Israel Stories: Circle of life

The band, almost too loud to be audible in any musical sense, banged, blared and blasted. After initially being disappointed that my table was so far away from both the top table and the dance floor, I suddenly realized, looking around, that I was actually in very good company as all the bride and groom's close friends and family were seated in close proximity to me.

Young kids ran past me, almost knocking me off my feet in the race to dance to join one of the many rings, forming hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, around the happy couple.

"This band has a bit of a reputation", a fellow guest blasted into my already damaged eardrums. "They are very energetic and very, very loud. Here take this." He offered a squashed piece of bread to use as an ear plug. "Very effective," he shouted. Suddenly I realized that all the guests on my table had ears filled with bread, some with poppy seeds falling onto their crisp white shirts and blouses.

I thanked him for his suggestion and patent pending product, smiled politely and headed outside for a cold drink. As I watched the last of the pre-chuppa reception being packed away and still regretting the copious amounts I had eaten only to leave a half eaten steak on my plate, I realized two things; I was getting old and I was overdressed.

Some would say they are one in the same. The older you are the more you tend to wear at a wedding. All the young guys were wearing their shirts out, sandals and cargo pants, with underwear and maybe tzitzit, that's five items of clothing (counting shoes as one item). The oldest guests were wearing suits and ties, with socks and underwear that could be up to 9 items. Oh, I realize, a third fact, I must get out more.

Down time is the worst time for reflecting on your age. There was another observance I really could have done without. You can almost accurately age people using the tree method. You age a tree by counting rings. For example, you can tell how old somebody is by which ring they dance in a wedding. At a wedding the inner circle is normally the youngest and the extreme outer circle the 'more mature'. You can age a woman by how many rings she has on her fingers; engagement, wedding, eternity, sorry for calling your bottom big, etc. You can age a person by rings under their eyes , by rings around their waist and by rings of kids surrounding them.

Don't get me wrong, I am not all that old. I just spend more time thinking and worrying about getting old. 

In Israel age used to be respected. On a bus you could tell how old somebody was by where they sat. The very young on the steps leading to the door, next generation on the floor or standing and the elder generation were all sitting. The same rules apply in a pavement café. Young guys on the curb, older guys standing by the counter and the oldies sitting and sipping in their straw hats and safari suits. Israeli politics is the only arena for allowing the older generation to dance in the center circle while pushing the guys out to the peripheries. 

Seems the older you are the better chance you have of climbing the political ladder. Ironic really that's it's one of the few areas you really want young vibrant blood and not old blood running with statins and asprin.

So I am yesterday's kid, tomorrow's elder statesman. No bread in my ears, but my shirt is tucked in. Even the twenty-something bride and groom will be old one day and with all of us they will migrate to the outer circle and let the youngsters dance in the center for a while.