Sipping Sachlab
Winter is the time for sachlab. What in the world is sachlab, you ask? Harry has the answer.
I enjoyed my first sachlab of the season yesterday. As far as I’m concerned, the only places I truly enjoy a nice cup of sachlab are Abulafia in Jaffa and Mifgash HaShech in Jerusalem. Mifgash HaShech has been serving up Sachlab for many years (but certainly not 125 like Abulafia) in Talpiot and is open 24 hours a day, but not on Shabbat. They recently opened a slightly more upscale cafe style bakery on Shammai street so I headed over there yesterday with Michael to see if the location changed the flavor and if the sachlab was above par. Silly me. There must be some of you who have no idea what Sachlab is. Allow me to explain. Take some vanilla orchid root and milk, mix that shit up, sprinkle on a generous amount of cinnamon, peanuts (sometimes walnuts) and coconut and you have a hot, creamy concoction that is Middle Eastern comfort food at it’s best. It’s the perfect drink for cold Jerusalem nights. Yeah, so the sachlab was alright. Not the best I’ve had, but satisfying. Michael said it was watery. I disagreed. While it wasn’t the thickest I’ve had, it definitely wasn’t kool aid consistency. I don’t like it too thick anyway. Thicker sachlab tends to taste very starchy. So I’d take a thinner sachlab with flavor over a sachlab pudding any day. And this sachlab certainly didn’t lack flavor. And doesn’t it look fantastic?
Rainblogging
More posts about rain. I’m thinking that it’s such a topic of conversation because Israel has so many months of sunny weather, that when precipitation comes, we, and certainly our houses, are utterly unequipped, like Hannah’s.
It’s raining. Hard. With lots of thunder. I just rolled out of bed now and the clock says that it is 10 am. I find that hard to believe given how dark it is outside.
I love the thunder and I love the rain. But I don’t love the water seeping into our kitchen from under our door (the roof drainage pipe is leaking just outside) and I also don’t love the crack in our kitchen ceiling that is dripping drops into our very useful red utility bucket (also helped with the clogged drain).
Update: New leak above our closet. How is this possible when we live on the ground floor?
If there were no leaks I would enjoy Shabbat by staying curled up in bed and blowing my leaky nose. Yes, I finally got a full-blown cold after it’s long period of taunting me with occasional sniffles and sneezes. But there are leaks and it is Shabbat and that means that we probably will have to endure these leaks all day and night, since it is doubtful that anyone will come do anything about it on the commanded day of rest. And by the way, these are not little baby leaks. These are big mama and papa leaks, I may have to empty the utility bucket soon as the water level is rising.
An Evening with Mosh Ben Ari
Tif took in a great concert:
Last night we were at a huge concert by Mosh Ben Ari, a relatively new, fun, Reggae-ish Israeli musician. It took place in an enormous converted warehouse in the Tel Aviv port, near where the Yarkon River meets the ocean. This place is pretty much just a humungous empty floor, and a stage. And it was packed. Packed. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, bumping into your neighbors as you dance kind of packed.
The show started an hour and a half late, with no opening bands for some reason, and one speaker that was doing some very strange vibrating things with the bass. By the time these guys got on stage most of the audience was grumbling, and some were talking of leaving. And then they started jamming. And jamming. And they jammed for three hours straight (pretty impressive for a band with only two and a half albums out).
And the audience was moving. They were moving. They were dancing and jumping and grooving away. It’s the first Israeli concert I’ve been to actually in Israel, and it was very different from when Israeli bands come to the US and perform in front of a bunch of Jewish college students from the local Hillel. This audience was massive, and it was moving.
Mosh’s band, in addition to the standard guitar, bass, and drums, included two violins, a cello, a trumpet, a saxophone, a female vocalist whose main job seemed to be to look pretty at stage right, and occasionally a beautiful flute. It was a great combination, and the strings section especially looked like they were having a blast. Another nice aspect was that we were actually standing close enough to make out people’s facial expressions and all the details on stage. I’ve never stood that close at a big concert.
After the first three or four songs, all the lights went off, and a big sofa and a couple of armchairs were brought on stage. And then Mosh started inviting other artisits up. First Din Din Aviv (yeah, I thought of you, Noorster), then Shotei Hanevu’a, Muki, Shlishiyat Ma Kashur, Idan Raichel, Berry Sakharof, one member of Shabak Samech, and a couple of musicians we didn’t even know. It was a late-night talk music show. It was a talent show of famous Israeli musicians. And each in turn would step up on the stage, take a seat on Mosh’s sofa, and start jamming. How he got all these amazing artists (most of whom are far more famous than he is) to play in his concert, in his little makeshift salon, I have no idea. But no one was complaining.
All in all, despite the occasional bone-vibrating interference from the speaker, and a few weak songs here and there, and some truly Israeli Israelis in the audience, I’d certainly say we got our money’s worth. It was an evening to remember.
The Big Shmooze
Sagi reports in from the Israel TV and Film Festival in pastoral and now Katyusha-free Rosh Pina, where producers, directors, celebrities and technology geeks leave their Tel Aviv espresso bars and go sit in espresso bars in the north of the country. Like the rest of the world, things are shifting rapidly here from old media to new media and people in the industry are still reeling a bit. But like the rest of the world, they won’t have any choice but to keep up. Sagi forsees this annual event as getting geekier and geekier.
Over the last few years this event was all about the broadcasters, media figures, and Celebes. This year the “Geeks” (i.e. us technology folks) managed to infiltrate the ranks. My Prediction:
In the coming years the “Geeks” will become more significant in this event (and others of its kind around the world), as the media industry and new media technologies continue to converge.
It seems the crowd is slowly becoming aware to this shift. But they (Israeli broadcasting and media figures) are still very far from understanding what its all about. For example, when Jeff Pulver spoke about on demand-on the net, and the world of “Roketboom”, blank stares from the audience were easily noticeable
I have a feeling things will move faster than most of the people at the event would like to believe – A lot due to the fact that it (luckily) won’t be under their control
There’s Enough to be Scared of Without Halloween
Speculation on why Halloween has never quite caught on around these parts at One Jerusalem., While the author is correct in pointing out that Israeli-style squash is a fine substitute for pumpkin when you are making pie — you can’t really carve a scary face in a squash:
Israelis have never caught on to this idea, although the festival of Purim has some similarities, in which people also dress up in costumes, go to parties, and make loud noises against a devil-like character known as Haman.
Belief in the underworld and in witchcraft is practiced here to some extent, especially by young kids who really have no idea what they are getting themselves involved in; often with disastrous results. Even exorcism against dibbuks and other demons has been practiced in Judaism throughout the ages, although these practices done less in today’s modern world. The fun side of Halloween is something that many people who grew up in countries like America consider as normal to them as eating apple and pumpkin pie. While those large, orange members of the squash family are not found in Israel, a close cousin, the dlaat is readily available here; and those craving real pumpkin pie can easily satisfy their craving by using dlaat pulp instead of pumpkin. Even the American and English version of this ‘witch’s festival’ is not thought of the same anymore; and parents have to be careful when their kids go out ‘treating’ due to some unscrupulous people giving the kids more than what they bargained for; with sometimes real poisoned apples right out of a Snow White tale…..
Although this holiday may never really catch on here, some people, including Israelis who lived for a time in America, may throw a Halloween party, with all the imagination they can conjure up for decorations, costumes, and party food and drinks. There are enough problems here and plenty of dibbuks around (some say one just became a government minister) to come to the conclusion that this fall festival occurring at the end of October, is best left to the Americans and the Brits.
Stephanie views the fact that she almost completely forgot it was Halloween as a sign of creeping assimiliation into Israeli society…
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