Jewish geography and brownies

February 28, 2011 by · 7 Comments
Filed under: education, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Movies, Travel 

TRY on Masada at sunrise

It’s a busy week at our house; two nights of hosting around 22 high school students and one counselor, feeding them peanut butter brownies (recipe below) and popcorn and showing them an Israeli student film from Jerusalem film school Maale. Why, you may ask, would we volunteer to host 44 teenagers and staff twice in one week or even at all? Well, they’re my husband’s students, spending four months in Israel on TRY, Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim, a tour-and-study program run by Ramah Israel, the Conservative movement’s camping arm.

They come from all over the U.S., many are Ramah campers from one of the eight Ramah camps in New York, Massachusetts, Georgia, Wisconsin, Canada, California and Colorado, and they’re tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders. They study all their regular subjects at the classrooms of Ramah Israel, located in the Goldstein Youth Village in San Simon, Jerusalem, and then take what is called ICC, or Israel Core Course, an intensive tour-and-study class that takes them all over the country, really delving into modern and ancient Israel. It’s the kind of thing I would have loved to do as a teenager, an opportunity to be away from your family, growing, learning, making great friends, and experiencing a little life on your own.

What’s fun about my limited interaction with them — which happens several times over the semester — is getting to know these kids a bit, finding out where they’re from, discerning which ones are the children or nieces and nephews of my old camp friends, playing a little Jewish geography with them. That’s easiest with those who come from my home camp, Camp Ramah in the Poconos, and I think I freaked out one of the kids last night when he made a random comment and I — knowing he was the son of old friends — called him by name and told him his father and I had lived on the same dorm floor in college. He had had no clue that the ‘director’s wife’ — that’s me — knew who he was. Omigod! But then they’re all learning to appreciate the connections that we often have with one another, particularly when you’re so far from home.

As for the movie, it was amateurish but interesting; about a religious Zionist from an unnamed settlement who is months away from his army draft, and as the brother of a gung-ho army type but an ardent drummer in a band, is torn about how to approach his army service; to be a draft dodger like his fellow band members recommend, or attempt to get into an elite unit. The TRY kids were intrigued, and not knowing much about Israeli kids and army life, had good questions to ask.

We sent them home replete and possibly on a sugar-high, but with a taste of yet another Israeli home and what life is like in this place.

PB Brownies
1/2 cup peanut butter (can be crunchy)
1 cup flour
125 grams margarine (I know, nasty stuff but feel free to use more natural substitutes)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 bag chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except for the chips. Smooth as best you can in 9×13 pan, then sprinkle chips on top. Bake for 5 minutes, remove, and swirl chips into batter. Bake for 20 minutes.

Tags: , , , ,

Nostalgia Sunday – Arrivederci Analog

February 27, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Business, Entertainment, Environment, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Movies, News, Nostalgia Sunday, Politics, Pop Culture, Technology, tv 

Israel is on the brink of revolution and doesn’t even know it. No, not that kind. On March 30, 2011, analog television broadcasting will cease to be and henceforth, we will be a purely digital nation. As with Morse Code, HAM radio, fax and other tried and true technologies, analog is being put out to pasture.

The Ministry of Communications has produced a series of friendly ads featuring a 70s-style dude in black and white, who lets you know in no uncertain terms that, “The old method of broadcasting via rooftop antennae is passing from this world. It’s over. The end.”

Which makes it a perfect time to wax nostalgic for the old aluminum rooftop antenna. After television broadcasting commenced in Israel in 1968, these sprouted up like so many spindly saplings in a JNF forest, covering every city and town throughout the land.

In addition to creating urban blight, the rooftop antenna — aided by its housebound cousin, the rabbit ears antenna on the set-top — was also the source of many an amusing moment. I distinctly remember, days before the first Gulf War, standing on my friend’s roof, metal mop handle in one hand, antenna in the other, furiously tying one to the other and then both to a old chair, in hopes of improving the TV reception. (PS: It worked). And of course, one could spend hours making shapes out of a piece of tin foil in hopes of accessing Jordan TV in English.

Of course, if you really wanted good reception — and you had the means — you could just invest in a bigger antenna. These got so big and so ugly that eventually a new style was born to suit the nouveau riche: the TV antenna in the shape of the Eiffel Tower. Ooh la la!

Then, in the early 90s, cable TV came and changed everything. A decade later, satellite TV was launched. Aside from bringing Israel into the international brotherhood of couch potatoes (to be discussed in depth on another occasion), these platforms also changed our landscape; the rooftop antennas began falling into disuse and then literally fell to pieces. These the neighbors would sweep up. Sometimes.

And now, we are set to follow the worldwide trend towards Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) where, as explained by the 21st century dude in the ads (he’s the one in color), we’ll be able to receive programming via a reception kit comprising a tuner and antenna.

Wait. Did he just say antenna? Yes, but only a very small one. And it can’t do nuthin’ without the decoder.

DTT’s many advantages — better reception, environmental friendliness — are explained in a series of commercials from IDAN+, a joint venture of the Second Television Broadcasting Authority (which is in charge of aggregation and distribution) and Bezeq, our semi-privatized national telecommunications company (charged with technical responsibility of the network). Another advantage: after the initial small outlay for the kit, no more paying an average of NIS 2,400 annually to HOT cable or YES satellite television for free-to-air channels.

Plus, you have no choice. The era of accessing the airwaves freely is over and the long arm of the government is ever more easily able to stretch out and turn off the information tap, should it choose. Our saving grace, here in Israel, is that the government’s arm is very often busy scratching its nether parts and if a tap needs to be repaired, you could wait forever for a plumber.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Gaddafi raps – who knew?

February 27, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Music, Politics 

We all know that Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi is fighting for his regime’s existence. But who knew he could rap, too?

YouTube Preview Image

Well, not exactly. Israeli musician Noy Alooshe has taken a televised clip of Gaddafi and auto-tuned it so that the Libyan dictator’s fiery speech plays like a hip hop song. Alooshe went one step further and mashed up Gaddafi and the dance single “Hey Baby.” And then, for good measure, he superimposed two bikini-clad dancers onto the video. All that’s missing is a Libyan rebel throwing his shoe in the background.

In addition to having a very catchy chorus (Gaddafi sings that he will clean Libya “inch by inch, house by house, room by room, alley by alley”), the clip – which was posted to YouTube – has gone certifiably viral, with 400,000 on its original version and another 40,000 without the bikinis (the embedded video here is the full uncensored version, so modest readers beware).

Is this another example of the world being unaware of how Israeli technology powers the computing world (the most cited example being the ubiquitous Intel Pentium chip which is in just about every computer)? Hardly. Viewers seem well aware that the video is made-in-Israel – most of the comments on the site are in Arabic with viewers debating whether it’s permissible to enjoy humor from an Israeli, reports The Jerusalem Post.

That hasn’t stopped Libyan rebel websites from featuring the clip. And why not – it makes Gaddafi look ridiculous, song creator Alooshe told Israel’s Channel 2 News. Decide for yourself. The video is called Zenga Zenga and it’s linked here.

Tags: , , ,

Life in a cell phone call center

February 27, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, General, Israeliness, Life, War 

Cell phone call centers are one of the great melting pots of Israeli society. If there are a couple universal trueism, one is that everyone in Israel has a cell phone and the other is that they all break down.

People like to playfully argue over which cell phone company offers the worst service, but the general consensus seems to be Cellcom hands down. On a visit to the company’s Givat Shaul service center last week, I witnessed the usual and expected longs line, and angry, frustrated people, but was still not prepared for the scene that unfolded.

An older, grandfatherly type gentleman, together with his strapping 20-something grandson were already being serviced when I walked in. And during my 30-minute wait, they remained in position, getting more and more agitated in body language as their service provider worked on his computer and spoke to them just out of my ear shot.

Suddenly, the grandfather stoop up to his full 5 foot 2 inches or so and with an army commander’s voice, started shouting, “I don’t accept that, and you don’t know what you’re doing.”

The whole room stopped what they were doing and stared as the man continued his passionate rant. The service provider, a young, strapping man also in his 20s, was at first taken aback but quickly recovered and instead of kowtowing to the customer, said, “You can’t talk to me like that, I’ve been very nice to you, and now I want you to leave.”

As the two adversaries moved closer to each other toward an inevitable physical altercation despite their age and size difference, the grandson, until now quiet, suddenly stood up, held his grandfather, and spoke to the service provider in a voice that everyone in the room could hear.

“You have to give my grandfather respect. His son died in the war (no mention of this one). When you stand for the siren next year on Yom Hazikaron, you should remember him, he was a hero.”

Invoking the sacred war hero angle didn’t sway the Cellcom rep. “I don’t care, he can’t talk to me that way. Get him out of here.”

Then, of course, customers in line and staff behind the counter all began to chime in with their views and opinions. Eventually the manager came in, calmed the situation and took the grandfather and grandson to another room to attempt to appease them over what apparently was a phone they were being charged for that wasn’t fixed.

The room quickly returned to normal and my number was called soon after that. I got the same service provider, so I was naturally on my best behavior. When I finished my business, I walked out of the building, musing that even in the mundane matters of cell phone repair, the existential threat to Israel’s existence is never far away.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Trek of the month: Park Rabin

February 26, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Travel 

The road through Park Rabin

This month’s recommendation for a great hike in Israel is the lovely Park Rabin area, just outside of Beit Shemesh. The tiyul kicks off along the western segment of the famous Burma Road, the surreptitious back route to Jerusalem, built in 1948 to slip past the Jordanian blockade of Israel’s then nascent capital.

The western Burma Road is a popular biking path and there is a cycle rental place and parking lot just off Highway 38 (before the Paz gas station if you’re coming from Route 1). You can also buy a medley of potted plants and garden furniture or cool off with a gooey chocolate ice cream bar from the well-appointed snack bar. There are even a couple of showers – great after a strenuous ride, run or hike.

Since the Burma Road is, as its name implies, an actual “road,” the path is not as narrow and rocky as die-hard trekkers might prefer, but the scenery more than makes up for it. There are majestic pine trees, vineyards, agricultural fields and a host of small playgrounds with swings and slides. There’s also a pretty little picnic area mid-way through, just right for your tiyul-standard peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Every once in a while, a jeep or dune buggy may come rattling by, stirring up dirt and gravel. Surprisingly, though, most of the two-wheelers head off on another, perhaps less well marked, path (for those who are following along with their Israel Trail Map #9, you take the red trail to the green trail and back via the black trail).

The whole tiyul takes about 4 hours with breaks. It is mostly flat with a few short ups and downs; suitable for a family. It’s a loop trail, meaning you can do it with just a single car – no need to park one car at the beginning and the other at the end of the route. Also, as it’s near Beit Shemesh, you can arrive by a regular bus or shared taxi.

(You can also hike the Burma Road’s eastern route – a steep ascent with a spectacular view towards Jerusalem from the same parking lot up to Beit Meir. More on that here.)

Tags: , ,

Page 1 of 912345...Last »

 

© 2012 ISRAELITY | Site by illuminea | Sitemap