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Nostalgia Sunday – eBay Within Reach

The big dinner table discussion in recent weeks has been, “When is eBay actually coming to Israel”? And while we still await the long-promised opening of Israel’s second IKEA like the coming of the Messiah (it is taking that long) it looks like eBay could make Neiman’s Nostalgic Notions on the Net a reality in the near future.

And about time, too. Last April, Ynet reported that eBay had launched a Hebrew-language interface. But even before that, as one might well imagine, enterprising Israelis were buying and selling second- (and first-) hand wares over sites like Yad 2 — and eBay as well. (For more on that, read blogger Dudu Cohen’s article or watch this Channel 10 news item from last year. Both only in Hebrew, unfortunately).

The question in all cases: how to receive remuneration in the absence of a full-service electronic payment and fund transfer system. In other words, how does one get paid (Illuminea’s Miriam Shwab wrote an excellent blog posting at the time) and even more significantly, how does one pay the Israeli tax authorities their share? And don’t think they aren’t wondering the exact same thing.

Last month came big news when PayPal announced it was launching Israeli operations… er… more or less. According to Globes, “Although eBay has a Hebrew-language site eBay Israel with product prices listed in both dollars and shekels, as well as a search function for popular items, Israeli buyers have only limited options for paying through PayPal. They have to open an account using an international credit card, but they cannot withdraw money accumulated in the account because PayPal has no agreement with Israeli commercial banks.” Again, this will likely be resolved at least by the time that IKEA in Rishon LeZion opens its doors.

All this is simply a preface to the mind-blowing notion that we Israelis will finally be able to unload our old crap to make way for new crap, just like everyone else in the western world! Imagine how great it will be to be able to buy and sell the following:

A limited edition Coca Cola bottle with Hebrew lettering and a Star of David on the neck.

A decorative metal bowl manufactured by the PalBell company, which operated in Tel Aviv from 1939 to 1956 and set the standard for kitschy Judaica from the Holy Land.

Sheet music featuring lovely Seventies songstress Ilanit… hmmm…wonder how much I can get for my copy!

Or this lacquer wall plate etched with a picture of an Israeli dancer. I’m pretty sure my Aunt Sarah had two of these hanging in her rec room.

And I can’t wait to unload the boatload I’ve got of these things!

Oh, there is no end to the fun we’ll have, once we open up our little eBay store in dot-C-O-dot-I-L-land. But seriously, for those who are sincerely motivated and interested in learning more about eBay in Israel, go to the eBay global site, and select “Israel” under the “Country” drop-down menu. There’s a User Group as well. Any number of Israeli companies have sprung up to give courses and sell books about how to make money on eBay but its probably best — and cheapest — to start with this series of YouTube videos, again in Hebrew only.

Nostalgia Sunday – Little Israel

Maybe it’s because cable TV has been running “Pleasantville”, or maybe it’s because I was going through a bunch of old stuff. Suddenly, I was seized with a desire to visit the Israel we once pictured in our mind’s eye…

(For full-sized version click here).

After school maybe do some shopping…
(For full-sized version click here).

Or go to the movies…

(For full-sized version click here).

And maybe even take a drive!

(For full-sized version click here).

Go ahead, don’t be shy! Print, cut out and glue your own Little Israel.

A lightbulb attraction

Israeli advertising can be pretty weak on the creative front, which is surprising given the amazingly sharp minds that abound in all sorts of Sabras. Maybe it’s the pay?

But whoever came up with the latest Sylvania Israel lightbulb ad was truly struck by comic genius and a ‘lightbulb’ of a concept. I spotted it at a local lighting store, just behind the counter. It has a picture of the familiar-looking Oren Zarif, a ‘therapist of the subconscious’, with the quote, “Abuya, go over to Sylvania and the pain will pass.”

Zarif has fabulously cheesy advertising all over the Israeli press each week. Each ad features a picture of Zarif, always dressed in white with his straight black hair tucked behind his ears with and bolts of lightning in the background, followed by a series of pictures of Zarif with his ‘patients’, their thumbs up, proclaiming: “The surgery on my leg was cancelled!” — Zehava; “My chronic dizziness disappeared” — Aaron C.; “I was spared surgery on my gums” — Veronica B. And so on.

With eight clinics countrywide, Zarif is clearly doing something right, at least on the business front. He’s convinced that he inherited his powers from his Bukharan great-grandfather, enlightened Torah scholar Rabbi Pinhas Hacohen, writes Ruthie Blum in the Jerusalem Post.

All I know is, Sylvania definitely convinced me to buy their bulbs.

Foto Friday – To market, to market with Tamar Matsafi

Passover is over and things are about to get back to normal, sort of. In the Israeli endless vacation reality, there’s still Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day) to look forward to, after which a mild depression sets in as there won’t be another long vacation break till the High Holidays. Oh, except for August. We don’t work much in August.

The latter part of this week, though, was devoted to re-stocking the kitchen, post-Pesach. Photographer Tamar Matsafi took a jaunt to Jerusalem’s open market, Machane Yehuda, a refreshing alternative the the local supermarket.

First thing, buy new spices to replace the ones you threw out.

Photo: Tamar Matsafi

Photo: Tamar Matsafi

David had a nice write-up a few weeks ago about an unusual cooking competition held in the shuk between gourmet grannies.

Photo: Tamar Matsafi

An explanation of these dangerously delicious fried treats may be found here.

Photo: Tamar Matsafi

And check out Harry’s profile of Machane Yehuda’s resident shaman Uzi-Eli Chezi.

Photo: Tamar Matsafi

Our bags are full so home we go…

Photo: Tamar Matsafi

Nostalgia Sunday – Michal Negrin World

There’s something about Michal Negrin. Whether you love her retro n’ roses style or hate it — there seems to be no in-between — there’s no disputing that Negrin has tapped into a reservoir of emotion among women longing for a certain time that seems, at least on the face of it, to have been lovelier, more civilized, more sedate and possibly more fun.

Negrin has come a long way from her stand at the Nahlat Binyamin crafts fair and the little shop on Sheinkin Street, where Russian ladies used to painstakingly crochet, wrap, stitch and glue each encrusted earring, necklace and pin by hand. Today, she has die-hard fans and store locations around the world. And when those fans come from Paris or Palm Beach to Israel their mission is clear: get new Negrin pieces from the source.

The answer lies off the beaten track south of Tel Aviv in Bat Yam, at the accessories designer’s new central office, workshop and showroom. This is where the company’s 160 artisans carry out the delicate process of mounting and hand painting jewelry and decorative items, creating fashion, printing fabric, molding ceramics and more. It’s also a showcase for items created by Michal Negrin herself.

And now, there is the new visitor’s center, Michal Negrin World. This really is a world as Negrin would like to see it: a fantastic display of romantic roses and baby’s breath, lace, crystals and a just a hint of old-fashioned naughtiness.

The exhibit includes dollhouses, puppets and multilevel dioramas designed by Negrin and her husband Meir. There’s a cafe, and guided tours of the workshops and showroom. Negrin herself says, “I wanted to create a place that would be surprising… flooded with optimism and happiness, inviting visitors a peek into the worlds of my content and creativity.”

Some fun facts: Negrin wove a magical spell on the costume designers of “Harry Potter and the order of Phoenix”, when a ring and brooch were commissioned for actress Imelda Staunton, who played cat-obsessed senior undersecretary to the Minister of Magic Dolores Umbridge. Her celebrity fans, according to ISRAEL21c, include Demi Moore, Nicole Kidman, Britney Spears, Alicia Keys and Jane Seymour. And Negrin nostalgia has even extended to the sports arena; in 2008, she was commissioned by the Israel Olympic Committee to design the formal lapel pin for the Israeli team (pictured here).

Michal Negrin World is open to the public Sun-Thu, 9:00am-3:00pm. Tours must be booked in advance. Tel: 972-3-555-3326. Address: 7 Kaf Tet B’November St., Bat Yam.

Paper boats for three solstices

Every year, Chanuka is arguably the biggest week for children’s entertainment offerings across Israel, with options ranging from lavish pop stage productions like Festigal to museum activities to themed expositions at shopping malls.

Somewhere in-between all of the above is the free Origami Festival set to take place at the Jaffa Port tomorrow and a week from today. The festival explores the nautical theme inherent to its setting by offering workshops on how to fold square pieces of paper into sailboats according to Japanese craft traditions. Participants will also be given the opportunity to race their boats against one another on a specially prepared track, complete with fans to help replicate windy conditions, and prizes will be awarded to the victors.

The other theme to the festival that resonates with its setting is coexistence. Jaffa is home to sizeable Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities that live side by side, so the festival is a celebration of the winter solstice holidays of all three faiths – hence the justification for its pre-Chanuka launch.

Origami actually has a tradition of being tied to coexistence-themed initiatives. Famed Hiroshima atomic bomb victim Sadako Sasaki, who died in a hospital in 1955 of leukemia, spent her final days folding paper in to cranes, inspired by an old Japanese adage that those who fold 1000 cranes are entitled to a wish. Since then, Sadako and her folding efforts have been employed as a symbol for mankind’s longings to get along, and it was based on these teachings that Miri Golan founded the Israeli Origami Center, based in Ramat Gan, in 1993.

Golan and the IOC have held many ethnic-encounter workshops and events, including a major convention in Jerusalem’s Old City this past July, which was attended by many of the world’s ambassadors to Israel, many of the superstars of the international Origami scene and 1500 folded works of art sent as blessings for peace in Jerusalem by craftsmen of many faiths. The organization’s activities have also included Folding Together, a series of workshops bringing Israel’s Muslim and Jewish youth together via origami since 2002.

H&M to open store in Israel

I was first introduced to the wonders of H&M by my far more fashionable wife a few years ago during a trip to New York. It’s a bit embarrassing to say but if there is an H&M in a country we are visiting, we seek it out. We like big savings, what can I say? The Swedish company is known for its fashionable yet incredibly affordable clothing (though the quality varies from garment to garment) and currently has more than 1,600 stores in 34 different countries. This week they announced that they will be expanding into the Israeli market, the first store to open in 2010.

Israelis have been yearning for H&M for some time now. A very popular Facebook group called “Open an H&M store in Israel!” led the rallying call:

This group is open to all people living in Israel who want great clothes for a cheap price right around the corner. You know what? We don’t even mind driving an hour or two to get there, as long as we don’t have to wait until we go abroad or ask someone else who’s going to get H&M stuff for us (and you know they never get it right!). And we definitely won’t settle for that chain which goes by an almost identical name… We shall not be fooled!

I guess I’m not the only one who goes on a H&M shopping spree when I am abroad. There was also instant backlash to this Facebook group. A counter-group was created called “DO NOT open an H&M store in Israel” not created with a message of hate, but rather love. They believe that if H&M comes to Israel, it will no longer be special and unique because everyone here will be wearing their fashions. (my wife informed me just now via instant messenger and her Facebook status that she agrees with this). In my opinion the real issue here is whether H&M will be able to keep their costs down here. Taxes are very high and nothing is really cheap (except maybe a bowl of good soup). That’s the real challenge and will be the key to their success in Israel. And hey, we’ve got the GAP coming too so you can always shop there – that is, if you don’t care about originality.

�Buying Nothing Day� Can Save Someone�s Life

A day before Buy Nothing Day (last Saturday), an American salesman lost his life, as bargain hunters in a Wal-Mart shop in Long Island trampled him to death. No one was going to get in the way of a good deal: shoppers walked on and killed the 34 year-old, while pushing their way through the door on Black Friday, the first Friday after Thanksgiving, and when Americans start their holiday shopping. TreeHugger wrote a good thought piece on the Wal-Mart death right after the incident.

One of the things I love about living in Israel is that people here are not driven with the same kind of consumerism you can find in North America. It’s a real relief. Maybe it’s because most of us aren’t caught up with Christmas, being mainly Jewish or Muslim. Don’t get me wrong, Israelis love a good bargain, but shopping over here — thankfully — has not become a religion.

In light of last Saturday being “Buy Nothing Day” in North America (and which was celebrated in Israel last Friday – see this post on FRFDR where to dumpster dive, participate in free markets etc), I’ve posted a story below, which I’d written after my first shopping experience two years ago in Bangkok, Thailand (on a vacation from my hectic life in Israel). Some food for thought about what drives us to shop, and consume:

Abercrombie and Fitch shorts, Birkenstock sandals, Gucci purses and Ray Ban sunglasses – I was faced with miles of aisles of goods in the shopping mall halls in Bangkok, Thailand. I looked at the products promising to make me more desirable, more pretty, more everything and wondered, do I have the power to choose not to choose?

I had anticipated the shopping experience in Thailand, where I was told that for tens – instead of hundreds and thousands of dollars, I could buy anything that my heart desired. But when faced with the prospect of what seemed like an endless sea of “knock-offs,” I started to feel pains in my stomach. Read more

You Day

The anticipation and excitement began already last week, even while we were celebrating Sukkot – an exciting enough event on its own, if you ask me. But when that letter came, we just started counting down the days – and then the hours – to Sunday.

Why all the excitement? You Day!                 

So what’s You Day, you ask? Only the best day of the year to go shopping! You Day is the reward for us loyal customers who frequent a local “big box” supermarket all year, buying groceries with their You Card branded Diner’s Club debit card. The previous two times the store ran You Day, there were great bargains to be had – so much so that by the time me and my Significant Other arrived, they were out of half the sale items!

Well, this time we weren’t going to lose out – so bright and early on Sunday morning, we shlepped down to the store to take advantage of the bargains. And what bargains they were! Would you believe half-price – on a whole bunch of stuff we actually use! And unlike the usual requirement to get deals at this store, there was no minimum purchase of non-sale items required. Just free and easy shopping for a whole bunch of half price items! The only limitation – you could purchase just two of each item. Fair enough – and for us, not a problem, since my SO had her own You Card. So we were able to get four of each item!

Now, I’m no fool; I know how sales work (in Israel, the U.S., or anywhere). Loyalty program or not, nobody is giving away anything for half price. So you expect a little pre-sale price inflation, where the store raises the price on items and puts them back “on sale” – so you end up saving less than you expect. And You Day prices were no different, although I have to say some of them were genuine bargains (except for the instant coffee, where they basically doubled the price, so you would end up paying the “normal” price in the deal).

And so we shopped. And shopped some more. And when it was all over, we took our purchases up to the cash register, and watched with great satisfaction as the printout listed an item, a price – and a 50% discount!

There’s a theory about grocery shopping that says how sales and bargains, no matter how good they are, are basically a consumerist ripoff. Just walking into the big supermarket with the bargains means you’re going to end up spending more than you planned; far better to do your shopping at the not so cheap and much more limited neighborhood makolet (grocery store). The bigger the bargains, the more you end up spending, buying stuff you don’t really need.

But does that theory really apply when almost all the items in your shopping cart are half price? Did we buy items we didn’t need? I’ll admit it; we bought four of almost all the sale items, including things we didn’t buy on a usual basis (because they’re usually too expensive!). So, in one sense, it was a good day for bargains – but on the other hand, the makolet would have helped keep spending down. I guess the strategy works – even with all the bargains, we still spent nearly 1,000 shekels between the two of us, the second highest amount we have ever spent in any “walk down the aisle” at a supermarket!

The long haul

Israelis are getting ready for Rosh Hashana they only way we know how – by shopping.

Most people at work are still coming to terms with the length of the holiday – the only two day religious holiday celebrated here.

“You mean, we don’t go back to work until Thursday? I might as well take a trip abroad,” said one colleague.

Not having any close family here, Rosh Hashana – like every other holiday – has always been bittersweet for my family. We get together with friends and other families for some meals, hang out by ourselves for some, but without the mishpacha around, there’s always something missing.

Herb Keinon in The Jerusalem Post, put it very aptly:

As the son of a Holocaust survivor, I grew up with a very small extended family – no relatives on my mother’s side; grandparents, two aunts and three cousins on my father’s. My childhood table never brimmed over with relatives. But I didn’t know the difference; it’s what I knew.
But my kids have a different reference point. They see friends with relatives spilling out the windows, and want some too.

“Why can’t we have relatives,” the youngest son asked once, using the same tone he uses when asking for more ice cream. Indeed, the lack of a large clan is hardest on him, something that has to do with his bar mitzva in six months.

Here’s hoping that all Israelity readers – even David Joe – whether in the bosom of their families, or enjoying the holiday with friends old and new, have a meaningful Rosh Hashana, and that next year will bring peace and tranquility to all.

 

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