MIDBURN: Burning Man in Israel

The Temple
Photo by Tzachi Dovrat

It’s the blog post you’ve all been waiting for! I know you all want to know how the virgin burn in Israel was. It's very long so I have labeled sections if you only care to hear about some aspects (or if you're Israeli and the idea of reading this much English makes your head hurt). There have been articles, but none have done it justice. How was it? In one word: Awesome. Everyone who participated should feel proud for the amazing event that was Midburn.

First, let me start by saying this is only MY experience and MY opinion. I am sure many people will disagree with many of my points, that’s fine, opinions are like assholes and all that jazz. I do not pretend to be the final word on burniness, nor do I pretend to know all of what was going on. I simply know what I have experienced.

Just Like Burning Man?!

The Man and Eve, the Midburn Effigy
Photo by Tzachi Dovrat

Desert: 
So, what was the same as Black Rock City (or Nevada as everyone in Israel calls it, and henceforth I shall do the same)? Well, it’s a desert for starters. A desert with dust storms and dust tornados, except it’s actually sand. I didn’t know it would be so windy and as a result was gravely unprepared, bringing only one bandana and no goggles. As fellow contact wearers can attest to, this fucking sucked. I
basically had to hide during whiteouts for the sake of my already dry and uncomfortable eyes. Bad burner. Always bring goggles, always bring a dust mask. On the upside, the sand was not nearly as toxic as Nevada and did not dry out everything in your body immediately, I didn’t even lose my voice! However, it was WAAAY fucking hotter. The sun feels stronger in Israel and the desert was no different. This also meant the nights were not nearly so cold as in Nevada, some night were even so warm, one could wear practically nothing and have her tits out at night!

City: 
It was a city, with lettered and clocked roads. Now, right before the event (literally RIGHT before it) the army informed the production team that they needed to push the event into a different, smaller space. Can you even imagine such a nightmare? To push a carefully mapped out circular city into a space that is wider than it is long? But, both burners and Israelis know how to roll with the punches and a new map was born. Now I know the new map wasn’t ideal, it included pushing sound camps into “deep” playa behind the effigy and made it lose that great feeling of standing on esplanade and seeing the whole city, but it worked, even if the carefully mapped roads were sometimes ignored and finding an address was a bit confusing.

FIRE!!!!!

Fire tornados coming off the Effigy Burn
Photo by Ron Blecher

There was fire. Not a lot of fire, but burning happened and it was beautiful. This is the first time an event like this has ever been done in Israel and needless to say, the authorities were very skeptical. Israel has many festivals (it is so part of the culture here that the Midburners insisted on calling this an event and not a festival to dissuade people from getting the wrong idea) and the police were not ok with the idea of massive fires, so much so that the night the effigy was supposed to burn, it didn’t. Thankfully the production worked so well with the police that we were able to burn the next night, forcing the effigy and the temple to be burnt on the same night…which was magical, but I’ll get to that later.

That Feeling You Get as You Walk into the BRC:
Most importantly though, the vibe, the ethos, the feeling was the same. The burner spirit was there in full force, which is particularly impressive when you know that only a small percentage of the 3,000 people there had ever been to Nevada. One of my favorite moments was during build week when I was

Shithole Camp. The best, most reliable party on playa. Also the best music.
And yes, that is a Virgin Mary that pours Blood Marys out of her vagina.

fluffing (I will get to that later) and I went up to an art project and offered them some ice. They asked me what a fluffer was and I noticed they had accents. In my head I thought “hmm, I wonder where they’re from?” and it wasn’t until I was walking away from them that I went “Idiot, they’re Israeli.” I had forgotten I was in Israel, I had forgotten I wasn’t in Black Rock City because it all felt so comfortable, so much like home. In many ways Israelis are naturals for the burn. They are comfortable with and know how to handle the desert, they tend to be on the more imaginative and creative side of the brain (there are many articles about Israeli ingenuity, the amount of start-ups, inventions and new ideas that come out of a country that’s only slightly bigger than New Jersey is staggering) and they tend to have an innate sense of community. Israelis take care of each other – my food is your food, my home is your home, you need someone who has a specialty? Quick let me call my relative who knows a guy who knows a guy, we’ll take care of this problem. I believe this sense of community is what made the vibe of Midburn so…burny. It’s not a far step for many Israelis to apply themselves to the ten principles.

Ok, So it wasnt Exactly like Burning Man. 

I'm in Fucking DPW!
Now, I know what you all want to know. How was it different? Well first, let me tell you about my specific experience and how wildly different that was. All four years at Burning Man I have gone early to help (and this year will be no different). I love being there to watch the city grow. I am however, not a builder. In most cases I was dealing with the kitchen for Kostume Kult, which certainly takes work, but not much in the way of building. I was among the first group of people who arrived at the location

Beautiful Mapatz painting done by Sunshine.

for Midburn (where we had to sit and wait for a while because none of the trucks had arrived, of course). I was supposed to run the kitchen for Mapatz (Israeli DPW) but to make a very long story short, I opted out of the kitchen once we were on playa. As a result I ended up being a part of Mapatz. That’s right, I was in DPW, I bet none of you saw that coming. This was an excellent and trying experience for me. I am not used to so much manual labor and especially not in the scorching heat. The first day I over extended, trying to be big and tough and lifted more than I really could. I hurt badly that night and learned from my mistake and did not hesitate to say “no” when it came to doing things that require a lot of strength. I did many things in Mapatz including building the fence around the event, mapping out roads, marking Porta-Potty spaces, working at the gate for opening and of course, unloading and reloading and moving things from one pile to another pile, because of course, as we all know, that’s what a burn is. It was very exciting to build the city, the sense of pride and ownership (ooooh what a non-burner thing to say) was intoxicating. I now understand why the people of DPW are considered to be such assholes. We were only out there a week early, I can’t imagine how one must feel after two months. Everyone comes to DPW for help, and often for idiotic things. You need help with your generators? You didn’t bring the right tools? You don’t know how set up shade? FUCK YOU HIPPIES, WE BUILT THIS CITY!!!! (and then of course we help them).

I Don't Speak Hebrew :(

Language. Oy. What I would give to wake up in the morning and be able to speak Hebrew fluently. It’s not that people didn’t speak English, there was A LOT of English. Israel is a very international community and Midburn was the same, English is often the common denominator when you are speaking to Israelis, Germans, French (I only now realize there is no “Frenchs,” seriously? We have to call you “the French?!), Australians and Americans. Important instructions were often given in English and many people were wonderful about speaking English to me. And my Israeli friends, please know I am so, so, so grateful to you for speaking English to me, I know it takes more thinking and energy and I

A whole bunch of Mapatzniks on what was a fabulous day.

truly can’t thank you enough. What sucked was when everyone would be sitting around in our shade and from all the laughing I could tell a conversation was very entertaining and fun, and I couldn’t be a part of it. I am also used to being able to butt into burner conversations when I overhear something I want to respond to and making friends that way, and this skill was taken from me. But most of all, I know I didn’t get a sense of everyone, or at least how everyone really is. It is only the people who felt comfortable and wanted to speak English with me that I got to know, and even some of them I probably don’t really know who they are because they cannot express themselves in the same way. There are plenty of people I’m sure I would’ve loved, but didn’t get to know because they were not speaking English. Next year I hope to be better and at least be able to have decent conversation in Hebrew.

I am a Playa Goddess, and also מלכה: 

Lifted the whole effigy up by myself. Itai helped a bit.
Photo by Pablo Strauss 

Not only were there changes in my surroundings, but I myself have changed. When I first went to Burning Man it was in 2010 and I was convinced in one night that I had to go by a bawdy pirate who talked my ear off about costumes and art. He would quickly become my boyfriend and a big part of my life for the next two and half years. I recall being in awe of his effortless cool and relaxed demeanor. When we got to playa (to do work) he had this laidback attitude and assurance that everything would work out. While at times he irritated me with this, it was for the most part intoxicating to be around. My first burn was his 5th burn. Midburn was my 5th burn. Many of the midburners had never been to Nevada, or had only been once or twice. I found myself being at ease with who I am and what I wanted to do (or not) and was able to relax, knowing full well that everything was going to work out. Could it be that that same aura of ease that had so attracted me to my ex was now what I was intoxicating others with? I had several people tell me my influence and attitude was a great and helpful addition to the people around me, and that I am "the real deal" or a "real burner." I felt proud that my years of burning showed and that I could help bring the spirit to those around me. It was also the first burn that felt completely mine. This same pirate was with me for the first three burns, and my fourth was greatly eclipsed by the mourning I felt for what had, at times, been a beautiful relationship. At Midburn I was free of any past associations, free of reliving or even invoking old memories, free of anyone knowing what my burns had been before. This burn was mine, and mine alone. 

The Playa in the Negev:

Sabbaleh (Grandpa)
Photo by Yosef Adest

First of, Midburn was much, much smaller. 3,000 people in an area about the size of PEX. This has its pro and cons, if you run out of water or have a champagne bottle to throw out, you’re never too far from your tent. If you see something happening across playa, you can get there and it will still be going on. Your feet are tired, but it’s not as excruciating. On the other hand, there are only a handful of sound camps and things going on at night (basically only esplanade and the sound camps that were pushed into the deeps were alive at night, the rest of the city was dark) and the deeps were not so deep, though that is partially because of the changed map. As many of you might know, my favorite part of Burning Man is being out in the deeps finding art. I don’t always want to dance or drink or party, I love the desert and I love the strange living silence of it. This love was hard to feed at Midburn and it didn’t take long to have seen all the art. But that’s ok, it was the first burn, I know it will be much grander in years to come. The art itself was also not really on par with the art in Nevada, there were some beautiful pieces like the Sabbaleh – a intricately made wood grandpa with perfect lights coursing through his body, and a giant Whale that had projections on it and events inside and big ‘ol baleen teeth to walk through (hot damn do I love walking through movable entranceways), but in general the art was much smaller scale and sometimes not too intriguing, which is also true in Nevada (ugh “cat city”), there’s just waaaaaay more to choose from in Nevada. And again, it was the first burn and for that it was impeccable. I expect next year there will be more funding, more resources and more experience and it will only get better. There were also no art cars. Bummer. Total bummer. There was no way the cops were going to let that happen…but the cops love us now, so hopefully in the years to come there will be that most fun element of a burn.

The Effigy Burn:

The swirling smoke of the Effigy Burn
Photo by Yosef Adest

Sometimes when I describe Burning Man to people they ask me if The Man has ever been a woman. I sadly shake my head and say no (putting an Omega on the crotch isn’t good enough for me). It upsets me that the man has never been a woman - how can a community so determined to treat everyone equally not at some point make the focal point of the entire event a woman? And please, spare me your “the man is the everyman and represents every person" bullshit. No, he's not. If he was, he would be an "it" and we would call him a person. He is a man. And as a woman, maybe you don't care (but I do) and as a man, you will never know how alienating it feels that we are supposed to equate "man" with "person." So, Burning Man has never had a Burning Woman. Lame. But you know what, Midburn did. Midburn had the first ever co-ed effigy, and it was fucking beautiful. Everyone could look at it and see a part of themselves (and before someone attacks me for not including trans people, who is to say either figure was cis-gendered? They were both abstract representations of a man and a woman meeting at the heart, full of love and celebration). It was truly beautiful. The burn itself was magnificent with both figures as silhouettes in the fire. It felt good to watch this fiery couple go down in flames and I was proud to work perimeter on it and contribute in the small way that I could. But that wasn't the only burn that night...

The Best Temple Burn I Have Ever Seen:

The beautiful sunrise Temple Burn
Photo by Maya Oren

I mentioned that the effigy burn got delayed so it had to be burned on the last night. This meant that tit was pushed to the same night as the temple. So what to do? A sunrise temple burn, of course. I cannot stress how beautiful this was. There are no pictures that can possibly describe how the pink of the sunrise and the orange of the flames mixed together. No possible way to tell you how amazing it was when the sun finally peaked through the mountains as the fire raged. The first thing I thought when I saw the temple design was "damn, that's going to be a sexy burn." Each "tree" was lit on its own, making giant towers of flame and smoke that spiraled up out of the top. It was cathartic and it was magical. Unfortunately the traditions of Burning Man aren't necessarily known so well here and a silent burn it was not (not that I insist on silence, I think mourning in any way should be acceptable e.g. the Freebird incident) and there was a lot of talking and laughing and some yelling which was partially fueled by the fact that it was sunrise and people were wasted from the night before. That was a bummer, but hopefully next year the tradition of a respectful temple burn will be more encouraged.

Fine, I'll Get Vaguely Political - Yes, Israel Deserves to have a Burn:

I have had many, many people tell me about a certain email that went around the NY Burner community condemning an Israeli Burning Man. Now, I will admit I have not read it (my inbox is already loaded with NY burner mail, I had to trim the fat somewhere) but I have heard the arguments. As the only NY burner who was actually there, I feel I ought to respond to this. Yes, Israel deserves to have a burn. I have two very clear explanations as to why.

1. The government did not put on Midburn, burners put on Midburn. This community is only three years old. THREE YEARS OLD! Think about your camp, your crew, your state's entire community. Think about the first three years (if you were there). Now think about putting on an actual real fucking burn for 3000 people. It's incredible, it really is. A community so young, that's so filled with people who have never and may never have the chance to go to Nevada being able to pull that off? Remarkable. These burners work their asses off. Like some of you, they have dedicated all of their time, resources, brains and hearts to make this event happen. They worked so hard to bring a spirit and a way of life to their own country. It is a year round community, burner events happen all the time. So they shouldn't have a burn because if their country's government? Is Burning Man a representation of America's government? Does going to Burning Man mean you support what the country does? No, it doesn't. Neither does going to Midburn. For more on this see my previous post: There is Only One Language that Matters

2. For those burnier than thou types who believe Israel shouldn't have a burn because the country doesn't uphold the ten principles...Excuuuuuuuuuuse me, but are you fucking kidding me? We would not have the ten principles if it weren't for the fact that America doesn't abide by anything like them. Go ahead and talk about atrocities that Israel commits, but you know damn well that America has bloody hands and has since it was established. By this logic the only sensible place to have a burn would be someplace completely non-offensive, like Canada or Switzerland. America has a dark and dirty past, and the present isn't much nicer. Get off your high horse, you look like a silly hypocrite up there.

After the sunrise burn, and yes of course I'm swinging a champagne bottle
(cava) around. Me in a bubble. Think snarky politically related thoughts
now. I can't remember who took this picture, sorry!

Finally, I would like to note what a burn is. A burn is world we all decide to create together. A burn fills the void for how we believe the world ought to be. A burn is not the country it is in, it is not the past, the burn is right now, this moment. Immediacy. I think it's interesting to note that countries like America, South Africa and Israel all have such strong burner communities. These are societies plagued by racism and violence and hatred. Is it any wonder we all go out to the desert to create a better world for ourselves? Is it any wonder we want to escape the taunts of the default world and try out the peaceful, accepting and loving atmosphere we all crave? Is it any wonder that for most of us, when we have found each other we are changed for life and refuse to let go of each other? Burning Man is for everyone. Afrikaburn is for everyone. Midburn is for everyone. Leave the hatred aside and remember that a burn is about the love of thousands of people coming together, to burn, to joke, to sing, to dance, to eat, to drink, to smoke, to yell, to mock, to laugh, to prank, to pirate, to smile, to cry, to love, to love, to love, to love, to love. To make a community. To love.