Visiting the Peki’in Village

Lunch in the Druze Village

Today I met an overwhelmingly friendly and welcoming host, a mystical man who believes in reincarnation, and a man who fervently believes in the sacredness and confidentiality of his secretive religion. This is how the story goes. Midday today I ended up in a town with cars zooming on the roads with loud Middle Eastern music playing. The city was rundown, trash lying down on the ground. Although there was a rundown feeling to this town, there was still something special that stood out to me, yet I couldn’t quite figure it out. As we carefully walked up the steep hills of Peki’in, a Druze village in the North of Israel, to the hospitality lunch, we eagerly awaited the delicious food yet to come. Finally, we arrived at the restaurant. As we opened the door, it was if we arrived at a magical land. Hamsas hung all over the walls, photos of famous Arab figures surrounding us, and trinkets displayed on the shelves. We sat down at the 12-foot table filled with many plates of Israeli foods. Everything looked amazing. There was a special atmosphere in the room. As the Druze host kept coming to the table placing all different types of meat and rice’s, everyone gradually became stuffed.

After we were stuffed from all the delicious food, the Druze man came to the front of the table and began to speak about his religion. Once he started speaking about the secretive Druze religion, I was amazed by his passion towards his faith system and the beliefs that define his Druze identity. He cannot share with other individuals who are not Druze the secrets of the book of wisdom. What was fascinating about this encounter was not only did he tell us the wonders of his religion, but also proved these miraculous aspects to us. For example, the Druze believe in reincarnation and he recounted real-life stories of Druze families with kids who recalled past lives. I was ultimately convinced by the Druze man and was dumbfounded by his stories. 

--Ilana Stein