“My Mom Is Jewish and my Dad is Muslim, so according to both sides I belong to the two religions simultaneously. It’s not an easy ride, but that’s life and I am proud of my heritage. On my shirt you can read my answer to those who criticize my origin. (His shirt can be roughly translated as ”The whole world can go fuck itself”)
“I was born in Kerem HaTeimanim 75 years ago. I miss the atmosphere of the Neighborhood back than, when we didn’t lock the doors, we knew the name of every person walking in the street and we didn’t had trouble getting Minyan for prayers. Today, even though everything has changed I will never leave this place because it has a soul. A Soul that I won’t find anywhere else.”
Meet Hani and Zviki. “In our society we have prearrange marriage” says Zviki. “After three meetings I knew Hani is THE girl and asked her to marry me. In the beginning it was a bit embarrassing, but we had such good chemistry so all the shyness just faded away”. Hani adds: “People have misconceptions about ‘Haredim’. Nobody forced me to get married and I’m Happy that I choose Zviki. I had couple of options before but than he came along. In the secular world, you fall in love. In our world – you grow in love”.
Meet Aharon. “I was born to an Ultra-orthodox family in Bnei-Brak. I am the youngest of 13 brothers and sisters. In the age of 15 I concluded I do not believe in god. From that point on my life took a wild turn: I chose a path of a roller coaster. I realized the absolute true does not belong to the ultra-orthodox world and decided I am leaving this world behind me. I did not realize the consequences of that decision. I was 15 years old who knew how to speak Yiddish, basic Hebrew and had no skills what so ever for the outside world. I found myself as an outcast because the world that I came from saw me as a traitor. I had no home, no family and no support. I started drinking, smoking and doing drugs just to escape myself and the situation I was in. I ...
“I’m not your typical Ultra Orthodox Jew. Nine years ago freinds took me to Uman (a pilgrimage site for “Breslov” Hasidim Jews), where I discovered the teaching of Rabi Nachman. It was like an awakening for me and I became a ‘Breslov’. Wearing black doesn’t make you a better Jew – Faith comes from the inside out. I’m your modern hipster Jew.”
The righteous man from Lebanon “I was born as a Shia Muslim in South Lebanon by the name of Ibrahim Yassin. During my previous life, Lebanon was the “playground” of the Middle East, much like Syria is today. I was harassed on daily basis by the Palestinian organizations that controlled the area I was living in because I was a Shia Muslim, so when the Israelis came I was happy because they restored order in my village. I wanted to have a quiet village and a normal life that will be free from violence, so I decided to help provide the Israelis with Information about insurgent activity in my village — a decision that would come to change my life dramatically. In 1985 I was kidnapped by Hezbollah and I was locked in an underground bunker for an entire year. Take your worst nightmare, multiply it by 1,000 and you ...