Jacob
still lived in the same area outside of Loei, Dansai,
which is a quiet provincial area described by Lonely
Planet as an interesting combination of Northern
and Issan culture. The area is most known for an
unusual ritual dating back to pre-Buddhist pagan
rituals. The denizens dress with giant phalluses
and shoot bottle rockets into the sky, getting drunk
and rambunctious in a ceremony that lasts several
days. Jacob had a few different existences prior
to moving to Thailand. He had lived in Israel and
is currently on the lam from the Israeli government,
not for army desertion, not for terrorism, but for
divorce.
Jacob
had grown up in a non-religious Jewish family but
had met a religious Jewish girl in America and became
religious himself. The Judaism he had hooked up
with was the Hasidic movement which stresses direct
contact and emotional connection with God, rather
than the mere intellectual studying of scriptures.
Jacob said that as his connection with the Hasids
increased, the religion came to encompass all areas
of his life. He had children and moved to Israel,
to the holy city of Safed, in the mountains, which
is famous for Kabala and Jewish mysticism.
The
old city of Safed itself is an ancient twisting
affair of limestone walks and ancient synagogues
and artisan shops like a smaller version of the
old city in Jerusalem, but warmer and more accessible.
People go for walks in the wilderness of Safed,
where the crisp air is reported to assist in reaching
higher spiritual states. There are hot springs and
numerous trails in the wilderness outside of Safed
and Hasids frequently go to purify their souls.
Sometimes Jacob would return from a walk believing
that he has actually touched the spirit of God in
some way. He would meet a fellow Hasid and relate
the mystical experience to which he received a shared
happiness.
I
wanted to know if he really felt he experienced
God in the wilderness of Safed. Jacob stated that
when you are totally immersed in the religious lifestyle,
it is possible to really believe that you had such
communions with holiness and it is totally genuine.
However, in retrospect, Jacob believed that what
he had experienced was subjective, a reflection
of his daily experience, constantly praying and
discussing God and mystical experience made it natural
for his mind to provide objective validation of
his mental and emotional landscape.
Eventually
the omnipresence of the religious lifestyle became
overbearing for Jacob, and that, combined with domestic
issues had led him to leave his wife in Israel.
The problem was he never gave her a religious divorce,
the only kind of divorce that has any meaning for
an orthodox Jewish lady. No orthodox man could marry
her until she obtained the divorce certificate and
she was stuck in a twilight zone.
Jacob
said the reason why he would not grant the divorce
was that she was asking for all the assets of the
marriage. So, initially, Jacob returned to his native
Canada, where he lived in Islands of the coast of
Vancouver. But the religious authorities of Israel
have the force of government behind them and Jacob
was found. On an otherwise uneventful day, a man
with a beard and black hat was heard knocking on
the door of Jacob's remote island home.
The
man was employed by the Israeli religious authorities
to get Jacob to sign off on the divorce. Initially
congenial, the enforcer asked nicely for Jacob to
sign the consent to divorce and they discussed the
issue in a relaxed and civilized matter. Jacob read
over the papers and saw, again, that his wife was
asking for all of the marriage assets and again
Jacob refused to sign. At this point, the enforcer
revealed his other side and began breaking objects
and threatening Jacob. Jacob is a small-framed man
and the enforcer was huge. As the destruction increased
and became noisier, Jacob's neighbor, a cop, came
by and asked the enforcer to leave. And that was
the last Jacob has heard form the Israelis. Now
Jacob has to be careful to avoid the Israeli and
orthodox Jewish community in Thailand. He is a man
with a past.
