Things seemed to be perfectly normal right up until I realized that I was telling a girl that I didn’t know and had randomly met on the street that; how she has the most amazing smile I have ever seen. Now that’s not like me at all, I guess unless I am really drunk. But I wasn’t drunk I was completely lucid. When my friends pulled me away because I was continuing to explain how this girl`s smile was so nice, I realized that the drug had kicked in. This was my very first experience with a hard drug, I was rolling on ecstasy and had no clue what to expect. I had only been in Israel for two weeks and was drinking and smoking pot the whole time. So I guess the cards were against me not taking it to the next level.
It was early November when I left for Israel. I boarded the plane with no hesitation at all; I was like a bird being let out of a cage. I don’t think that I thought too much about what lay ahead of me on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. All I knew was that I was free and was going to have a damn good time. I bought myself two cartons of cigarettes with my fake ID so things were off to a real good start. Back then you were even allowed to smoke on the airplane and guess what, it was a smoking flight. I had myself a beverage, alcoholic of coarse and felt a bit of the residual effects of all the pot I had smoked the night before. I was flying with my buddy Joe and we crossed the ocean in a state of excited relaxation.
Joe`s parents are Israeli so he has a bunch of family in Israel. His uncle picked us up from the airport and drove us to his grandma’s house in Jerusalem. After a nice Middle Eastern dinner that his grandma had prepared for us we jumped on a bus. This was my first time going to down town Jerusalem, a place that would have a huge effect on the rest of my life. All I wanted was a drink and oh boy did I get one, the first thing we did when we got to town was have our first polish butterfly.
Down town Jerusalem seemed like the ultimate social event. Every one that I knew that was in Israel was out there. You could buy booze anywhere without ID. Shit man I wasn’t even eighteen yet and I was able to drink in the bars no questions asked. Me and Joe found mendy out there having a beer on the wall. The wall was the spot where all the Americans would hang out. It was just a wall that you could sit on in a corner of Zion square. It was only about forty or fifty feet long but it would get completely crowded with people. You could be on the phone with someone who was sitting there and telling you that they were on the wall and you would be looking at this huge crowd of people and not be able to see them.
Mendy was in Israel to attend the same program that we were and he was the first one to tell me that my buddy shlomo was there for the program as well. Now me and shlomo knew each other for a long time but we never really hung out so much. The summer before we were both in the Catskills but we only hung out once. Me and my good friend jonathin went out one night to where he was staying to get high with him. He had told us to come whenever we wanted and we were out of pot so we took him up on his offer. But that was the only time we did. Finding out that shlomo was also there was kick ass news and i was looking forward to seeing him to say what`s up.
Now me, Joe and mendy went to get another polish butterfly. Let me explain what a polish butterfly is for all those that don’t know. The polish butterfly is a double shot of ninety percent alcohol with some blue coloring and sweeteners that make it go down easy. So after my second polish I got myself a beer at a kiosk and we just strolled around town. Oh yes back then drinking on the street was perfectly legal. I was nice and drunk and I remember thinking to myself, “Yo I only landed about four hours ago and I am already drunk”. And oh boy it was just the beginning.
We hung out till pretty late that first night just saying hello to everyone that we knew. Most people come to Israel in September so people were surprised to see us for the first time two months into the year. By the end of the night I saw sholom, I think the first thing he said to me was “hey what`s up, you want to do ecstasy tonight?”. He was looking for pills and someone to take them with but I was not interested in ecstasy and never have been. Back then I really wanted to get my hands on some magic mushrooms, that`s what I was interested in. I also bumped into my buddy rocky who was stoned and drunk. He had weed on him and was going to get me and mendy high. But Joe, who didn’t smoke pot, had just gotten us a cab so we left without smoking.
Mendy crashed with us at Joe`s grandmas place and we all woke up early the next morning because of jet lag. It`s funny I bet that first morning was the only morning that I woke up early the whole year. Joe`s uncle gave us a ride to the synagogue in French hill that was going to be the place where we would be learning for the year. This was a first day of school like no other that I have experienced before or since. All of us that had come to the program were from ultra orthodox families but we ourselves were no longer really orthodox. We came from the Chabad sect of Hasidic Jews that do an amazing job at helping none affiliated Jews all over the world connect with their Jewish heritage. The only problem is that they are not very good at dealing with kids that grow up inside the system who decide that religion is not for them. This program was one of the last stops on the way out the door for the none conformists. We were a group of teens that had been thrown out of Yesheva (Jewish educational institute) at least once and were not willing to change our ways. Rabbi Aton ran the program, no actually rabbi Aton was the program. He is a truly righteous man who saw the need for a place that would accommodate kids like us within the system.
I can only speak for myself but I never felt myself a true part of the orthodox Jewish community in America. That is the reason that I have been living in Israel ever since that first year. The fact that I am now a god fearing observant Jew is due to that first year when my parents put me on that plane and sent me off to find myself in the holy land. Even though the road was rocky and it had many deep valleys where the spirituality was hidden in a thick cloud of smoke. If I would have stayed in America I would have broken away from the Jewish community and very possibly have been consumed by the cultural melting pot of that great and vast land. But of course all of that is in hind sight, back then when I was in the moment; I just wanted to be free. Free from all the does and don’ts, free from the dress code and the restrictions on how long you could grow your hair. I wanted to dress and look however I felt. I wanted to do as I pleased and if I was going to serve god, I was going to do out of my own free will, because I chose to and not because I was told to.
So we unloaded our bags at the large Jerusalem stone synagogue and thanked Joes uncle for the lift. The rabbi was on his way so we me and mendy smoked cigarettes while the three of us waited for him outside. The funny thing I remember was asking mendy if we should put out our smokes Dude, we can smoke cigarettes if we want to.” He was right of course, Rabbi Aton had been dealing with drug and alcohol addicted delinquents for years. Smoking cigarettes was the last thing that he was worried about.
