The Israeli Newman

October 18, 2009 - 5:57 PM by Jessica · 1 Comment
Filed under: General

Eric, the American mailman!

The Israeli mail carrier hasn’t received the same kind of media attention as postal workers in other countries, particularly the U.S. That could be because of the lack of drama attached to the job. As far as I know, no Israeli postal worker has ever ‘gone postal’, although I wouldn’t blame them if they did, given the myriad tasks they have to do in the typical postal bank, which can include anything from supplying stamps and changing currency to acting as a bank teller for customers paying their household and business bills. And given that the post office is always open during the oddest hours, hours which you are never fully aware of, they are generally full of disgruntled people.

But one thing they can’t complain about is that they get to work in their own clothing — often jeans or shorts and a tee-shirt — carrying the mail in regulation Israel Postal Service backpacks, a more casual look than the typical American postal carrier bag. Now it is true that the American mail carrier bag has become a long-time trendy accessory, known as the messenger bag. Yet it cannot be argued that the American postal carrier ever appears to be trendy, particularly not when you’re channeling Seinfeld’s Newman as the typical mailman.

The regulation Israel Postal Service backpack

These were some of my thoughts the other day as I was watching a mailman go from apartment building to apartment building along Katznelson Street in Jerusalem’s Rasko neighborhood. He would deliver the mail to a few buildings, crossing back and forth on the street, and then replenish his bag from an locked olive green box on the street. And dressed as he was in shorts, tee-shirt, baseball hat and backpack, one wouldn’t necessarily guess that he was the mailman unless noting the Postal Service logo on his bag.

So imagine my surprise when, after asking him if he would mind if I took a picture of him for my blog, he answered in English — having heard my American-accented Hebrew. Turns out that this particular postman, Eric Lemel, wearing an L.A. Clippers baseball hat, has been delivering mail in Jerusalem for 13 years, and loves it. I think that may an ultimate aliyah professional story. Because how many Jewish mailmen do you know? (Besides Newman.)

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