Heiress Investment

April 23, 2008 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Business, Life, Pop Culture 

Israel as a real estate investment, you say?

Well maybe not you, per se.

But Donald‘s daughter Ivanka thinks so. In fact, this story sez the gazillionaire’s daughter will be landing in The Promised Land next month to check out investment options on holy terrain.

Hallelujah.

She’ll be here for two days – she’s busy, after all, managing 33 real estate projects worldwide – and she plans to meet with all sorts of investors, tycoons and real estate types to get informed… and draw attention to a project in Philly her dad’s working on…

Take a number. She’ll be busy.

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Passover: Looking from the Other Side

April 23, 2008 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Blogging, Holidays, Israeliness 

Ernest-Jr, an observant Catholic Philippine national living in Israel, has blogged his impressions of what it’s like to be living among his Jewish brothers & sisters during Passover season.

Spring season is happening in Israel, and so is the Jewish holiday of Pesach, which is currently being celebrated throughout the country. Kids are found away from the schools and into most parks here in Tel Aviv, enjoying their two weeks of vacation.

Even families, religious and otherwise, go in droves to parks (Bnei Dan Park has been fully packed since last week) and beaches with their bicycles and picnic bags spending much of the afternoon hours playing together – seemingly Pesach is the perfect bonding time-holiday I thought.

The MFA and other Israeli government agencies and private companies are either closed for the holidays or open half-day. Cafes are full to the brim (obviously Israelis are coffee lovers – are they the world’s largest consumers?). So are the beaches, parks and just about any area that can accommodate congregation of people.

….And by the way, I tried the Matzah last year and simply loved it; however I have yet to buy some for this year’s Passover. I might purchase some from the nearby store anytime – I can’t afford to let some great-tasting hummus that I already bought last week go to waste. I got to enjoy some great Matzah-hummus sandwich.

Head to My Share of Sun in Israel to get the rest…

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What to Do Chapter 2

April 23, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Holidays, Israeliness, Travel 

If you’re in Israel and still looking for something to do, fear not.

There are LOADS of happenings and there are still a few days left to catch the action this Passover holiday.

A few MORE ideas from your friends @ Israelity…

- Israel’s Premiere Rodeo - Round ‘em up, pardners. Activities for kids include rodeo style shows, herd dogs, petting corners and pony rides. The Hebrew press didn’t list a location for the happening so give a call to: 054-625-6300 for details.

- Quick! Get in the car & head north to the Southern Golan area where organized walking tours & bicycle path outings to the area water reservoirs will be starting at 11:30 a.m. Stick around for science games and rides for kids, an evening of Israeli folk music and a laser show. For details: 04-696-1849


- Timna Park Circus Festival. Last day to catch acrobatics, juggling, stilt-walking seminars, story telling and guided tours. Call 08-637-6756

- Mountain to Sea Desert Trek. Three days in Eilat trekking cliffs & canyons and sleeping under a canopy of stars in a quest for the sea. Sites include Mt. Shaharot & Shaharot Canyon, Mt. Amir/Amir Stream, Mt. Shlomo, Nahal Gishron. For details: 03-638-8688

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The Almost Full Monty

April 22, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General 

What to make of this story?

A 27-year-old man, claiming to be a yeshiva student, decided to launch an unusual protest against a court ruling allowing stores and restaurants to sell leavened food during the holiday of Passover. The man, dressed as a haredi, arrived Monday afternoon at a store belonging to the non-kosher Tiv Taam supermarket chain in the city of Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv. Upon his arrival, he undressed and remained with only a sock covering his private parts.

I assume they mean he was dressed as a haredi before dropping trou, right? The next time I see tube socks in Mea Shearim will be the first. (Ech omrim “dropping trou”?)

The man explained that he could not be prosecuted for an indecent act in public, because according to the court’s interpretation of the leavened food law, a supermarket is not considered a public place. He even wrote on his stomach, “This isn’t public???”

Well, it is now, buddy. Thanks for sharing. Does Tiv Ta’am sell vomit bags?

If you’re brave, check out the rest of the story at What War Zone???

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Loping for Peace

April 22, 2008 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: General 

Friday morning in Jerusalem is hard enough, in terms of logistics, without it being the Friday before a Saturday night Passover seder. Yet there I was, 7:45AM on Friday morning, standing at the Rachel’s Tomb junction, a.k.a., the Gilo 300 checkpoint that connects Bethlehem to Jerusalem, waiting for a group of Catholic pilgrims to come running by.

And by running, I mean running. At least, that’s what was promised by the organizers, Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, the official Vatican tour operator; Ovunque Viaggi, an Italian sports tourism operator, and Israel’s Ministry of Tourism. Called the John Paul II Pilgrimage Peace Marathon, the run, (covering 8k from Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity to Jerusalem’s Old City Walls), was initiated by the Vatican Office of Church and Sport. Though little-known in Israel, it is a very big deal in the Catholic world and the pilgrimage has grown by leaps and bounds (no pun intended) since its inception five years ago.

The word “pilgrimage” means “a journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion”. Unlike the Italian group, I was merely a fellow traveler – a runner, in this case – joining along for a few hours for… what exactly? It would be inaccurate to say I was there to lend moral support, as their spirits were already enviably high. If I’d wanted a proper run, I could have signed up for the Rishon LeZion 10k, which was happening that same day. Was I looking for the contemplative experience that running sometimes is? No, because I didn’t have my MP3 player on me. So, in all honesty, I was there out of curiosity, for the sake of a good story to report, and – as it turned out – there to represent Jewish Israelis on a day when only the craziest of us would dare stray from the seder preparations that were at a fever pitch.

There are other reasons why I just had to be there. I am the daughter of a professor of theology, David Neiman, the first Rabbi to be tenured at a Catholic university and the first Jew to teach at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome – plus, I am slow but steady long-distance runner and a proud member of the Holyland Hash House Harriers (more about them another time). For purely crass reasons, I wanted a medallion from the race; material proof that I’d been there to show off to friends and family.

So there I was, together with about 14 other Israelis, including a few fellows whom I recognized from other running events: Michael (a veteran ultra-marathoner), Zalman (of Jerusalem’s HaSolelim Running Club), and Yaron (of Jerusalem’s Beit HaLohem and a fixture at every run in Israel). By the time the pilgrims showed up, carrying their torch aloft, the four of us were good buddies. After a quick rest stop and photo op – we were off.

Pilgrims Hold the Torch Aloft

The first thing we realized was that there would be little running done. The second thing we realized was that the Jerusalem municipality hadn’t closed off a lane on Hebron Road, which meant we had to follow in the wake of the bus the entire time, for protection. The third thing was that Jerusalem drivers – who are never good, even at the best of times – were not going to tolerate anything getting in their way on this Friday-before-Saturday-Passover. The Jerusalem police were also not pleased. We ended up run-walking the 8k distance to the Old City.

But the group’s spirit couldn’t be dampened and they ran-walked with vigor. I spoke with Father Kevin Lixey, who heads the Vatican Office of Church and Sport. He explained to me that as more and more non-running pilgrims joined the event, it became important to offer the real runners a proper venue for their sport, in addition to the Peace Marathon itself. This year, the runners participated in the Arad-Massada Half-Marathon – which took place 2 days earlier – and one of the pilgrims actually won. He also pointed out to me the more famous athletes in the group: Andrea Zorzi, an Olympic volleyball player and former member of the Italian men’s national volleyball team and 62 year-old marathoner Ulderico Lambertucci, on the last leg of a 6,000 km run from St. Peter’s Square in Rome that commenced on January 1st.

Lambertucci was visibly emotional at the awards ceremony at Notre Dame in Jerusalem. The run, he said, had been a long-sought goal for him. Understand, this is a man who’s in the Guinness Book of records for doing 46 marathons in one year – yet this little bitty 8k lope to Jerusalem was of special significance for him. He has turned his running into a tool of faith.

Did I get my medallion? Yes, I did (see picture – yay!). Did I get out of Jerusalem before the buses stopped running? Yes, I did. Would I do the Peace Marathon again? Yes, I would, and hope to see more Israeli and Palestinian participants next time around, to further the run’s message of peace, co-existence and interfaith dialogue.

Peace Piligrimage t-shirt and medal?

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