Globetrotters bounce into Israel
Filed under: A New Reality, Entertainment, General, Israeliness, Life, Pop Culture, Sports
If there are two things that are universal, it’s humor and basketball. So the Harlem Globetrotters have all angles covered.
The venerable touring jugglers/ball handlers glided into Israel last week for three shows – two in Tel Aviv and one in Jerusalem. An international institution since 1926, the Globetrotters have showcased their iconic talents in 120 countries on six continents.
I saw them a few times growing up in New England, with the legendary team featuring Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal. So I was psyched to take my 11-year-old basketball-loving son to see them in Jerusalem.
And happily, aside from a few more showbiz hip-hop moments, the general premise was still intact – some amazing magicianship with the ball, tons of laughs, incredible baskets, and good, clean fun.
The names had changed – Hi-Lite was the Meadowlark funnyman-frontman, and Flip Atkins was the limber gymnast flipping around the court like he was on coils. But the game remained the same, down to the bucket of water chasing around the court during the break skit that ended up with confetti on the adoring crowd.
One ‘only in Israel’ moment occurred when Hi-Lite went into the crowd and came back with a women’s purse for some cross-dressing fun. He then asked the owner of the purse, Dina, to come to mid-court to regain her possession It turned out that, like much of the audience, she was religiously observant, wearing a head covering and a skirt.
She was a good sport, dancing with Hi-Lite and playing the straight woman to his Groucho Marx. However, when he thanked Dina and told her to give him a kiss, that’s where she drew the line.
“I can’t,” she said.
“Why not,” asked Hi-Lite.
“I can only kiss my husband.”
“Your husband? Is he here? Show him to me.”
They walked back to the stand and he shook hands with the husband, and turned back to Dina. “That’s your husband? Good luck to you!” And he gave her big hug, and returned to the court for the resumption of the game.
Of course, the Globetrotters won the game handily, against their worthy but hand picked opponents. And by the looks on the children, and adults leaving Malha auditorium, everyone went away happy. Even Dina and her husband.
Foto Friday – Ein Gedi Botanical Garden
Filed under: A New Reality, Entertainment, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Life, Picture of the Week, Profiles, Religion, Travel
The biblical city of Ein Gedi was a desert oasis, known for its date palms, vines and perfumed balsam. Modern-day Kibbutz Ein Gedi, located a kilometer down from the springs, is no less of an oasis, known for its desert agriculture, hotel/guest house and a prize-winning Botanical Garden that is the only one in the world to be integrated with the residences of the surrounding community.
According to Botanic Gardens Conservation International, “It is the only international botanical garden to have a community resident in it, which is a tribute both to the gardening staff and to the population of Ein Gedi. In fact, the development of the botanical garden and Kibbutz Ein Gedi are inseparable.”
Over years of trial and error, Ein Gedi’s gardeners have cultivated a collection of over 900 species of rare plants from all over the world…
The plants flourish in the summer heat, mild winters, and the mineral-rich Dead Sea atmosphere that encourages quick plant growth, so much so that some parts of the garden resemble a lush jungle…
Typical regional plants – date palms, olive, pomegranate and fig trees – can be found alongside tropical ones…
The adjacent Cactus Park is a rare collection of 1,000 species of cactus and desert plants from around the world…
At the garden’s northern edge is an observation point with a view of the entire oasis. (Click here for a 3D tour). And yes if you stay at the Ein Gedi hotel, you’ll likely meet one of these fellows…
The botanical garden office is open every day from 8:30 a.m-4:30 p.m. and on Friday until 2:00 p.m. For more information, please call: 08-658-444 or visit their website.
Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and the Ein Gedi Hotel. For more information, visit the hotel website and Facebook page.
On the road again to Ma’aleh Adumim
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, Israeliness, Life, News, Travel
Cutting the ribbon in Ma'aleh Adumim.
Thus this week witnessed the opening of a new entrance to the city of Ma’aleh Adumim, the city east of Jerusalem on the way to the Dead Sea – a road that actually benefits the Palestinians in the neighboring town of Ezeriya.
Until now, residents of both locations used the same traffic circle that fed the entrances to both towns, causing traffic jams, and long delays for the Palestinians in particular. While that entrance will remain open, the traffic into Ma’aleh Adumim is going to decrease significantly because of the new entrance. It bypasses the main road and takes motorists through a picturesque incline, past a new Keren Kayamet man-made lake and park (with a Caffit restaurant) and into the heart of the city.
At the official ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, Mayor Benny Kashriel was joined by Housing Minister Ariel Attias and other officials, touting the improvement to the quality of life of the area’s residents. Kashriel noted that for the last six months or so, he hadn’t failed to meet someone from Ma’aleh Adumim without being asked when the new road was going to open.
A few minutes after the modest ceremony, the orange cones were taken away, and the new road saw its first motorist. Attendees grabbed the last rugelach and drinks and made their own way back up the hill into the city. And life in a settlement goes on.
Reconciliation through music challenged
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, Entertainment, General, Israeliness, Life, Music, Social Justice
Ahinoam Nini
However in the week since the event, a Facebook group calling for the boycott of Nini has gained more than 3,500 members, who apparently think that such events provide moral equivalency between the deaths of Israelis and Palestinians. Nini dismissed such claims, writing on her Facebook page that “I am just shocked by this stupid and ugly distortion. I sang at an alternative ceremony, at which Jews and Arabs remember and cry together for their loved ones who were lost in the ongoing war between us.”
Neshama Carlebach, the Jewish spiritual singer and daughter of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, also stirred some feathers with her reworked version of Israel’s national anthem, ‘Hatikva’, recorded for Israel’s 64th Independence Day, and performed on Sunday at The Jerusalem Post Conference in New York.
The song, suggested by the Jewish paper The Forward, contains some new lyrics aimed at allowing both Jews and Arabs to relate to the words. Rather than singing “A Jewish soul still yearns” in the anthem, Carlebach sings, “An Israeli soul still yearns,” and instead of “An eye still gazes toward Zion,” she sings “An eye still gazes toward our country.”
Some attendees to the conference apparently were offended by the changed lyrics, and whether due to the late hour or in protest, Carlebach’s show with the Green Pastures Baptist Choir was sparsely attended.
Who said music soothes the savage beast? Here’s Carlebach’s reworked version of the anthem.
Anti-Israelity in New York
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, Life, Religion
You meet them in the strangest of places. Or maybe it’s not so strange.
In New York today for The Jerusalem Post Conference, I left my hotel in the early evening to walk around Times Square and ran smack into a group of haredim on the corner holding signs calling Israel’s existence a blasphemy.
They were singing and chanting and attracting quite a crowd. A couple of young, female Japanese tourists stopped and took some photos. A hot dog vendor asked them if they were going to join the protesters. And the girls responded, “No, we’re not Jewish.”
After watching the sickening display outside the hotel, I almost wished I could say the same. But in the end, I said, “no, I’m Israeli.”
Subscribe
Subscribe to Israelity via email:
Social Media
Categories
- A New Reality
- Art
- Blogging
- Business
- coexistence
- Crime
- design
- education
- Entertainment
- Environment
- Food
- Foto Friday
- General
- health
- History and Culture
- Holidays
- Immigrant Moments
- Israeliness
- Life
- Medical Breakthroughs
- Movies
- Music
- News
- Nostalgia Sunday
- Picture of the Week
- Politics
- Pop Culture
- Profiles
- Religion
- Science
- Social Justice
- Sports
- Technology
- Travel
- tv
- War
The Face of Israel Today
-
About Israelity
Free newsletter
Stories from ISRAEL21c.orgPopular Posts