Mitch Albom takes over Israel

May 22, 2010 - 7:55 PM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Pop Culture, Profiles 

Mitch Albom in Jerusalem (Photo: Brian Negin)

Welcome to Tel Albom.

Celebrated US author Mitch Albom was in town earlier this month, and for a few days, it seems like he was everywhere. The Detroit, Michigan writer of Tuesdays With Morrie and the new Have A Little Faith The writer, was here as a guest of the wonderful Israeli nonprofit organization Tishkofet, that provides support to patients who have serious illnesses (and their families and caregivers).

But in addition to speaking for the organization at the Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, he was also led around the country for a nonstop menu of receptions, two performances of the play ‘Tuesdays With Morrie’ in Hebrew, at the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv and in Haifa, a meeting with President Shimon Peres, and an appearance at a Conservatvie (Masorti) synagogue in Jerusalem whose membership includes Orah Lipsky, the daughter of the subject of Have a Little Faith – the late Rabbi Albert Lewis of Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Talk about a busy week!

Albom has seen himself portrayed onstage enough times that it doesn’t fluster him much anymore. There have been more than 200 productions of the play, based on Albom’s wildly successful 1997 book about his encounters with his old college sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, who was suffering from a terminal disease. And lots of actors have played the two characters in the play – Schwartz and Albom – since Hank Azaria and Jack Lemmon, respectively, pioneered the roles in the popular Oprah Winfrey-produced TV movie in 1999.

But the Cameri production, which has been running since December in conjunction with the Haifa Community Theater, contained a first, Albom explained to a rapt audience at the Jerusalem synagogue a few nights after attending a gala performance in his honor. Veteran actors Yossi Gerber as Morrie and Yiftah Klein as Albom were just fine in their roles. But Albom was surprised to discover a third character had been introduced into his script – his wife, Janine. Only instead of Janine (which is pronounced like the Palestinian city of JeniN) the Cameri production gave her the name Rahel.

“They wrote in a character that plays my wife and they call her Rahel!” said Albom, telling the story with mock outrage. “If you’re going to write in a character, they should use the right name. So if you go see the play, when they say Rahel, shout out ‘Janine!’”

Albom also said his wife’s name became an issue when he introduced her to Peres. “Janine?” he repeated. “Her name is Janine?”

In Israel, apparently, Janine can be a dirty word.

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An excellent jobnik

February 10, 2010 - 7:20 PM by · 6 Comments
Filed under: coexistence, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

Natan at his desk

It’s niece/nephew month. Last one, I promise…

So, Natan, my 19-year-old nephew, who made aliyah with his family just three and a half years ago when he was 16, and entered the army last year, was nominated to receive the Presidential Excellence Award, the highest honor you can receive in the IDF.

Natan is a ‘jobnik’ in army parlance, which means he has a desk job. In his case, he works out of a large army base near Tel Aviv, where he does several things, including troubleshoot computer issues and teach English. He fell in with a great commanding Druze officer and a good crew of fellow soldiers, and despite worries at the start that the army would be a huge adjustment for this NYC-born and bred boy, he’s done just fine. His commanding officer and fellow soldiers sometimes don’t know what to make of Natan, who’s into musical theater, choral music and making bizarre flavors of ice cream, among other things, but it’s a testament to him and his mostly easygoing character that they all get along really well, and even came to see him perform Shakespeare.

Anyway, I wasn’t really surprised that Natan was nominated for the award, which includes getting pinned by President Shimon Peres in a public ceremony. He already knows that he’s not receiving the award, but will be receiving a lower level excellence award with a less public ceremony, and, a new uniform, which he’s pleased about. But what he talked about most, besides the intense interview that he underwent at a Herzliya hotel, was the food at the hotel, which was “out of this world,” compared to his now lowered army food standards. Hey, there are benefits to lower level excellence.

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Picture of the week: The long goodbye to Rabin

November 11, 2009 - 10:33 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: History and Culture, Life, Picture of the Week 

pic of week rabin crop

There can’t be many people on the left or the right in Israel who don’t still wonder what would have happened if former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin hadn’t died the night he was shot by religious fanatic Yigal Amir.

Would we have peace now? Would the second intifada have been avoided? Or would everything have unfolded in much the same way? We’ll obviously never know.

What amazes me most is that it was 14 years ago, but the memories are still painful for so much of Israeli society. It’s an open-wound that as David so rightfully pointed out in his post, Have any lessons been learned , hasn’t yet been resolved.

I was at the rally the night Rabin was assassinated. We didn’t know about the shooting until after we left, when we visited friends on our way home and found them glued to the television. Even then it was clear, history had just taken a completely different route.

Israel’s president Shimon Peres addressing the crowd on Saturday at the 14th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv. Photo by Liron Almog/Flash90.

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Have any lessons been learned from Rabin’s assassination?

October 28, 2009 - 9:11 PM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Politics 

Yitzhak Rabin singing "Song of Peace" shortly before he was shot and killed.
Thursday marks the 14th anniversary of the death of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin – certainly one of the cataclysmic events of Israel’s short history.

The divisions among the country’s citizens which led to Rabin’s assassination are still very apparent, with venom from both the Right and Left toward each other spouting freely without any attempt to mask the hatred. The Right blames Rabin and his followers on the Left for the failed Oslo process and the Left blames the Right for the environment that enabled an Israeli to take the life of a prime minister.

While most of the country mourns Rabin’s death and marks each anniversary with sadness, there’s a not so small minority who don’t take part in the collective grief and go about their business like any other day. It’s not a holiday that brings the country together.

Still, there are attempts at unity. President Shimon Peres opened the 24 hours of commemoration saying that the former prime minister’s vision of peace will not be abandoned. The state ceremony, held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, was attended by Rabin family members, ministers, members of Knesset, and students from schools throughout Israel.

“Israel’s young generation has kept in their hearts the knowledge that such a despicable murder mustn’t ever happen again,” said Peres. “When the criminal took Yitzhak’s life, he intended to extinguish all hope for peace as well, but his plot will not succeed.”

Peres added that while peace has many enemies outside of Israel, there are also many skeptics within Israel’s own borders. He added that “Rabin’s assassination delayed the entire process and hampered the diplomatic course, but the understanding between us and our neighbors has grown, and its urgency has not changed.”

Memorial ceremonies will continue Thursday throughout the country, and the state ceremony is scheduled to take place in Mount Herzl cemetery at noon.

I remember leaving my newspaper that night after putting out the Rabin assassination edition thinking that Israel was in mortal danger from within, and wondering if we would survive. 14 years, we have perservered, but still have many lessons left to learn and internalize about what kind of country we want to build here.

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Rally in Tel Aviv

August 9, 2009 - 11:24 AM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, Crime, General, Israeliness, Life 

(Photo: Reuters/ Ronen Zvulun)

(Photo: Reuters/ Ronen Zvulun)

It makes you proud to live here. Last night, over 20,000 people gathered at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv to express solidarity with the gay community, a week after a gunman killed two people at a center for gay youth.

“The bullets that hit the gay community at the beginning of the week struck us all as people, as Jews, as Israelis … criminals will not set our agenda,” said President Shimon Peres from the podium. “The Creator of the world did not endow anyone with the power to murder his peer.”

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai also spoke at the rally, saying that “we thought that in Tel Aviv-Yafo… we had created an open and accepting society for our children.”

Police still have the case under a gag order, and have not revealed a motive for the shooting. Speculation ranges from it being a hate crime against gays to a personal attack, either by a father of one of the center’s patron’s or perhaps a scorned romantic involvement. Outspoken activists were quick to point fingers at conservative, religious legislators for creating an environment that would enable the attack to occur, but there’s been no evidence released tying in any religious aspects to the shooting.

Last Saturday, a masked gunman burst into a community centre for gay teenagers in Tel Aviv and shot dead Nir Katz, 26-year-old, and a 16-year-old Liz Trubeshi. Thirteen other people were wounded.

Vigils have been held at cities around the world for the victims, and last night, several musicians and entertainers appeared at the Tel Aviv rally, including Rita, Dana International, Ninette Tayeb, Amir Fay Guttman, Keren Peles, Corinne Alal and Ivri Lider.

Would it better if if turned out that the shooter was targeting gays out of hate, or if it was simply a random mass shooting, the kind that takes place in the US on a weekly basis, like last week’s ramapage at a fitness center in Pennsylvania? Both scenarios are kind of horrific, and neither bode well for Israeli society.

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