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Methodists greet an Israelite
By JEAN JOHNSON SPRING LAKE -- Reuben Prager captivated his audience as he spoke about ancient biblical Israeli traditions. He shared the story about how the Romans in 70 A.D. destroyed the Holy Temple and separated father and son, making it impossible for the Jews to hand down traditional customs, return and re-establish themselves. On Tuesday, Prager captured the essence of ancient and modern Jerusalem during a seminar at Spring Lake United Methodist Church. Dressed in authentic Israeli garb with sandals and peots (braids), Prager drove from Miami to Hernando County. The evening began with a boy playing the Israeli national anthem on the violin, accompanied by another boy and a man blowing the shofar (ram's horn). The front of the fellowship hall was adorned with native Israeli garb and jewelry, a menorah, an Israeli breast plate, priestly garments and prayer shawls. All garments included blue fringes hanging from their four corners, common to Israelites. Prager grew up in Miami Beach in a nonreligious Jewish family. When he was 16, his school, Alexander Muss High School, offered him a trip to Israel sponsored by the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. "I didn't even know where Israel was on the map," said Prager, "but it was a chance to get out of the house and out of school for 10 weeks. I came back with this tremendous Jewish energy." He moved to Israel when he was 19 and has lived there for 25 years. In the beginning, his parents didn't know what to make of it. "My first 21/2 years (in Israel), I ended up in an Orthodox yeshiva and came home in a black coat and wouldn't shake my female relatives' hands, which drove everyone crazy," he said. "They didn't understand why I was doing that and only in the last several years, because I'm frequently (a guest speaker) on the radio, they now have started to get a sense of pride from other people's reactions that what I was doing was something cool and today they're very supportive of me." He learned Hebrew while serving in the Israeli army. He researches and restores ancient Israelite customs in preparation for rebuilding the Holy Third Temple. Prager describes himself as a Levite on duty, as was his father and his father's father and all the way back to Levy in biblical times. Research tools consist of the mishna, a compendium of oral traditions, the Talmud, the Bible and any work written up to the third century. Prager's first project was reviving biblical garments. For example, a set of priestly garments consists of trousers, a long duster, girdle and turban. The high priest had an ephod, the blue garment with bells and pomegranates along the bottom, and also choshen, the breast plate with 12 stones. In addition to the turban, there was a gold miter along his forehead that read "Holy to the Lord." The set would cost $5,000 today, because of the need to spin the thread to make the garments. Prager's second project was restoring ancient biblical wedding traditions, including the wedding gown and the popular custom of carrying the bride on a wedding litter by Jerusalem's royal litter bearers. Both bride and groom would wear white and the clothing would be used for the Sabbath worship services and high holy days. The bride's headpiece was white, trimmed in gold and held in place by a gold bridal crown. Most parts of the biblical wedding have been restored and, in fact, the ancient custom is in popular demand for 25th wedding anniversary events. He discussed the ancient form of bartering, before currency and coins and the modern return of the half-shekel (a 95 percent silver coin). After the presentation, guests were invited to peruse or purchase photographs, Israeli flags, modern-day coins and spices. To learn moreInformation may be found at Reuben Prager's Web site: www.begedivri.com.
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