The real light show

June 16, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art 

Ever since last year, I’ve been waiting excitedly for the now annual Jerusalem Light Festival. The event brings world-class international light artists to Israel’s capital to situate their magnificent light installations along the streets and alleyways of the Old City.

Last year’s light creations were so fabulous, I thought it could get only better. I was wrong, unfortunately.

In 2010, Zedekiah’s Cave (also known as Solomon’s Quarries), near Damascus Gate, was transformed into an underwater masterpiece, with eerie lighting and the sounds of the sea. The cave itself, which dates back to the time of Herod the Great, stretches 5 city blocks culminating in a vast 300-foot long auditorium-lie chamber.

This year’s exhibition in the cave was interesting – a set of 40 Bwindi masks from the border area between Congo and Uganda, lit up in different colors to a pulsating “bi-vocal” African soundtrack – but it was disappointing compared to the 2020 show.

The program also promised a “red and blue market celebration” along the trail that led through the Muslim Quarter. Instead, it was just a long line of red lights leading through a mostly deserted marketplace with some bored teenagers and a lot of Israeli soldiers.

I shouldn’t be so harsh – there were a few cool installations, especially the “fairy tale” images projected onto Damascus Gate, turning the ancient stones into a three dimensional medley of dragons and marionettes.

But that had to be balanced by the Hurva exhibit – last year, a film chronicling the history of the Jewish quarter projected on the recently restored walls of the massive synagogue. This year, it was a rather subdued installation featuring strands of light, changing colors, set to some sort of vaguely familiar new age music.

Overall, it also seemed like attendance was much lower, but this was only the first night; maybe it will pick up.

Total eclipse in Jerusalem, June 15, 2011

The real show, however, was not in the alleys of the Old City, but above it. A total lunar eclipse, the longest in 100 years, and culminating at 10:22 PM, had festival goers fascinated by the wonders of nature above much more than the artistic creations of men and women below.

The light show continues for a week. The eclipse, unfortunately, was a one-hour affair.

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The Israeli abroad

June 15, 2011 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Food, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Pop Culture 

It’s the season of our annual sojourn to the States, and as always, I’m surprised by how Israeli I feel when I’m here, despite this being my native homeland.

It’s often the little things, like meeting other Israelis in unexpected places, or seeing signs of home — this time, it was the Hebrew Coca-Cola sign featured prominently at the Atlanta Coca-Cola Museum — in particular places.

Our location for the next while, Camp Ramah Darom in the hills of Georgia, is a place that includes many Israelis on staff as part of the mishlachat, the Israeli envoy team that comes to bring the taste of Israel to Jewish summer camps. And they do, teaching Hebrew to the kids, as well as running many of the activities at camp. They’re always shocked to find out that I also live in Israel, given my more American appearance and, sigh, American accent in Hebrew that will never disappear.

Still, we’re bonded by where we live, as we spend some weeks in a place that couldn’t be more different than Israel. What we don’t have in common, these native Israelis and I, is the kind of coffee we drink. I feel lucky to be spending time in a place that has true brewed American coffee every morning, and I like to drink lots of it. It’s not that great, honestly, and after 16 years in Israel, I much prefer my hafuchs, hot and strong. But brewed coffee is such an American concept, and I can appreciate my endless cup. Not, however, my fellow country people who are lucky enough to be in a place that imported Elite instant coffee just for them.

Israelis have some kind of crazy love for instant coffee, whether it’s the Elite brand, or Nescafe. That’s what they want to drink in most places, whether at home or far off and abroad.

So that’s what they’re drinking at camp, while I enjoy my most-probably Maxwell House. Still, it’s a sign of home each time I refill my mug, and I welcome it. Finally, to truly understand the Israeli affection for instant coffee, watch this:

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Boycotting an Israeli cottage industry

June 15, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, Food, General, Israeliness, Life 

We love our dairy products in Israel. When I first moved here, I couldn’t believe the number of white,creamy spreads on display in tubs in the dairy counter, and it took me years to figure out all the distinctions between the different percent ‘gvina levana,’ ‘eshel,’ yogurts and the countless other options.

But one familiar product on the shelf has always been cottage cheese, a staple in any Israeli diet. Creamier than its American counterpart, ‘cottage’ as it is called – with a long ‘o’ -is ubiquitous in our kitchens and menus

Which is why the public is mad as hell and apparently not willing to take it any more. We’re talking about the price of cottage, which according to a report in Ma’ariv, has risen by 60% over the last five years – from just under NIS 5 to almost NIS 8 for a 250 gram container.

A cantor in Bnei Brak has launched a Facebook campaign entitled “Consumer Boycott of Food Products,” in which he threatens to shun each month a new Israeli-made product whose price is 50% higher than in Europe or the United States. His first target? Cottage!

“We considered the prices of housing, we joined and opened groups, but then we realized that the protest must start in a place that applies to the entire public,” Yitzhak Alrov told Ynet.

“Maybe this way we will manage to reduce the prices and reach some level of sanity,” Alrov said, explaining that tast year the price regulation was removed from many dairy products. “In every place where price regulation is eliminated, the prices drop because of competition – but not in Israel. Here everything just rises, a real cartel.”

“If we don’t get over our desire and the momentary satisfaction we get from purchasing cottage cheese, we will never be able to reduce the price,” Alrov insisted. “There is no reason for us to be so disproportionately screwed.”

Cottage lovers are particularly irked at dairy product makers Tara, Tnuva, and Strauss for raising the prices on dairy products soon before the Shavuot holiday, traditionally a time to prepare dairy-based meals.

The Facebook page received over 20,000 ‘likes’ so far, but it’s unclear whether those fans will have gumption to leave the containers of cottage on the shelves until they spoil, forcing the companies to lower their prices.

Several supermarket chains already began announcing specials on cottage cheese following reports of the boycott efforts, among with one – Supersol – offering a buy one-get one free deal for cottage cheese.

That may weaken the resolve of the boycotters, who, let’s face it, must be passionate about cottage cheese to sign up for a boycott in the first place.

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Kibbutz designs

June 14, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: design, education, General, History and Culture, Israeliness 

The invite

Seminar Hakibbutzim, or Kibbutzim College, as it’s known in English, isn’t what it once was. Originally established back in 1939 as a college for training preschool and school teachers, based on the concepts of the kibbutz movement, including the strong relationship between the education system, the community and the role of nature in learning. At the time, the school used the approach of Professor Mendelssohn’s Zoological Institute, whose aim was to train teachers of nature studies, given the belief that knowledge of nature is the best way to link people to their land.

Looks like their poster is based on this kibbutz oldie

According to the school’s literature, even though it eventually established itself as a leading college of education, eventually gaining accreditation to award bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees, it still retains that belief system and identity.

Which is why I’m always drawn to attend their design school graduate student exhibit, this year exhibiting bags and accessories. The Kibbutzim Seminar college is not Israel’s largest design school, not competing with Shenkar or Bezalel. But there’s always something about the school’s history, it’s connection to nature and to the country’s earliest roots that comes through in the student projects and themes. This year there will be accessories based on individual, communal and cultural wear. Using intricate hand-knitting, uniform design, leather and other natural materials, the students looked to expand the borders of clothing, looking to change and modernize approaches.

You can check out what they came up on the Kibbutzim College campus, starting July 7. The address is Rechov Shoshana Parsitz 3, Arts Campus.

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We’re number one…in Facebook use

June 13, 2011 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Israeliness, Technology 

I’ve always suspected it. My kids seem to be permanently attached to Facebook and other social media services. Now, new research proves I’m right. And it’s not just my family – it’s the whole country.

According to a just released poll by the well regarded market intelligence firm Comscore, during April the average Israeli spent nearly 11 hours performing online social networking actions. That’s the highest in the world.

I’m not sure how to compare these poll results on Israeli behavior with the rest of the world – it seems to me that our friends in North America are just as busy updating their status and chatting as we are. But then I haven’t spent as much time watching a teenager in Los Angeles glued to his iPod Touch as I have my own kids. Indeed, the incessant ping and beep of a message arriving has become the new background music to our once analog life.

Dvir Reznik suggests that Israel’s high ranking in the Comscore poll may be because our cell phone data plans are more generous that those overseas.

Reznik is the VP of Marketing at Israeli startup Onavo, a company which compresses data to make mobile use more economical (I blogged about them earlier when they raised a $3 million round of financing). Reznik explained that, while most Americans seem content with (or are at least forced to settle for) only a few hundred MB of data flow a month, Israelis can easily jump into the 2-5 GB range for roughly the same price.

And where is much of the social media consumption occurring? On our increasingly ubiquitous smartphones, of course.

The Comscore poll also found that Israel has the second highest relative number of social network consumers, with 90% of Internet users having their own social media profile. Canada came in with 85% while, in the U.S. and Western Europe, it was a paltry 60-70%. (The Philippines was in the top spot with 93%).

All this is fun to write about, but it’s not necessarily a good thing for the social future of humankind. An influential new book called “Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other” by Sherry Turkle has been widely quoted since its publication earlier this year.

In the book, Turkle cites some very disturbing research about how social media is adversely impacting our in-person relationships. It’s not just parents who are annoyed at their children texting at the table; kids are craving the attention of their distracted parents too. It affects the bond that forms between mother and baby during nursing, with the Imma too busy checking messages to spend time with her infant. And teenagers told Turkle that in many cases they actually prefer to chat online than to speak to a friend in person.

But for Israelis, that’s not the important take away. We’re number one, gush the newspaper reports, to a chorus of knowing “pokes.” In a world where our little country is being increasingly delegitimized, any claim to fame is welcome. And, in case you’re wondering, yes, I’ve already posted a link to this article to Facebook and Twitter.

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