All aboard
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Travel
After talking about it for months, years even, I finally took the train from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv yesterday. My excuse was that even though the bus or car are usually faster than the hour-and-a-half train ride, they’re not faster in the early morning rush hour, when traffic slows down the 45-minute trip considerably. Plus, I’m a train lover at heart, and was relishing the idea of comfortable ride into Tel Aviv, with a cup of coffee and the newspaper.
The cup of coffee didn’t happen, because the kiosk wasn’t open at 6:40 and I’m not a drinker of vending machine brew. But the seats were comfortable and roomy, the ticket was only NIS 1.50 more than the bus, and it was blessedly, peacefully quiet on the train until the Beit Shemesh stop, when the train got more crowded.
It’s hard to get much reading done, as the scenery from Jerusalem to Beit Shemesh is worth viewing, winding through hills and wadis, below green cedars, olive trees and blue skies. It’s also a completely different landscape than what I’m used to from my childhood and adolescent train trips from Long Island to Manhattan, passing through quaint and more industrial towns, along chain link fences and depots.
But as the train picked up speed from Beit Shemesh — no more changing trains for the Jerusalemites — stopping at Ramle, Lod and then the three train stations in Tel Aviv, I got in my morning nap, undeterred by the building action around me. By the time I reached my destination, I was rested, calm and ready for work.
They’re saying that the high-speed train between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv will be completed by 2012, with an underground station beneath Jerusalem’s central bus station, with connections to the current Malcha station. I’ll be excited by that, too, but it won’t be as relaxing as the current ride.
Mamilla architecture
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture
The best underground parking lot in Jerusalem, possibly the entire country, is underneath the Mamilla pedestrian mall, part of the $400 million complex that was in dispute for many years, but is finally near completion. Large, spacious and with smooth cement floors that may very well be cleaner than those in my own home, I’m thinking of moving in there.
But despite the luxuriousness of the parking lot, that probably isn’t the most striking architectural feature of the complex, which features several dozen boutiques, several cafes and other businesses in the pedestrian-only shopping district along Rehov Mamilla. The stores are also fine, natch, a fairly interesting combo of local and foreign shops that offer some decent options for Malcha Mall-weary Jerusalemites.
What is worth checking out are some of the mall’s reassembled buildings from the turn of the century. The Stern House, for example, was where Theodor Herzl slept when he visited Jerusalem in 1898, and now houses the Mamilla Steimatzky bookstore and an outdoor cafe. What’s cool is that in order to move and reassemble the building, each stone of the facade was carefully numbered in order to reassemble it in its new location and with more modern construction behind the walls. Given that the original structures themselves were demolished, preservationists poo-poo the practice as ‘facadism.’
But, still, it offers the Mamilla project a more layered, architecturally interesting look to have preserved buildings on site, and if the Stern House hosted Herzl, why not Steimatzky?
Take me out to the ball game
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.
Banking woes
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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Combat cameramen
In the ongoing debate over how to handle hasbara — loosely translated as public relations, spin or propaganda — in the Israel Defense Forces, it’s enlightening to learn how the Israeli army is handling this area and meet some of the people behind the scenes. Somewhat apropos of Nicky’s entry regarding the 60 Minutes show about female helicopter pilots, I had the opportunity this week to meet members of the IDF Film Unit, part of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
The overall unit handles all matters with the local and foreign press, from interviews and information to film footage and photos. That includes the IDF website, which is available in both Hebrew and English, and any images, from still photographs to raw video footage. A good chunk of the raw footage, taken by IDF photographers, as well as combat cameramen — all soldiers on active duty — is made for use by the press, although some is taken for video clips created for various hasbara purposes. For the soldiers in this unit, many of whom have been photographers and videographers since they were kids, the chance to be active filmmakers in the field is a great opportunity, and they often go on from their army service to studies and careers in the film and photography industry.
Here are some examples of their work from the website, which also features some of the video clips made by the Film Unit.
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