Take me out to the ball game

June 30, 2008 by · 4 Comments
Filed under: General, Israeliness, Sports 

It looks like the Israel Baseball League (IBL) is coming back for a second season, despite a first attempt last year that was marked by near financial collapse and low attendance. Word is the games will begin on July 27, about a month behind the original play ball date, with four teams down from six, and 20 games instead of the anticipated 40 total.


Dan Rootenberg, a former player who is the league’s new president, said the league needs to learn from its past mistakes, including building on its fan base and bringing the talent back to Israel.

It’s certainly an accomplishment that the league — which almost suffered an early demise — is coming back for another try, and I’m sure it’s welcome news to the scores of Anglos in Israel who seemed to be the main fans. But my main complaint about the IBL, and admittedly, I only went to one game last summer, was that it seemed to be geared solely toward Americans in Israel, without even attempting to attract Israelis.

The tickets were printed in English, the website’s Hebrew section was barely usable and any advertising targeted the English-speaking population. The games were crowded with Anglo Saxon immigrants from Beit Shemesh and Modiin, with nary an Israeli in sight. And no wonder; it wasn’t particularly Sabra-friendly.

How can you expect a new idea like Israeli baseball to succeed in a country that is made up primarily of native stock who are more used to slow-moving soccer? In other words, you gotta bring sunflower seeds and falafel to the games, and not rely just on Burgers Bar and Coke. Make sure the website works as well in Hebrew as it does in English, and bring some Israeli flavor to the ticket stubs, so that everyone knows this is the Middle Eastern take on an American tradition. After all, this ain’t the native land for peanuts and Cracker Jacks, but there are ways of melding traditions.

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Israel’s cactus industry begins life in a matchbox

June 30, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Business, General, History and Culture, Life, War 

I was leafing through this wonderful old gardening book by Walter Frankl the other day, when I came across an interesting entry about Israel’s cactus industry.

Apparently, the first importer of the many ornamental cacti you can now find at virtually every nursery in Israel today was a man called Israel Hebel, from Darmstadt in Germany.

cactus2.jpg

He was a bank clerk by profession, and an amateur gardener and cacti lover by hobby.

When Hitler came to power, Hebel managed to escape Germany for Palestine, but the Nazis forced him to leave all his possessions behind. The only thing he did manage to smuggle out, however, was a matchbox full of hundreds of tiny cactus seeds.

These seeds became Hebel’s fortune. He set up a nursery in Ran’anana and soon become the first big cacti supplier to florists all over the country. For decades, his family lived off the earnings of these German seeds, and in 1981 – when Frankl’s book was published, the original nursery still existed.

I did an Internet search to find out if it was still there, but sadly drew a blank. It would be a shame to think this page of history has closed.

This isn’t the only story in Israel about an industry being founded on smuggled goods. Legend has it that Israel’s growing ostrich industry was founded in 1982 when an Israeli made the trip to South Africa and smuggled a few eggs in on the way back home. There are also rumors that one of the country’s most prominent high-tech firms was set up on modems smuggled in from the US.

That’s what I like about Israel. It’s still a young enough country for enterprising people to start an industry based on the contents of a matchbox or a suitcase.

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Afro-beat redemption

June 30, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Music 

Aharit Hayamim Some Israeli bands can jam when they want to – especially those steeped in the growing “party music” scene – but most aren’t known for their meandering, free-form improvisations.

Aharit Hayamim, on the other hand, could very well be the closest thing Israel has to a proper hippie jam band . When Aharit Hayamim hits the stage, they throw everything at you: Afro rhythms, folk-rock motifs, reggae grooves, Rebbe Nachman teachings and swirling psychedelic textures. More of a redemption-themed collective than a rock act, Aharit Hayamim has been on the scene for about five years now, playing impromptu shows in open-air markets, wooded hilltops and traditional concert venues, while hosting its own eponymous festival in Gush Etzion every fall.

The band’s name comes from the Biblical term for the dawn of the messianic age, which, according to traditional Jewish teachings, comes only after some serious birth pains. Of course, the music has the power to heal – and not only for Jews in the homeland. Aharit Hayamim has recently partnered up with the Dar Fur Stars, a vocals and percussion ensemble consisting of 12 Sudanese who arrived in Israel in recent months, following arduous journeys across Egypt, smuggled to the Philadelphi Route by Egyptian Bedouin.

While the current genocide in Darfur threatens to wipe out an entire population, Aharit Hayamim is doing its part to preserve the Fur culture’s language and chants. The two acts joined forces earlier this year for a series of open jam sessions, rehearsals and fundraiser concerts in Tel Aviv.

While response from the general public has been modest, some donations from American Jewish communities have been made to the cause, resulting in the purchase of some djembe hand drums for the Dar Fur Stars. Now leaders from the bands are getting organized for an international concert tour and a recording session, hopefully to take place in the coming weeks.

“It’s not just music that sounds good to the ears,” says Aharit Hayamim manager Moshe Cornfeld. “It helps do something.”

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Banking woes

June 29, 2008 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, General, Israeliness 

There is supposedly a ‘revolution’ taking place in Israeli banks. The Bank of Israel, Israel’s central bank, announced recently that amalot, the banking fees and commissions charged by the banks, will be cheaper for customers who use direct-banking services, such as the ATM and Internet banking, but more expensive for those who still go to the teller.

It’s all part of a series of bank fees reform going into effect as of July 1, reducing the number of transaction fees charged by the banks by about two-thirds: from 198 to 72. Roni Hizkiyahu, the Supervisor of Banks, says it’s the first time there is a law improving the terms of customers opposite the banks.

What I want to know is whether Rena, the manager at my local bank branch that I’ve been frequenting for 14 years, is aware of these reforms. In one of our infrequent but aggravating run-ins of late — I only hear from her when my account is in overdraft — I was charged for signing a check with a signature that my bank didn’t recognize. I was writing a check to my husband’s account, instead of transferring the money over the Internt, because the bank’s Internet transfer option expires every six months.

Not having the time or desire to shlep over to the bank, I wrote a check instead, using my signature, which has changed since I first made aliyah. When my bank branch didn’t ‘recognize’ the signature, instead of calling me, as they do whenever they want to share bad news, they simply refused the check, charging NIS 18 to each of our accounts. This happened twice, because the teller at my husband’s bank told us to redeposit the check, and my branch — same bank, different branches — would honor it.

And so, despite our desire to avoid walking into the bank and deal with actual human beings, we did just that in order to engage in the rigorous but necessary argument with Rena, to let her know just how upset we were at this treatment.

What’s crazy is that it worked because it’s nearly impossible in the Israeli banking society to completely avoid dealing with people. They expect it; they want you to come in and have a cup of ‘Nes’ with them when you first open an account. They need to know what you look like. And they want to hear you yell and scream when you’re not satisfied.

We patched things up with Rena, and she got rid of the fees. But I’m sure it won’t be the last time that we lay eyes on each other, or the last time that I’m aggravated by the system.

?

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Nostalgia Sunday

June 29, 2008 by · 6 Comments
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Pop Culture 

Sometime today, I’ve got to go out and find some na’aley bayit to send to America. It may seem odd to be writing about bedroom slippers just as the summer heat hits its full stride but my sister’s birthday was last week, and she apparently already bought the Yael Naim disk sent her. So, if it is na’aley bayit she wants, then na’aley bayit she shall have.

Na’aley bayit translates literally as “house shoes” and indeed, the classic Israeli “naal bayit” is far more a shoe for the home than a slip-on slipper. Firstly, it’s ankle-high with a zipper, so there’s no casual sliding in and out of the thing. Secondly, it’s got a hard rubber sole – perfect for the faux casual “whoops, I’m just slumming here at the café and didn’t notice I had my bedroom slippers on” sort of way of life. Thirdly, they’re plaid! How cool is that?! They make a total statement.
HaMegaper slippers
Now, the question is, what is that statement? Is it:
1. I’m accidentally on purpose walking around my neighborhood where I feel so comfortable that I wear shoes that don’t coordinate with my outfit which I had to zip myself into.
2. I was locked out of my house. Really. I’m not kidding.
3. I’m an ex-kibbutznik or have spent some time on kibbutz.

The answer: All three are possible.

In the Israeli mentality, na’aley bayit are inexorably bound to two things: the kibbutz and Rehov Sumsum, the Hebrew language version of Sesame Street. On the Socialist side, their original and largest manufacturer was HaMegaper, a rubber manufacturing cooperative established under the aegis of construction company Solel Boneh and then the Koor concern. Initially, according to Haaretz’s Dalia Karpel, HaMegaper manufactured tires for the British Army during Israel’s pre-state period. Later on, it began manufacturing hiking boots and slippers made of cloth, leather – all with polyethylene rubber soles. The unique manufacturing method enabled the cloth, leather and rubber to fuse seamlessly without stitching.

Wearing na’aley bayit in public gained ground in the 1970s, Karpel writes, “HaMegaper’s ads promised us that we’d feel at home in their shoes, but many who wanted the ‘laid-back look’ walked around in slippers outside as well. Kibbutzniks did it first, but city dwellers jumped on the bandwagon and turned wearing HaMegaper slippers into one of the most visible indicators of Israel’s youth.’” Popstars such as Shalom Hanoch, Meir Ariel and Alon Oleartchik popularized the look by wearing their plaid slippers outside and onstage, and HaMegaper promoted it to the hilt:
HaMegaper poster ad

And who better to wear indoor wear outside if not Kipi Kipod, the urban hedgehog host of Rehov Sumsum, who sported a pair of outsized na’aley bayit throughout the show’s run.

All pop culture trends tend to wane once they hit the kindergarten set. And so it was with na’aley bayit. HaMegaper was dissolved some years ago, and other, lesser manufacturers took up the na’aley bayit mantle. So you can still get them, but only really unhip stores or the open market shuk. Sad to say, despite a few feeble retro attempts to bring back the look, (and my sister’s loyalty), na’aley bayit are part of Israeli fashion history.

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