Ikea in Rishon
The Ikea franchise in Israel has won a major or minor victory, depending on how you look at it. After three years of a heated legal battle between the Ikea franchise owners in Israel and more than 200 furniture purveyors in Rishon Lezion — Israel’s fourth-largest city — a second branch of the Swedish furniture chain will be built in the seaside city of Rishon, but without an adjacent shopping center, which was what the city’s storeowners had feared.
According to the Ha’aretz account of the settlement, the furniture store owners are less fearful of the Ikea branch itself, and more nervous about the planned 30,000-square-meter shopping center that was supposed to accompany the 323,000 square-meter Ikea. Personally, I’m surprised they’re not more nervous about Ikea; the Netanya store is one of the chain’s most successful ever, with more than 16 million visitors since it opened eight years ago.
Rishon, in case you didn’t know, has become something of a shopping destination. I was somewhat aware of this, but became more aware last week when my sister and I took an outing in order to shop at the city’s branch of Eden Teva Market, without having to schlep out to Netanya. Yes, I know, it may seem strange to head all the way to Rishon from Jerusalem (about a 45-minute drive, longer, if you don’t have good directions) for food shopping. But when the store in question is Israel’s answer to Whole Foods, some of us travel far and wide.
And now, it seems, we won’t have to head as far as Netanya any longer for our Billy bookshelves and Poang armchairs. As for those in northern Israel, it seems there are plans to open a third store in the Galilee within three years. So thanks to all the Rishon Lezion furniture store owners and to Ikea Israel for settling; now I’ll have an additional stop to make in Rishon when I head out there for sulphur-free dried fruits, spelt breads and other natural goodies.
Nostalgia Sunday – Personal care
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture
The exciting news of the day is that Khloe Kardashian, small screen reality TV star and major B-list demi-celeb, has received the VelaShape treatment for cellulite reduction and body contouring through circumferential reduction. In the latest episode of the E! show Keeping up with the Kardashians, which aired yesterday in the US, Khloe prepares her body for an upcoming photo shoot for a charity ad campaign with a visit to Dr. Shalini Kapoor-Grover of REVIVE: Beverly Hills Medical Institute to receive VelaShape treatments on her stomach.
As VelaShape was developed by Israel’s Syneron Medical, this exposure should be a major point of national pride. It’s also a milestone — for better or worse — for the industrial achievements of a country that 60 years ago was famous for having eschewed female frippery in favor of equality of the sexes and the Socialist ideal. War and restrictions on imports also played a part in limiting the quantity and quality of products a woman could lavish on herself.
Imagine if instead of body sculpting and skin rejuvenation devices, all Khloe had to work with was a set of locally made pantyhose and a tube of Yad Chen cream (still found today in the same attractive packaging).
Or, instead of one of Lumenis‘ or Syneron‘s dental lasers to whiten her teeth, a dab of Tayadent – dentifrice available in its traditional angular plastic bottle – only now 20% bigger!
VelaShape, the company states, “is clinically proven to take inches off the thighs, a celebrity beauty secret that has been embraced by not only Khloe but also her sister, Kim Kardashian”. How well would they have done with a simple bar of Neca 7 or bottle of Dermapon “soapless” soap?, (yes, still available today at your local SuperPharm or NeoPharm).
If things are to be judged by these ads (and please, check out the crazy handclaps in this Neca Sheva jingle) — probably just great!
Grandmas cook off in Jerusalem
Filed under: Food, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life
Shoshana Levi with chef Moshe Basson of Eucalyptus (Photo: Nikita Povolov)
The 15 ‘savtot’ were paired with 15 chefs from some of the capital’s finest restaurants, among them Canella, Gabriel, La Guta and Magare for the first Grandmothers’ Cooking Competition. Each chef prepared his partner’s recipe at the contest, which was sampled by a panel of judges including food critics and other culinary professionals.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the competition was devised by members of Wake Up Jerusalem, “an organization aimed at encouraging Jerusalem’s youth to be active on behalf of the city that is also represented on the city council, its goal is to inspire Jerusalemites to embrace their cultural roots.
“The recipes originate from countries as diverse as Hungary, Iran, Poland, Romania, Yemen and Ethiopia,” explains the movement’s Neta Yaron.
“In a country like Israel, which is made up of people of so many different cultural heritages, it’s important for people to have a sense of their own backgrounds as well as each other’s. Food accomplishes this on so many levels. Family recipes provide people with a link to their past, and meals enable families to come together and connect,” she says.
A second goal of the competition is to forge a connection between the capital’s senior residents and its youth. “As a youth organization, we think it’s important to encourage the younger members of our city to interact with different segments of its population and particularly to have an awareness of the needs of its elderly members,” Yaron says.
Yaron also hopes the event will promote Jerusalem as a gastronomic attraction. “There is a misconception that all the sophisticated restaurants are in Tel Aviv. We want to show that Jerusalem also has something to offer on this front.”
The proceeds from the cook-off – entrance was free but each dish cost NIS 15 – went to the Elem charity for youth at risk.
Israel going to pot
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Medical Breakthroughs, Technology
Forget California – did you know that Israel has one of the most progressive medical marijuana programs around?
Run out of an office in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam, the Health Ministry’s program provides legally grown pot to hundreds of Israelis with medical conditions that have been proven to be helped by the active ingredient in cannabis – THC.
The categories include patients with malignant tumors who are in one of two stages – either during chemo to ease nausea and promote appetite, or those with a final stage tumor, terminal patients who have a prognosis for living for another six months; HIV patients, who attend one of the country’s eight HIV centers in the country; chronic pain patients who are being treated at pain clinics or by a known pain physician; patients with Crohn’s Disease or ulcerative colitis, who are being treated by gastroenterologists; and MS patients specifically for the spasticity symptoms upon recommendation from an MS center or a neurological specialist.
In addition patients with post stress trauma disorder are being tested with the drug on an experimental basis – these include many former IDF soldiers experiencing PSTD following their participation in battle.
Dr. Yehuda Baruch is the guy who makes the decisions which patients are accepted to the program, which receives over 60 applicants each month. The licenses need to be renewed at various intervals ranging from monthly to annually depending on the condition. According to Baruch, once a patient receives approval, he’s given the option to either grow the plants himself or be supplied free of charge by one of the minstry’s five authorized pot growers.
In addition to the medical marijuana program, Israel can boast one of the world’s superstars in cannabis research – 78-year-old Professor Raphael Mechoulam. In 1964, Mechoulam was the first researcher in world to isolate THC, and in 1993, he headed an Israeli-Scottish team that succeeded in identifying, isolating and synthesizing a previously unknown substance in the brain that functions much as THC itself. The researchers named it anandamide, from the Sanskrit word ananda, meaning inner joy.
Today, in his lab at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Mechoulam and his team synthesize the THC from a steady supply of cannabis supplied by the Israel Police, and create a liquid form that’s given to cancer patients undergoing painful marrow transplants.
Foto Friday – Wildflowers
Filed under: Environment, Foto Friday, General, Israeliness
The rainy season is almost at an end and the country is a-flower. Everywhere you look – the side of the highway, the vacant lot behind your building, and of course, the fields and hillsides – are a riot of red poppies and yellow daisies.
The website, Wild Flowers of Israel, a labor of love aimed at plant aficionados of all walks of life and all ages. It was started by photographer Sara Gold, Prof. Amram Eshel, a professor of botany at Tel-Aviv University, and programmer Abraham Plotnizki, using materials donated by some very talented volunteer photographers.
Photo: Mori Chen
“Flowering Times” is one great feature the site offers. This is the high season for flowering plants — including desert tall grasses like this:
Photo: Mori Chen
The site includes information about plants for herbal or medicinal uses, toxic plants, flowering seasons, protected species and more. Special emphasis has also been given to the linkage between the plants and the Jewish traditions and scholarly literature
Photo: Sara Gold
The red anemone — calanit in Hebrew — is a favorite in Israel, having been immortalized in song by the legendary Shoshana Damari.
Photo: Amram Eshel
Another is the bashful cyclamen — or rakefet — which hides between the rocks and blooms only briefly. The song Rakefet, as sung by Esther and Avi Ofarim is another classic.
Photo: Eli Livne
There’s still time enough to get out and see some wildflowers for real, and of course, there are large format images to enjoy online, too.
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