At times throughout the year, i travel the country. As my dog is my co-pilot, it is by car. I facilitate the cleansing..detoxing..of one that is strung out. Be it the toxic drug of choice, alcohol, tobacco, Red Bulls, Raman. In many cases, i don’t receive financial compensation. Many have nothing to give..but their willingness to kick..and their gratitude. And the gratitude of their family, community, church. Which alone is worth the price of admission. And though not rolling in dough, i find a way to get there, find a suitable place to have the detox,which sometimes could take up to a couple of weeks. It takes me to incredibly diverse locales.
I wear a yarmulke. The reason? Those that are married usually wear a ring. It signifies fidelity. Being true to ones vows. When that ring is on, one doesn’t play the fool. It hones one. At least in the purist sense. Same thing. Same reason.
When i started travelling, though now living in the Colorado mountains, i was from a certain bubble in L.A. Oh, the concern i had from family and friends about travelling to what those around me referred to as ‘the dark places’. Republican, gun-toting, Trump-adoring locales in Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Utah, etc. By car. Wearing my yarmulke. Liberal bastions were one thing. But the Deep South, and the like? Oye. The finger wringing.
And with over ten years of this behind me...i can unequivocally say ..it’s bullshit.
At no time, whilst among the denizens of darkness have i been harassed or persecuted for my overt Jewishness. In fact, at first to my happy surprise, it is a door opener...” You’re a Jew? I don’t know any Jews. You know Jesus was a Jew..the bible was written by Jews. You wanna get some coffee”? Dozens of invitations to a meal and a chat. Because of this yarmulke.
Time and time again. This socialist-leaning, vegetarian-eating, herb- smoking, ACLU card- carrying, long-haired city boy..in the land of guns, meat, booze, anti- immigration, and believers of building a wall and making America great again.. though maybe a bit of an oddity, i am constantly treated, BECAUSE of my yarmulke/ Judaism..as a brother of sorts. Why? I would venture to guess the Bible.
On the flip -side….whilst in San Fran, Ashland, Asheville, Sedona, Portland, Seattle...and others...i could be a coffee shop and when taking off my woolen cap, revealing my kippah, and the table next to me could stop their conversation like in the movies..and i might hear the words ‘Israel’ or ‘Rabbi” (not kindly) or ‘Jew’. By seemingly progressive, Bernie- loving (i do), latte-drinking hipsters. Amazing. In Austin, Texas..but as yet never in Backwater, Texas. Why? I would venture to guess because of the intolerant regime heading the country of Israel,..and the scoffing of many secular worldly to those ignorant sheep-like fools, like myself, that are called ‘believers’..regardless of faith. Not all the time, of course. But enough times to be disconcerting.
I have been called a fascist (!!!) by bearded brethren whilst they sip on kambucha ( i brew my own) because my yarmulke must mean i support the apartheid- like policies of Israel. Though i haven’t been back to the homeland of my ancestors since the condoning of the murder of my sister and comrade Rachel Corrie..and unless something drastic changes..don’t plan to. Such ignorance..but never(!) expressed by those in Trump-land. At first, shocking. Now,..not so much
The worst..the very worst..anti-semitism i have been subjected to..energetically- speaking, but also with words, derision, heckling..was at the Occupy Movement in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Seattle. Obviously it wasn’t a isolated instance. Though i agreed with so much,which is why i was there..my yarmulke meant to so many that i was the enemy. I must be anti-Palestinian. I must be pro- Goldman Sachs. Am i part of the Cabal of the Illuminati like the Rothschilds? Each and every one of these monuments to ignorance was asked..or thrown.. at me. But never, ever..not once.. in Alabama or Mississippi.. even at Liberty College.
Saddened..yes. It’s like we’re cannibals. If my Subaru ever broke down, even with its Grateful Dead and Amnesty International stickers..i would rather it be near a trailer park in Alabama, then in Sedona. Shade-tree it may be, but i’ll be on my way. And not ignored by the oh-so-busy.
On an interesting note, nothing gets you moving right along when pulled over by a rural southern cop then a yarmulke. Nothing like the thoughts of a return to a scene in Mississippi Burning (Jewboy...) Again, horribly inaccurate misconception. In my experience, quite the opposite.
Much to my mothers..and my own.. relief.
Let me finish this from a quote from Mort Saul, in his book Heartland ( heartedly recommended). As he traveled the country during the 1972 Presidential campaign...though i realize i have veered off the yarmulke-wearing to something more broad…
‘In Los Angeles and New York, people take out their credentials. “Look, I’m with Nadar’s Raiders,”“Look, I’m in the ACLU.” It meant more to me when i went into a George Wallace headquarters and a campaign worker, this young lady, said to me, “Have you had dinner yet? Can i get you some?” That plain humanity is losing it’s existence with the liberals. They’ve forgotten who they are.’
Have i seen this? Often. Is this across the board? Of course not.
Would i rather be around like- minds and hearts? A vegetarian restaurant and a jazz club rather then a steak house/bar and NASCAR? Around Progressives rather then otherwise? Obviously. But i have chosen a community in the Colorado mountains. Progressive AND kind. To these other places..they are a nice place to visit, but…
Nary every preconception i have ever had...had been a misconception. They have been wrong.