Same Same

May 26, 2007 - 8:00 AM by Stephanie

I recently blogged about taking up the sport of windsurfing off of Tel Aviv’s coast.

It’s still challenging. Learning to balance on the board, hoisting the sail, shifting direction and turning or jibing takes practice. Practice and LOADS of falling off the board into the sea, swallowing unwelcome quantities of seawater and bruising legs and feet when falls are les than graceful.

The physical aside, twice during lessons I have been very pleasantly surprised to see religious Jewish men turn up at the club, don gear and head out to sea.

I know they’re religious because I see them before they put on their wet suits: yarmulkes (male head covering), tzitzit and the standard issue black pants and white button down shirts.

Yesterday I encountered one of the guys a bit awkwardly; we were both in the club changing room at the same time, odd as that may seem. But it’s not, really, because most of the surf and SCUBA clubs I’ve seen in Tel Aviv are unisex. One or two showers for all and a non-gender-specific lock-with-key changing room if a person wants privacy.

Locker areas – generally the place people put on or take off wet suits and boots and change into or out of sea-gear if they’re not bothered about privacy (which I’ve found is often the case) – are mixed.

So as I stood in my wet bathing suit and boots in the locker area waiting for a lock-key room to vacate, not four feet away on the other side of the wooden bench island a religious guy removed his tzitzit and other articles of clothing. He didn’t strip to bare skin. That would’ve been awkward. He found an empty shower stall and locked himself in for the final swap from pants and shirt to wet suit.

Once in his sea togs, you’d have never known his religious preference save a few locks tucked behind his ears.

I hear he’s a yeshiva student from Jerusalem who can’t resist the sea; he comes down to Tel Aviv when the wind is good or “surf’s up”.

Leveling the playing field. It’s a wonderful thing.

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