One of the things that we noticed and always took in is the way of life around Jerusalem. Often you see the whole interwoven life of the influences of 1990s-2000s popular Europe and America, right along with traditional expressions of a Jewish lifestyle. We often did a double-take when downtown in Jerusalem and saw an ultra-orthodox Jewish man dressed in traditional dark clothes, a blazer over a white button-down long-sleeve shirt, a prayer shawl underneath, his black hat and long scraggy beard and glasses, and then, we'd see he has the cauliflower ear plugs listening to his iPod! Or you'd see 14-year old young girls, some with head-coverings and a little house on the prairie dress on, and they are giggling listening to one another's ring tones on their cell phones! Then we saw young men and women in uniform just about everywhere! The Israeli army requires all of their young to serve a term. The young soliders have strapped on their shoulder a semi-automatic rifle as they walk the streets. You also see an American sporting a popular T-Shirt over there, where on the front is the insignia of the Israeli army and then the words, Guns 'N Moses! That's a take-off of a popular rock band from Los Angeles. The influences of commericalism, technology and popular European and American culture make for an unexpected blend in Jerusalem! But we saw it, nonetheless.
G. Mark Sumpter
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