Nostalgia Sunday – Yoram Levy ad king

July 3, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Entertainment, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture, tv 

It transpires that I am a big Yoram Levy fan and didn’t know it. Levy created some of Israel’s most memorable film advertisements back in the day when you had to get to the movies early if you wanted to catch the commercials — and we did! This one for Stock 84 brandy is notable not only for the 70s fashions but also because it is proof positive of our shared national belief that pilots are, indeed, the apex of Israeli manhood.

Tourists are funny! They have blonde hair, wear Speedos and happily drink our local brew, Maccabi beer, while we locals pine for a nice cold Heineken. But the market hasn’t yet been opened to imports.

More funny tourists! A Japanese couple and an Israeli saleslady drive one another into a mutual frenzy over Nili Textiles.

This last one is from the TV era. It’s an ad for Dapey Zahav, our local Yellow Pages phone directory featuring Dovale Gliksman as a flustered florist and a young Keren Mor as his hapless would-be customer. My favorite line: “Ah, I see you’re looking at the sunflowers”.

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An eternal home in Israel

July 3, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life, Travel 

I’ve been spending a lot of time recently in the Holon civilian cemetery, a huge monstrosity on the Bat Yam-Holon border, not to be confused with the Holon military cemetery a few miles away.

It’s not due to any affinity for cemeteries, but due to the deaths – three months apart of my aunt and uncle, both well into their 90s. Though they resided in the US, their hearts were always in Israel, and over two decades ago, while in their 70s, they bought twin plots in the Holon cemetery, close to relatives of my uncle, who was born in Lithuania and spent many years in pre-state Palestine before leaving for the US where he met my aunt.

Since they never had children, it was up to their closest family members – myself and my uncle’s cousins – to oversee the flights of the bodies to Israel, liaise with the Hevrat Kadisha (the burial authority in Israel) and take care of the funerals. Thankfully, a close family friend living in their hometown of Brookline, Mass. took care of everything on the US side, making everything run much more smoothly than expected.

You need a road map to get around the cemetery, which is more massive than any I have previously been exposed to, including the monolithic Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem.
But, in a country where bureaucracy manages to delay the most mundane tasks, the ordeal of flying deceased family members to Israel for burial was one of the most snag-free endeavors I’ve ever undertaken here. From El Al to the hevrat kadisha, everyone was accommodating and gracious.

While they never realized their dream of returning to Israel to live, my aunt and uncle are here now, lying side by side under the ground they cherished so much. They were inseparable in life, and now they’re inseparable for eternity.

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Cottage cheese sale

July 1, 2011 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Business, Food, General, Israeliness, Life 

(Credit: Virtual Jerusalem)

It’s a victory for the Facebook boycott of cottage cheese, and really, for cottage cheese consumers countrywide. One of Israel’s largest dairymakers, Tnuva, announced this week that it would be reducing the price of cottage cheese — which still only comes in one size — to NIS 4.55 from NIS 5.20, that’s the price sold to retailers, which allows them to offer it to customer for NIS 5.90 a container.

However, says Facebook Tnuva boycott initiator Itzik Alrov, the reduction isn’t enough, so the boycott is going to continue. In the meantime, Israeli supermarkets are making special offers on cottage cheese, two for NIS 10 at Shufersal; NIS 4.90 for the rest of 2011 at Rami Levy. And on the subject of dairy products in general, boycott organizer Alrov is planning on adding other dairy products to the list, including yogurts and yellow cheese.

So, gotta be proud of the power of the Facebook boycott, as it’s good to know we can force manufacturers to pay attention to what consumers are saying. Particularly when it comes to Israeli cottage cheese, which is the best. Even in the lower fat percentages, that stuff is creamy, bears no resemblance to the American equivalent.

So pick up some containers and celebrate! If you’re feeling particularly flush, consider making this recipe for fluffy cottage cheese pancakes from Whole Foods:

Serves 4

In these moist and tender pancakes, the cottage cheese adds quality calcium and protein. Serve with a bit of butter and maple syrup or, for a special treat, top with fig spread.

1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
4 eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
Canola oil cooking spray

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, cottage cheese, milk and oil. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and whisk until completely blended.

Spray a large skillet or griddle with cooking spray then heat over medium heat. Working in batches, form each pancake by spooning about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the skillet. Cook, flipping pancakes once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to plates and serve.

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Foto Friday – Up in the air with Ron Gafni

July 1, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art, design, Entertainment, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Life, Picture of the Week, Travel 

Ron Gafni looks down on Israel. Not in a snobbish way but rather as one of Israel’s leading aerial photographers where he is one of the lucky few who have managed to turn a passion for photography, flying and hot air ballooning into a career.

Through his company, Skypics, Gafni has published a series of books — photo-maps, 3-D images and the perennially popular “Israel From Above” — and recently held an exhibit of large-format photos featuring some of his most popular subjects.

There are historical sites, such as the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth…

Nahalal, Israel’s first moshav (cooperative farming settlement)…

Natural wonders like the Negev Desert’s Makhtesh HaKatan…

And modern miracles…

More information about Ron Gafni’s work is available at the Skypics site.

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White Night shines in Tel Aviv

July 1, 2011 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Art, Entertainment, Israeliness 

Thursday night at White Night in Tel Aviv

On Thursday, Tel Aviv celebrated its 9th annual “White Night,” a city-wide party to mark the UNESCO declaration of Tel Aviv as “the White City,” in honor of its many (white) Bauhaus-era buildings.

My wife Jody and I had never been to White Night (“Layla Levan” in Hebrew) – the throngs of revelers and infamous traffic jams scared us off. But we ventured out this year, parking near the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, a 15-minute walk from ground zero: Rothschild Boulevard.

It turned out to be a good choice. Clearly, the entire city had headed outside and jammed into a several kilometer stretch of the street, one of Tel Aviv’s most beautiful with its wide park down the center and majestic trees above.

The basic set up is this: every block or so, there is a small stage where some Tel Aviv rock band trots out its tunes. Some are amateurish, while others quite good (a decent Beatles cover band played near the HaBima Theater).

Niv Kaikov

Our favorite was a singer songwriter named Niv Kaikov whose melodic, jangly-pop songs immediately caught our attention. A beaming woman – clearly smitten but much too old to be a fan – was hawking his CD for only NIS 20. “Are you his mother?” Jody asked, politically way incorrect (what if it was Kaikov’s girlfriend!) “Of course,” she said and we purchased the CD (you can also listed to Kaikov’s music on his MySpace page).

The cafes along Rotshchild were all packed, as was the Iceberg ice cream shop. After having read last year that it sold the best ice cream in town, we joined the line (actually a totally un-Israeli orderly queue) and purchased a two scoop bitter chocolate and Irish cream mix. It was good – though I can’t say if it was better than Aldo (our usual ice cream haunt).

We started our stroll around 9:30 PM when there were still lots of families, strollers and dogs out. When we left two hours later, the demographic had dropped to teens and twenty-somethings and was more wall-to-wall than a free Justin Bieber concert on the Banana Beach.

Our choice to park near the museum was not entirely to avoid the blocked off streets of central Tel Aviv. The Litvak Gallery, at 4 Berkowitz Street, had a marvelous exhibition of works from world renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly – and it was totally free for the evening (the exhibition runs until July 31 although you’ll have to pay).

And in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art itself was “Indie City,” a showcase of local bands on two stages (the three bands we caught a few notes of were all pretty downbeat and emo).

Oh, and to top it all off, we splurged for a dinner at Liliyot, a kosher restaurant, also in the museum area, that helps give youth-at-risk and high school drop outs a second chance (and serves up some inspired creations – imagine grilled chicken livers on toast with bananas and vanilla caramel). Not cheap but worth it.

Jody and I have a number of festivals and events we attend every year – the wine festival at the Israel Museum, the Jerusalem Film Festival and Jacob’s Ladder. Now we’ll be adding White Night in Tel Aviv to the list.

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