The actual title of this entry is "Everything You Wanted to Know About Sacrifical Lambs, But Were Afraid to Ask."
I am posting this entry in honor of Kurban Bayrami- the Turkish name for a Muslim holiday in which lambs are sacrficied and the meat is donated to the poor.
My good friend Volkan Ozdemir is with the Divan Cultural Center in Cary, NC (Raleigh), and they are hosting a feast for the occasion on Fri., Dec. 21, at 7 p.m.
I am not sure I can make the event as there are literally 100 things going on that evening in 'my two states' (Virginia and North Carolina)- some of which will be posted about right here! Of course, my biggest fear is that everything will cancel each other out, and I'll opt to stay home and watch Charlie Rose on PBS (Bill Clinton was on tonight- perhaps, it's time for tivo!).
I have an amusing story about Kurban Bayrami. When I was living in Turkey as a child in 1978, my late father Mehmet Gokbudak brought a sheep from a seller in the town of Kara Deniz (Black Sea) Eregli where we were living. He had brought the sheep for a sacrifice that was going to be held at my late grandmother Zekiye Gokbudak's house in Buyukada- which is off the coast of Istanbul.
I was not aware that the 'kuzu' (Turkish word for sheep) was going to be sacrficied. Having grown up in Salem, Va., I had no knowledge of the sacred rituals that were conducted in Moslem countries for the holiday. So, I made the sheep my pet! We drove four hours to the port of Bostanci (on the Asian side of Istanbul), and I was delighted to spend that time in the back seat of the family Volkswagen with my new pet.
I also got to spend time with the sheep on the boat from Bostanci to Buyukada. In those days, the boat took a good 40 minutes (today it takes a mere 15). When we got to my grandmother's house, the sheep was tied outside underneath her stairs. I was horrified to see that the sheep had vanished the next morning.
My grandmother lied to me the next day and said that the sheep ran away. But, like the Santa Clause myth, I soon figured out what really happened. My mom said that my father felt guilty about the whole ordeal for years!
Personally, I have mixed feelings about sheep sacrifices. I saw one being performed on a street in Izmir, Turkey, and I thought the people involved should have shown more civil regard for those who might not want to see a ram being bludgoned to deathout in the open. I am sure representatives of the Turkish Tourism Bureau would agree!
But, on the other hand, it is a religious ritual that people have performed for thousands of years. And, the intention is a pure and nobel one.
I guess people should perform them in their own backyard, and hopefully, that is what is done in most cases.
And, like other religious holidays around the world, the occasion is one which is celebrated with lots of food and drink_well, in this case, ones without alcohol!
Turkish people are not the only ones celebrating the holiday.
I got an email from the Muslim cleric who conducted my late uncle Ilhan Gokbudak's funeral in Roanoke, Va. (Uncle Ilhan was living in Istanbul and he died in Brazil_ I need to write an essay- or better yet a memoir about that experience which happened in 2000).
Apparently, The Kufa Islamic Center which the Iraqi imam presides over will be getting their sacrificial sheep from a farmer in the rural community of Rocky Mount, Va, in Franklin County!
I just hope no 8-year-old boy got attached to any of them!
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PS_ Ironically, Rocky Mount, Va., is the hometown of Cong. Virgil Goode (R-Va) who made highly racist remarks about how Muslims shouldn't be allowed to immigrate to America. Like David Duke, Goode is not one who feels the need to apologize.
PPS (Dec. 16)_ Upon reading this entry, my sister who was around four-years-old in 1978 reminded me of a few little details about our sheep experience. The VW bug, which was the family car back then, was extremely tight in the backseat. Our father had brought it in Frankfurt, Germany_ of all places (if this is the right VW bug I'm thinking of). And, the sheep actually got quite sick on the journey! My sister also bonded with the sheep, which may have lead to my mother's request for a stay of execution. Alas, it was denied.
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