The “Day of Sacrifice” is a celebration of a story similar to that of Abraham and Isaac in the Torah. It is essentially the only holiday for the Druze out of the entire day, while there is another holiday it is not as celebrated by the non-religious. For two entire weeks the family has a vacation and gathers at home to celebrate together. It is rare for people during the actual two days of the holiday to be outside of the house. In the middle of the two weeks is the actual holiday where everyone will feast with close family. Close family entails the nuclear family, and aunts, uncles, and grandparents. This family had one grandmother, six aunts and five uncles, and twelve children. There were twenty-five of us with myself included.
During the day children were in the streets next to their homes playing with fireworks, while mothers, sisters, aunts, and daughters worked on the meal at home. Every household welcomed you with chocolate, dried fruit, nuts, and specially made cookies laid out on a table. The table was aesthetically gorgeous with candles and ribbons and little beads. As a guest I was constantly offered hot drinks and sweet treats which were either brought to me on a tray or placed on a small table that was brought to me. At first, the hospitality was overwhelming to say the least, but as the day carried on it became clear that this was a cultural norm.
As the night fell the feasting began. A long table was set up outside to accomidate all the guests, everyone sat around the table happy to be with family despite the bitter cold. Five or six different meats were being grilled by the head of the family as everyone else began to eat the spreads that were laid out in front of them. The table was set with homemade tehina, humus, cabbage salad brought by one of the aunts, purple cabbage salad, olives in tomato sauce, special pickled eggplant made by the grandmother, grilled onion and tomato, baked eggplant, pickled mushrooms and carrots, and everyone had their own special Druzi pita. Everyone ate with a fork and their hands. I was encouraged to try each dish several times. Everyone was expected to eat beyond satisfaction, being the only holiday of the year everyone indulged in the food and each other’s company. One had to forget about their fullness and succumb to the ritual of feasting.
Through out the feast the children would get up and play with each other. The boys played soccer in the yard as the girls remained close to their mothers and talked with each other. When I wanted to play soccer all the children gathered around me in an attempt to play, despite the girls not knowing how. Some admitted they didn’t like the game but just wanted to play with me. The opportunity to connect with me taking priority over their disinterest in the sport of soccer. After the feast the men and women went to separate side of the courtyard to sit and discuss. Coffee was brought out and served in “finjans”. Later in the night we enjoyed a special spice tea with walnuts floating in it. Earlier, everyone got into a line and danced, all children and adults danced around the table with a repeated step and hand-clap group dance. They attempted to teach me how to keep the rhythm and move my hips. The fun was in moving with the entire group around the table, not in dancing by oneself.
Everyone was exited over the arrival of an uncle and his new wife from another village. On this day they would be returning from their honeymoon. They were married a month ago and through out the day the family members had watched the wedding video of the ceremony with everyone dancing. During the meal the video was playing on loudspeakers so that everyone could continue to hear the music as they anticipated the arrival of the newly weds. When they arrived everyone jumped up with excitement to greet them, including myself. Then we all gathered again to watch the video for the first time all together. As the video played we sat and joked and made speeches. The uncle announced him and is wife moving into the village in five months. He did this in English for me to know. His house is currently being constructed and refurbished on top of his mother’s home.
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