Jurish, Tapuah junction

We left Rosh Ha’ayin at 14:00.

At 14:30 we noticed soldiers at Tapuah junction.  We continued toward Jurish.  We arrived at 14:45, about fifteen minutes early.  We drove to S.’s home, picked her up and she opened the club.  Additional pupils arrived after about fifteen minutes later and we began the lesson.  The three of us sat with the pupils in a circle and talked about the holidays.  The girls told about Eid el-Adha, the festival of the sacrifice.  We compared some of the stories in the Koran with those in Jewish tradition; the girls were amused at parallels between the two traditions and accepted them understandingly.  For example, the miracles Moses carried out were also done by Musa…  The stories of the sacrifice of Isaac are identical, except for the identity of the characters.  Isaac appears in one, Ishmael in the other.

Then we discussed Passover and the account of the exodus from Egypt.  We emphasized, of course, the customs and the food, avoiding nationalistic elements and other sensitive topics.  We ate matza, haroset, horseradish, hot peppers and hardboiled eggs, and macaroons that had been made without yeast.

Next week a few of the girls will recount stories from the Koran.

We left at about 17:15.

At 17:25 we saw laborers getting out of buses at Tapuah junction.  No soldiers were present.

At 17:41 two soldiers stood at Ariel junction.  A military jeep parked at the traffic light at Harith junction, soldiers behind the wheel.