There are 1/2 million Druze in Israel, 1 mill. in Syria and 1 mill. in Lebanon. There towns are located mostly on the tops of hills for safety because they were hunted by the Turks when the Ottoman Empire ruled the area. What unites Druze are their religion and not their politics so the Druze are loyal to whichever country they reside in. The Israeli Druze serve in the military (unlike other Israeli Arabs) and then many go on to careers in the police or other security jobs. Our bus driver from Jerusalem to Eilat was of Druze extraction and a very pleasant, personable fellow.
According to Ronit, Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses started the religion but that conflicts with the history of the Druze on Wikipedia Druze - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. It's a very interesting history and worth a read.
Other relevant facts told to us by our group leader are:
The Druze kept the books open for 23 yrs and then closed the books to new members;
In order to be considered Druze, both parents must be Druze
If a Druze marries outside the faith, he can't come back to the village;
They are monotheists that believe in reincarnation
There are 2 versions - religious and non-religious and you can be either but if you declare yourself religious, then your wife must also be religious;
That being said, men and women have equal rights;
The religious wear traditional garb and the non-religious wear western style clothing;
There flag contains 5 colors symbolizing the following: Red - Love, White - Purity, Yellow - Wheat, Blue - Sky, Green - Nature
There temples are very simple and they don't turn them into shrines;
Men and women sit separately at services;
If your not religious, you don't have access to the prayer book; I found this idea interesting in that you don't have access to the rules until you decide to play the game;
There is no right of passage and no day of rest;
You can't eat pork or drink alcohol and there is an aphrodisiac herb that you are forbidden to eat.
The wife cooked the side dishes and the sons barbecued the meat for us. All of it was delicious and abundant. Drinks were lemonade or water.
After the meal, Rabbi Mark presented our hosts with the gift of a very large tablecloth.
Once dessert had been finished, we ended the evening by singing Oseh Shalom.
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