugh. Poor Dad. I sometimes feel bad for him when it comes to the things we just can't tell him. But it's good – it's good he trusted me when I begged him to leave England, and it's good to be all together again and that all of us are safe. Now that I'm with my whole family for the first time in a year, I really do want to go back to England. See you then!
Anthony.
Notes: Written exclusively for the Fanfiction School of Imagination and Creativity – Geography Assessment 1. I requested to write about Anthony Goldstein, and the country I got was Israel (which I've been living in for the last three years.)
Thanks to Jess (autumn midnights) for proof-reading this.
And thanks to you, reader!
-Karyn.