Giving Thanks

November 28, 2008 - 12:39 AM by DavidS · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General

There’s an old saying in Israel – “the United States is there, but America is here.” That phrase means different things to different people, but some American olim take it literally around the end of November.

Technically speaking, we have everything we need here to celebrate a “down home” Thanksgiving; turkey is big in Israel, and many butchers stock (or can easily order) whole birds – which tend to be bigger than the ones you’d get back in the States. Cranberry sauce? Very common. Chestnuts can be found in almost every supermarket, and pumpkins are here too (although they grow them very big, and the vegetable store usually breaks them into small “retail size” pieces. You can even do the American football game thing – but only on Sunday and Monday, when Middle East TV feeds the games of the week on Fox and CBS. Believe it or not, I saw an ad on TV tonight advertising “Black Friday” prices at some chain store! Now that couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?

In the best American Jewish tradition, most Thanksgiving celebrants will actually have their turkeys Friday night, in honor of Shabbat and Thanksgiving (as we will). Although there are some intrepid people who actually hold their feast on Thanksgiving Day itself. If you’re into having guests, Thanksgiving weekend is a good time to have them – it gives you an excuse to eat turkey, which is way too big to justify preparing for just one family!

But of course, Thanksgiving isn’t just about the turkey – it’s about, of course, giving thanks. Israelis are actually very good about counting their blessings, especially when they hear bad news from other places – like in India. Right now, many Israelis are thankful that they live in a super-security sensitive country, where security authorities are able to nip potential mega-terror attacks in the bud. Seems to me like a good enough reason to have some turkey!

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Tags: football, immigrant, olim, shabbat, thankful, thanks, Thanksgiving, turkey, United States

Trotting to Tel Aviv

October 13, 2008 - 11:30 AM by Harry · 2 Comments
Filed under: General, Sports

With a Jewish founder (in 1926, Abe Saperstein first organized the team in Chicago, naming it after a New York neighborhood known for its African American populace) and even a Jewish honorary team member (Middle East diplomacy mastermind Henry Kissinger – for real), the relationship between the Harlem Globetrotters and Israel seems to be one that was made to be. Of course, Israelis’ love of the hoops helps to solidify it.

Tomorrow night, the Harlem Globetrotters return to compete – no, to perform – in Israel for the first time in 18 years, as part of an international tour that will bring them to their 120th country, including shows in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to their official schedule, the team’s “regular season” begins at the end of December, when they’ll be traversing the American Midwest and Southwest, amazingly playing in two cities during many time slots. The schedule doesn’t specify who the opponents will be.

But for now, they’re gearing up for gigs in Mexico and Turkey – and, tomorrow night and Thursday, at Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena.

The Jerusalem Post recently previewed the upcoming local appearances:

“We are ambassadors of good will and it means the world to us to have the opportunity to be Globetrotters,” coach Clyde Sinclair, now in his 20th season with the Globetrotters’ organization, told The Jerusalem Post.

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