Missing in Israel – Jack in the Box
Residents of Haifa have a new unlikely neighbor who is hardly anonymous – Jeremy Tyler, is an 18-year-old basketball-playing phenomenon from San Diego who signed with Maccabi Haifa this past summer and has been acclimating himself to his new enivrons.
The 6′-11″ 260-pound Tyler decided to skip his senior year in high school in order to gain experience in professional basketball playing in the European League with Mac. Haifa as a prelude to reaching the NBA in the 2011 draft.
Last year, he averaged 28.7 points during his junior year at San Diego High to lead the club to the CIF-San Diego Section Division I quarterfinals.
After a few weeks here, Tyler is convinced he made the right move, telling The Jerusalem Post’s Aryeh Dean Cohen that playing basketball in Israel will be “a good story to tell my kids about, and their kids’ kids.”
But he also admitted that he’s still getting used to some of the basic elements of life in Israel. As far as the food goes, he likes “absolutely nothing” that’s prepared locally, and has a constant craving for his his favorite meals at Jack in the Box.
He also misses his family and his Jewish girlfriend Erin, with whom he hopes to visit Jewish sites here when she arrives for a visit this year. So far, Tyler’s ‘I’m not in Kansas anymore’ moment came on Yom Kippur, which he called “that holiday where we had to stay in the house – Yom Kippur… I’ve never seen a city, a whole country like this shut down. It was like ‘Wow’ to me.”
That’s alright Jeremy, I’ve been here 25 years and am still in awe when that happens.
Welcome to Israel, and good luck with Maccabi Haifa.
Hoping for a home run
It’s October, and in Israel that means many things – lots of holidays for one, as we’re heading into Succot and building up to Simchat Torah next week.
But for some Israelis, October in Israel also means lack of sleep, and a reshaping of priorities. That’s because the Major League Baseball playoffs are here! And things like families and careers need to take a back seat for a while.
That’s because unlike the prime time atmosphere in which the games are actually taking place, here, they’re on TV beginning anywhere from 1 am to 4 am, which means they could end after the sun comes up. For baseball diehards, that means alot of bleary-eyed mornings, and angry remarks from employers and wives.
Of course, as a Boston Red Sox fan, there’s a silver lining to the inevitable sad ending to their 2009 season. My life takeover and sleep deprivation won’t probably last as long as fans of those teams who are likely to end up in championship series or the World Series. Take that, Yankees fans.
Still, I’ll be ready to root for the team that back ended into the playoffs, winning the wild card slot by losing six games in a row. As anybody who’s witnessed modern day Israel can attest, miracles still occur.
How do you say Hannah Montana in Hebrew?
Miley Cyrus and Gregg Sulkin
Despite the complaints about lack of proper facilities for some delegations and the scandal about the softball tournament in the Baptist Village being shut down by police for not having proper permits (after all, what kind of event could there be in Israel without a little controversy or incompetence? – It’s our unique mark and we’re proud of it), the Games, for me, are still one of the highlights of Zionism in action – showing how Jews from all over can gather here, like coming home to the slightly disfunctional mothership.
There are hundreds of stories in the naked stadium – athletes who overcame diversity to compete, Ethiopian atheletes whose families are still stranded in their country, and of course, Miley Cyrus’s boyfriend.
British actor Gregg Sulkin, who is playing on his country’s soccer team has recently made waves as the teen-heartthrob boyfriend of actress-singer Cyrus, better known to millions of fans as her TV alter ego Hannah Montana.
The 17-year-old Sulkin was previously in Israel for his bar mitzva, which was held at the Western Wall. Because of his time spent in Jerusalem on his bar mitzva trip, he has come to “love the culture, the people, the food… just everything about Israel,” Sulkin told The Jerusalem Post. “I love how united Israel is as a country, as a family,” and later joked that “the weather here is so much better than in London.”
Sulkin has acted in various films and television shows – including the Disney Channel comedy As the Bell Rings and the Paul Weiland film Sixty Six with Helena Bonham Carter. He’s flying to Los Angeles directly after the Maccabiah Games in order to attend callbacks for a number of new parts.
Sulkin didn’t make any committments when asked if he’d try to get his girlfriend to accompany him on his next trip to Israel.
“If she wasn’t that busy, I’d love to persuade her to come to Israel, but she’s amazing at what she does and that’s why she’s always so busy. I wish she could come to Israel. Next Maccabiah, hopefully.”
Send the hummous to Sacremento
Omri Casspi playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv last year. (AP)
The New York Times ran a weekend piece on Casspi as he plays in the NBA summer league and adjusts to life without a local cell phone and without the creamy hummous which Americans still don’t seem to know how to make.
He just received a $4,500 bill for about two weeks of calls, which is expensive even by N.B.A. standards. He needs new chargers for all his gadgets. But he is struggling most to find comfort food.
“Hummus,” Casspi said, with a hard h and a long u, stressing the first syllable in a way that conveyed utter seriousness. “You don’t have that here, though.”
A reporter insisted that the chickpea spread is widely available in grocery stores in the United States, but Casspi — who was drafted last month by the Sacramento Kings — smiled dismissively.
“Man, I tried it; that’s all I can say,” he said last week during a break in the Kings’ summer league schedule. “I will bring some from Israel, maybe. I’ll let you taste it and you tell me.”
No Israeli has ever played in the NBA, and until last month, none had ever been drafted in the first round. When the Kings took Casspi with the 23rd pick, he became the first Israeli to secure a guaranteed contract, which will almost assuredly make him the first to play in an NBA game.
According to the Times’ story, Casspi is ready to take on the mantel of the great Israeli hope – both for Israelis, and American Jews proud to see an Israeli in the NBA and already sporting NBA jerseys with Casspi’s name written in Hebrew.
“I think all the eyes and ears in Israel, in basketball in Israel, are focused on me now,” he said, sitting behind a desk in his hotel room in Las Vegas. “There is big expectations, and all the Jewish community in the States is really excited about it. So I think there’s a big responsibility with it.”
Once the NBA season starts, there will likely be alot of 4 am wakeup calls in Israel, in order to get up and watch the Kings games, who have quickly turned into the country’s most popular basketball team next to Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Never too old to paraglide
Here’s a great news item. Trudy Bibring, 89 years old and a native Austrian who has been living in Israel for 30 years, paraglides to raise funds for 600 children at risk in childrens’ homes throughout Israel.
Her paragliding adventures began when Bibring, who lives in Netanya, would watch from her apartment window the paragliders jumping off the Netanya cliffs nearby. Netanya is considered the home of paragliding in Israel, as the city’s moderate cliffs plus a stiff offshore breeze provide the right environment for gliders, who are often seen cruising high above the beach, just along the cliff line.
Bibring thought to herself, hmm, that’d be a great stunt for raising money. Given that she’s a proper Austrian lady, she may not have said it just like that, but that was the gist of the idea.
Her friends, say Bibring, are proud and a little bit envious. And she’s still doing it, as seen in this YouTube video taken June 17, just a few weeks ago, from a cliff near Netanya’s Carmel Hotel.
89!
Swimming with the current at the Maccabiah Games
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat (right) steals Jason Lezak's official Maccabiah Games t-shirt from him at a ceremony in Jerusalem this week. (AP)
The 10-day competition, held every four years, is touted as the third largest sporting event in the world, and the opening ceremony will take place on July 13th at Ramat Gan stadium.
Some of the visiting athletes are already arriving in the country, including five-time American Olympic medalist, swimmer Jason Lezak from California.
Lezak, on his first visit to Israel, forfeited his spot on the United States’ World Championships team to participate in the Maccabiah, whose swimming competitions will be held at the Wingate Institute from July 19-22.
“I’ve gotten to the point in my career where I thought this was the right opportunity at the right time,” Lezak told journalists at Kfar Maccabiah in Ramat Gan. “I’ve been to the World Championships numerous amounts of times, and I thought this was a good opportunity to not only be in a competitive swimming event, but to have the whole experience.”
Lezak cemented his place in history at the Beijing Olympics when he came from a full body length behind French swimmer Alain Bernard in the anchor leg of the 400 meter freestyle relay to win gold for the US and ensure Michael Phelps was on course for a record eight golds.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Lezak spoke highly of Israeli swimmers
“When I was younger, I would see maybe one or two fast Israeli swimmers at competitions, and now we’re seeing more of them,” Lezak said. “Some of them actually come to the United States to train. They definitely are improving and they definitely can get faster. How long it takes for them to get into the finals I don’t know, but it will happen, I’m pretty confident in that.”
Israelis made an impressive showing at last summer’s Olympic Games, with Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or reaching the semifinals in the 200m free and Guy Barnea qualifying for the semi of the 100m backstroke.
In March Gal Nevo became the first Israeli in 20 years to win a medal at the NCAA swimming championships when he came second in the 440m individual medley while swimming for Georgia Tech, six months after reaching the semifinals of the 200-IM in Beijing.
And on Sunday Alon Mandel broke the Israeli record for the 50m butterfly, swimming in a time of 24.27 seconds to qualify for the semifinals at the Universidade in Belgrade.
So, it may only be a matter of time until we develop our own Phelps or Lezak. And next week’s Maccabiah Games will go a long way toward achieving that goal. Go Jewish athletes!
Our first NBA pick
You may have read about it already, but I need to express my excitement about Omri Casspi becoming the first Israeli player to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft. Yes, it’s not the final, final stage in this nail-biting process, but hey, it’s the NBA and he’s Israeli and it’s looking pretty good.
In case you didn’t know, Casspi is 6′9″, 20, and a forward for Maccabi Tel Aviv. He was selected 23rd overall by the Sacramento Kings, and as Ha’aretz noted, “is the focus of a national obsession with the idea of an Israeli making it into the NBA, in which some 20 percent of the players are foreigners.”
The country’s obsession should have been requited ten years ago when Oded Katash had a two-year contract with the New York Knicks — the New York Knicks! — but lost his marbles during the 1999 player lockout. I know, insane.
There have been others since; Doron Shefer, Lior Eliyahu and Yotam Halperin, all drafted, all in the second round. But they didn’t make it. Casspi, on the other hand, is in. Will he get a contract? Will he get off the bench? Hard to say. But hey. Very hopeful.
According to the New York Jewish Week, Casspi’s selection also smacks of a coexistence bid, natch, as the King’s co-owners, Joe and Gavin Maloof, are popular Sacramento businessmen and philanthropists who come from a Lebanese Arab family. That appears to be a first.
So what’ve we got? An Israeli basketball player signed to the NBA, and a coexistence play in progress. All good signs.
Taking a thong turn in Tel Aviv
Just how cool is Tel Aviv? When The Israel Bicycle Association and the Tel Aviv Rollers decided to stage a protest ride to oppose the lack of government support for urban bike riding as well a bill that would stiffen a required helmet law for cyclists, they did it in style.
On Tuesday night, hundreds of cyclist and roller skaters donned thongs and rode through the streets of the city – with the final destination being a thong party at a local club. Watch some video footage from Israel’s Channel 2 here
According to The Jerusalem Post, two weeks ago, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation decided not to throw the government’s support behind the bill to encourage bike-riding as transportation. The bill would mandate the inclusion of bike trails in urban plans and would allow bikes to be taken on intercity public transportation like trains and buses. It would also smooth the way for specially designated parking areas for bikes, and incentives to employers and employees who made the bicycle a primary form of transportation to work. The bill suggested a budget of NIS 100 million to build bike lanes and parking areas.
As far as the helmet law, the Association says that the best way to keep bikers safe is not through requiring a helmet, but through making new separate bike lanes.
“The government doesn’t seem to really understand what biking is – a daily means of transportation for hundreds of people. It’s not just a hobby for a select few mountain bikers,” bike association head Yotam Avizohar said.
“In the three countries which have a similar Helmet Law to ours – Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – there’s been a sharp dropoff in riders. Whereas there isn’t such a sweeping law in Denmark or Holland, yet they are serious biking countries,” Avizohar added.
“The government doesn’t seem to really understand what biking is – a daily means of transportation for hundreds of people,” said Avizohar.
And it’s a great excuse to get out at night wearing only a thong.
Public exercise
I’ve been seeing these exercise boards around town for some months now, as I make my way to and from various spots in the ‘hood. Sponsored by HMO Clalit — although I’m pretty sure that I’ve seen similar efforts from Maccabi and Leumit — they suggest walking routes around town with stretching exercises displayed on the boards.
It’s a great idea, because Israel is actually filling up with DIY exercisers; I see people speedwalking and jogging all over the place, particularly in groups of two and three on Shabbat mornings. I’m on my way to synagogue, they’re working out, and we’re all enjoying our Shabbat morning peace and quiet.
I haven’t actually tried the exercises myself, seeing as pushing a double stroller is enough exercise for me for the moment, but I was very pleased to see a somewhat unlikely pair of exercisers stopping by one of the local boards this afternoon. Unlikely in that it was a pair of Arab women from the nearby village, dressed in exercise pants and shirts, modest, but clearly for exercise purposes, head coverings intact.
We grinned at each other, women cheering each other on in our efforts to stay in shape, and appreciating one another’s efforts to do so.
Israeli bathers – beware of matkot sightings
You can keep your baseball and soccer. What more typically Israeli sport could there be than matkot?
Essentially beachside paddleball with those big flat paddles and tiny rubber ball – matkot is an Israeli obsession – you take your life into your hands when you walk on any beach in the country. I still can’t figure out if there are rules or not – are the players trying to hit it to each other, or smash it past each other?
Now, there’s someone who’s trying to codify the game – 65-year-old Amnon Nissim and his Morris Zadok, the self appointed “father of matkot in Israel.” According to a story by Jerrin Zumberg in The Jerusalem Post, Nissim has turned his Tel Aviv apartment into the unofficial “Matkot Museum of Israel.
He also holds court most days below the Crown Plaza hotel on Tel Aviv’s Gordon Beach, where the best matkot players in the country have been gathering for 70 years.
Nissim’s mission is not only to formalize the game through set rules, competitions and organized community events, but to make it an official Olympic event.
“It’s the most Israeli game there is,” says Zadok, 59. “It’s a game of peace and togetherness where you aren’t playing against one another, but as partners to reach a goal.”
Zadok’s web site is devoted to matkot and promoting his Bat Yam sporting goods store. A letter to prospective players about matkot says, “It’s not just a game, but a way of life, and an excuse to go down to the beach. There’s no better way to get a tan, meet friends and let out some energy.”
To formalize the game for serious players, Zadok created a set of rules. Rounds of three minutes are spent hitting the ball. Each team of two players stands eight meters apart, trying to get as many hits as possible. Each hit, or point, is earned by the ball going back and forth once. The national record is 178 hits in the three-minute window.
While I may stick to tennis, I’ll now have some new found respect for matkot players next time I get bashed in the head by a stray ball on the beach.
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