Ghosts in Israel? Not likely

October 27, 2009 - 10:17 AM by Nicky · 4 Comments
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Pop Culture 

Israel may be an ancient land, with an ancient, not to mention, bloody history, but despite this, it doesn’t seem to be a land of ghosts.

What with Halloween coming up, I thought I’d do a story on the top 10 hauntings in Israel, expecting to find some fascinating material dating back to biblical times that would scare the pants off even veteran ghost observer Melinda Gordon, AKA Jennifer Love Hewitt. I scoured the web. Then scoured it again. There were many references to ghosts and hauntings – but only the living kind.

“There isn’t a culture of ghosts in Israel,” said an American friend who’d done similar research just a few years ago and also drawn a blank. “They just don’t have a history of it.”

I asked my sabra husband. “Ghosts!” he said, looking baffled. “We don’t have ghosts in Israel!”

But wait a minute. This is the country that spawned Paranormal Activity – supposedly the scariest movie about ghosts around today.

I carried on my research and discovered an article from Ynet last year. Apparently, the research by the German Bertelsmann Foundation showed, only 16 percent of Israelis believe in ghosts and spirits. A pretty low figure that could explain the absence of ghost stories. Compare that to the US, for example, where 48 percent of the population say they believe in ghosts , and a sizable 22 percent say they’ve actually seen or felt a ghost.

Interestingly enough, however, in the same Israeli poll, 45% of participants said they believed in angels.

It would make an interesting research paper to examine why Israelis don’t believe in ghosts. I’m sure it reveals much about the society, since ghost stories are an essential part of most cultures around the world.

Is it because they are well-grounded people with a surprisingly strong sense of optimism (angels!)? Is it because a country that has so many living enemies doesn’t have time to waste thinking about spectral enemies? Or could it be that the country, founded as it is in the wake of the Holocaust, is haunted enough by the very real loss of six million people?

I did come across one haunting – on a base in Israel. See above. Speculation runs from a speck of dust on the screen, to an energy orb, or a dead motorcyclist haunting the road.

And I’d love to hear your ghost stories too. Come on, there must be one or two stories of troubled spirits in Israel.

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The Israeli blogosphere on Obama

November 6, 2008 - 4:05 PM by Harry · 11 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, Politics 

Yes we can!There exists a world of English writing bloggers – native born as well as immigrants – here in Israel and like everyone else in the world are thinking about President-elect Obama. Here is a sample of what the English writing Israeli blogosphere is saying:

• Native Israeli Shachar over at frgdr.com was the first to create Obama posters in Hebrew which were spotted all over America. He’s elated and says “As someone who is not a US citizen and could not vote in the elections, I can still say I have done my part, however small, and proudly announce that I helped elect Barack Obama. Like millions of others, I, too, was inspired by the man and the campaign he ran. The Hebrew graphics I designed were viewed thousands of times and the files I made available were downloaded hundreds and hundreds of times.”

• Gershom Gorenberg over at South Jerusalem has what he calls “hope envy.” He laments: “Yesterday was a rare moment that I wished I was over there – standing in an unexpected line to vote, celebrating afterward with friends in the streets of Washington, New York or Chicago, getting up this morning wondering what special blessing a religious Jews should say for such an event.

• Rock of Galilee isn’t an Obama fan but at least he has a sense of humor about it. He’s having a few computer problems and blaming Obama.

• Amir Mizroch of the Jerusalem Post talks about a speculative Q&A going on in the Israeli government right now.

• Dave at Israellycool wrote a song all about Obama to the tune of the theme to Transformers (robotrickim in Hebrew). It’s horrible and he should be punished.

• Sarah stayed up all night live blogging and her shplikes has gotten the best of her I’m afraid. She has not been heard from since.

• Occidental Israeli is worried about Rahm Emanuel’s appointment and hopes that some of the Irgun blood running through his veins has some weight. Don’t hold your breath.

• Niv Calerdon is jumping on the Obama bandwagon and hopes to use the momentum to get more people using Firefox. What?

• Gila of My Shrapnel, despite being eligible to vote sat this one out believing that since she no longer lives in America she shouldn’t have a say in their elections. Her argument is a compelling one and can be read in it’s entirety here.

• And finally Shy of Total Eclipse was up all night feeling nervous about the outcome of the election. He’s relieved and completely jealous that he was unable to be part of the process.

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