Saturday, October 18, 2014

Mahane Yehuda Market - Cooking Tour (Sukkot Activities)

Over the holiday season in Israel (September/October), there are many things to do all over Israel.  Although many Israelis go on vacations outside the country, many families have visitors during this time period.  In our circle of friends, a few families had parents and siblings visiting this year.  Some of the families were looking for activities that would make a suitable outing for a whole family with a wide range of ages.

Inside Mahane Yehuda
One of our friends suggested a walking/cooking tour of the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem.  This sounded like fun to us, so we agreed.  We wound up with four families participating, a total of 19 people on a beautiful October day during Hol Hamoed Sukkot.

There are several different companies that offer these types of tours but our organizer chose Abraham Tours, a group that operates its tours and its kitchen out of a hostel that adjoins the Mahane Yehuda market.  The company website offers a regular cooking tour on Tuesdays for 80 N.I.S. per person.  Since our tour was a private tour, the cost was somewhat higher - 130 N.I.S. (or about $42).

Mahane Yehuda is a bustling market that includes outdoor, partially covered areas as well as parts that are indoors.  Vendors sell fresh fruits, vegetables, cheeses, meats, fish and many other items.  It can be quite crowded but it is almost always very lively.  Walking through the market anytime is a multi-sensory experience.  There are food aromas of many different types, the sounds of people haggling in different languages (though mostly Hebrew, with an array of different accents) and a wide-ranging mix of Israelis and tourists, religious and non-religious alike from many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Our tour was set up as a guided tour through the market with stops to purchase a preset list of ingredients.  We would then take the ingredients back to the hostel kitchen and whip up a fresh, quintessentially Mideastern meal guided by an experienced chef/ tour leader and her colleague.

We had arranged to start at 9:30 a.m.  This meant leaving Ra'anana at about 7:45 a.m.  In heavy traffic, this drive can take longer than 1.5 hours but, for some reason, during Hol Hamoed Sukkot there was less traffic than usual.  We were at the market by 9 a.m. and even had time to grab a morning coffee before starting.

Our tour guide, an outgoing and friendly young woman, had grown up in the U.S. before moving to Israel.  Our group had opted to take the tour in English so there were no language issues.  We were provided with a fairly short introduction to the market and a bit of history about it.  We were then off on our shopping expedition.

For the next hour or so, we made our way through different parts of the market, stopping at various stalls to collect ingredients.  It was fairly early in the morning so it was not too crowded when we first started.  But it is a bit challenging to keep a group of 19 together, particularly when the group includes some younger children.  Mainly, this was a shopping trip rather than a guided tour of the market.  We picked up a few pointers along the way (like how to buy the perfect eggplant - look for one that is very light, we were told) and we stopped at some out of the way vendors who we may not have otherwise found (like the vendor whose booth consists mainly of products made with etrogs).  I confess that I sampled an etrog-qat-triple berry fruit concoction and it was quite good.

Along the way we picked up some really nice produce.  The fruits and vegetables were wonderfully fresh - much more tasty than many of the fruits and veggies that are available in Canada or the U.S. most of the year.  We were preparing an all vegetarian meal.  Along the way, we collected tomatoes, eggplant, cauliflower, kohlrabi,  kale, coriander leaves and many other items.  Our guide purchased all of the items and we all shared the schlepping back to the hostel.

By about 11:00 a.m. we made our way over to the hostel kitchen.  This was not a kitchen that would be confused with the film studio set for the Emeril cooking show.  Rather we were in the midst of an operating hostel, with hostel guests coming in and out of the kitchen.  There was a reasonably well equipped kitchen  and a decent amount of counter space.  There were a range of heavily used, cooking implements, pots and pans from many different backgrounds (much like the market itself).  But the emphasis here was on functionality rather than luxury or even convenience.  I also note that the kitchen is not kosher certified which is one of the main reasons that our group had opted for the vegetarian option.  There are probably a number of different groups that operate tours like this in strictly kosher kitchens but we compromised with this setup.

Putting together a full meal for twenty people in an hour and a half can be reasonably challenging.  Certainly it is something that my wife does regularly (with the assistance of her trusty sous-chef) but here we had lots of helpers.  The key is organization and our tour leader was quite organized.  She delegated tasks in an orderly fashion and in no time the kitchen was filled with the sounds of greens being washed, onions and garlic being chopped and other veggies sizzling on the stove.

Tomato Arugula Bryndza Cheese
The food was absolutely delicious.  All of the ingredients were very fresh.  The emphasis was on the Middle Eastern kitchen so we prepared a fairly healthy selection of aromatic culinary delights.

I'm not going to give away all of the tour secrets (we were provided with a full list of recipes at the end of the tour) but I think a bit of a look the menu should be fine.

This salad was quite tasty.  It featured cherry tomatoes, arugula and bryndza cheese (a feta-type cheese).  Fairly easy to put together.

Roasted Eggplant with Lemon Juice and Tehini
One of my personal favourites was the roasted eggplant dish.  Once again, the preparation was not particularly complicated.  It involved roasting a bunch of whole medium-sized eggplants and then peeling them and adding lemon juice, tahini, spices, feta cheese and olive oil.  The combination of the tastiness of these well chosen eggplants as well as the perfectly matched blend of spices made this a mouth-watering delicacy. 

We also prepared a roasted cauliflower dish, a middle eastern rice mixture, cooked with pre-mixed spices that we had picked up in the market and a fennel-kohlrabi-kale salad with mint leaves.  For dessert we prepared dates with walnuts, which was also a fairly healthy way to end the meal.

Green Shakshuka
One other main dish that we prepared was a green shakshuka featuring a mixture of pan cooked green vegetables that was then baked with strategically placed eggs and feta cheese.  The dish was a success both from an aesthetic point of view and for its taste.  It was also reasonably easy to make and seems like it would be a great dish to serve at a brunch (though brunches seem to be somewhat less common in Israel because of the six day work week).

Overall, I think all of the adults on the tour had more than enough food to eat and enjoyed most of the different dishes.  If some of the people were not thrilled with certain ingredients, for example coriander leaves or fennel (with its distinctive anise taste), there were enough other choices to still provide for a decent meal.

It probably would have been nice to have had an appropriately paired Israeli wine with the meal and maybe a nice fruit salad to go with the dates for dessert.  We could have also enjoyed a sampling of the Iraqi/Yemenite or other distinctive breads to accompany the tehini (instead of plain pita) and maybe we should have put together a big bowl of humus.  A fish dish of some sort might have also been interesting using one of the local fish.  We added in a couple of jars of green and red hot pepper sauce (Zhoug) that were not part of the menu and that we purchased separately to go with the tehini.  I personally enjoyed all of the dishes, other the fennel salad, which is just not my thing.  But some humus or fish would have added in a bit more protein.

Of course, some obscenely decadent chocolate souffle could have interested the kids but that would not have fit the Mideastern motif.  Not that my waistline would have necessarily benefited from that type of dish...

Unfortunately, for many of the kids that were with us, this was not a dream meal.  Some of them had a felafel or a shwarma after the meal in the market area.  Some were wondering when we were going to bring out the burgers and french fries during the meal.  But the kids still had fun on this trip, especially since there was a piano in the room, a billiards table and a few other activities to keep them busy (when they weren't helping with the cooking or cleaning up).  They enjoyed the socializing and sampling some of the items that we tasted as we walked through the market.

Overall, it was a fun activity and a great way to spend a day with some friends and family while the weather was still nice and just before the chaggim came to an end.  It also added some interesting dishes to our cooking repertoire which we hope to try at home soon.







Monday, October 13, 2014

Sukkot 2014 and Tulip Winery

There is little doubt that the holiday of Sukkot is about the best time to be in Israel, whether as a visitor or a resident Israeli.  Known in Hebrew is "z'man simchateinu" - "the time of our happiness," Sukkot is really quite a special holiday.

There are festivals across the country geared to a whole range of different demographic groups, from children's music to wine and beer festivals.  A quick glance at the newspaper shows a Yemenite Culture festival in one city (B'nei Ayish), a wine and beer festival in Ashdod, an Uzi Hittman sing-a-long event in Tel-Aviv and many other events in towns and cities all over Israel.  Many are free, city sponsored events.  For example, Israeli singer Eli Botner performed a free concert at the city centre stage (Yad L'Banim) in Ra'anana last night.  We dropped in to watch some of it.

Students of all ages have lengthy school breaks.  Many go on camping or hiking trips with different youth movements.  Two of our children participate in Noam (the youth movement affiliated with Conservative Judaism - "Masorti" in Israel).  This year, they are on a two day trip to the Negev - camping, hiking along or through rivers and enjoying the outdoors - in terrific weather conditions.

Before the tiyulim began, we managed to squeeze in a five family sukkah hop starting on shabbat afternoon, which was quite fun.  Each family was charged with preparing one course of the meal.  All of the sukkot were located in Ra'anana though in some cases the walk from one sukkah to the next was more than a half hour.  While many families try to put these events together in other countries, the conditions are often less than ideal.  (We once spent the night in our Sukkah in Toronto when it was close to 0 C).  Here in Israel, the weather was perfect for this type of event. The families were close enough to each other to allow for walking from one place to the next and the atmosphere all over Ra'anana was quite conducive to this type of celebration.  As we walked from stop to stop, we passed by hundreds of sukkot all over the city.

During Sukkot, many people also travel to other places around the country for visits to all kinds of different attractions, including national parks, wineries, nature reserves and other tourist spots.  We decided to visit the Tulip Winery yesterday.  Tulip is in Kiryat Tivon, about an hour north of Ra'anana.

Tulip is one of my favourite Israeli wine producers.  It was founded in 2003 by the Yitzhaki family. The winery was built in Kfar Tikvah ( the "village of hope"), a community for special needs adults.  The winery employs many residents of Kfar Tikvah and helps integrate them into the community.  Tulip has an annual production of approximately 220,000 bottles.   The Tulip visitor centre also features a range of products that were made by Kfar Tikvah residents. 

Tulip Winery
The visitor centre staff were knowledgeable, friendly and helpful.  They were also quite generous with tasting samples of a whole range of Tulip wines.  Almost all of the wines we tasted were delicious.  Starting with a white wine, White Franc, we worked our way through a tasting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve Cabernet, Reserve Shiraz, Mostly Cabernet Franc and two of the winery's finest blended wines including a special anniversary edition called "DNA 2011."  All of the wines were quite good.  The visitor centre was featuring a "buy three get one free" promotion, so we picked out four interesting bottles.  The prices ranged from 60 N.I.S.-100 N.I.S. for most of the wines (about $20 to $30) to 210 N.I.S. for the DNA 2011 (about $65).  We were tempted, but decided not to take a bottle of the DNA.

Tulip does not offer a daily tour though arrangements can be made in advance for groups.  But the winery really does offer a unique mix of social responsibility and excellent wine, which makes it a very highly regarded and popular institution and one that seems to me to deserve support.  The wine is certified kosher by the circle K organization as well as several Israeli kashruth authorities.  (The story of the process the winery underwent to receive kosher certification in a fascinating story by itself but one for another time). 

The holiday of Sukkot continues for two more days in Israel before culminating with the joyous festival of Simchat Torah.  That will bring the holiday season to a close as well as the annual cycle of Torah reading.  Sukkot marks the official start of rainy season in Israel (in theory, at least), just after harvest season ends. 

So we have two more days to enjoy eating meals in the Sukkah, waving the lulav and etrog and, of course, sharing the appropriate mid-Sukkot greeting - "mo'adim l'simchah" -  (Times of happiness), to which the little known but proper response is "chaggim u'zmanim l'sasson" (Festivals and times of joy). 

A happy and healthy new year to all and - "moadim l'simcha"...


Monday, July 21, 2014

War in Gaza: Some Thoughts

There is a great deal going on this 14th day of Israel's Operation "Protective Edge."  I have not been writing very many articles recently but I thought an article about the ongoing war with Hamas was overdue.  There are many different angles to cover and many different viewpoints across the Internet, the media and public opinion.  Much of the writing is of course very one-sided.  A great deal of the anti-Israel rhetoric has included vitriolic anti-Semitic attacks unrelated to any legitimate points.  On the other hand, some of the rhetoric on the Israeli side can be criticized as well for being propaganda rather than serious commentary.  Ultimately, anyone writing about this conflict will have a set viewpoint that will colour his or her analysis.  But it is not always the case that there are two sides to every story.  Some fights really are fights of good against evil (or various shades of that theme) and history is filled with examples of such conflicts.

It is not my intention to paint everything as simply black and white but rather to review some key points that have emerged from events so far.

1.  Hamas is a terrorist organization that is intent on killing Israelis and has no interest in peace.

While this sounds like harsh, one-sided rhetoric, it is unfortunately true.  Not long after 2005, when Israel pulled up its settlements from Gaza and left most of it, Hamas was elected as the leadership in Gaza and solidified its hold on Gaza society.  Since then, there have been three significant military conflicts with Israel, all precipitated by Hamas intensifying its use of rocket fire at Israel.

How is this really helping or assisting the people of Gaza?  It is really hard to come up with a good answer to this question - other than "it isn't."  When Israel left Gaza, it left greenhouses in tact, and it left the Palestinians in control of a large amount of prime beach front territory.  With enormous amounts of U.N. aid coming to Gaza, the Palestinians could have chosen a different path.  They could have build hotels in Gaza to build tourism.  They could have put the money into schools, education, sewage, infrastructure.  The current war between Israel and Hamas has shown that enormous resources have simply been used to stockpile different types of rockets and to build extensive tunnels that allow Hamas terrorists to make their way into Israel underground to try to kill or kidnap Israelis.

2.  Israel was left with no choice but to fight this war.

This is the corollary to the first point and it has been reinforced in the events that followed the commencement of the war.  The war was not started because of the Hamas kidnapping and murder of three Jewish students nor was it started because of the reprisal attack carried out by some Israeli vigilantes who murdered an innocent Arab boy.  It was started by Hamas making a decision to fire an unceasing barrage of rockets at Israeli civilians.

What would any other country do?  How could Israel not respond to this?

The difficulty that Israel has faced is that the rockets are being fired at Israel from built up residential areas, mosques, schools (even U.N. run schools), and other densely populated places.  Israel has the capability of determining where the missiles originated from.  Most countries, faced with repeated missile fire from a certain area, would simply destroy the whole building or area.  Certainly the U.S., Russia, France and many of Israel's other vocal critics (with respect to the issue of "restraint") would have little hesitation in destroying everything in sight, even if that meant a large number of civilian casualties in order to stop missile attacks on their country.  If Israel were using this method of responding to rocket fire, the deaths of Palestinians would be in the thousands by now, not the hundreds.

3.  The Cost of the War is high for both sides.

The current war has resulted in many deaths and injuries on both sides.  The media love to report raw numbers as if the numbers were the most important thing.  It is true that the Iron Dome missile defence system has done an incredible job of protecting Israelis from most of the incoming missiles.  It is also true that the people of Gaza do not have properly equipped bomb shelters, missile warning systems or sophisticated means of protecting themselves from the Israeli army.

But on the other hand, it is Hamas that is putting these civilians at risk by firing missiles at Israel from civilian locations.  It is no answer to say that Israel should exercise "restraint" or not respond, start a unilateral cease fire or take some other one-sided action that sees Israel continuing to absorb Hamas rocket fire.  Israel must respond, even if the response causes civilian casualties in Gaza.

For Israel, the soldiers are mostly conscripts from Israeli society who are serving their country and who are asked to trust that the political and military leadership are making decisions that will minimize the short and long term likelihood of a prolonged war.  They hope that Israel's leadership will protect the security interests of Israel's citizens.  The soldiers are friends, family members, acquaintances.  They are called into action to protect the people of Israel and answer the call.  The loss of even one soldier in Israel is a difficult, tragic and heart wrenching event for the people.  The loss of 18 soldiers over this past weekend and 7 more today was simply horrible.

This is not all intended to downplay the value of life or the loss of life of Palestinians.  Many Palestinians have been killed and injured.  The numbers are much higher than the number of Israelis.  But that is the unfortunate and tragic result of this type of war, which was started by Hamas.  Hamas was offered two different cease fires so far, after the war began, both of which were brokered by Egypt, accepted by Israel but  but rejected by Hamas.  Hamas has chosen to fight or continue the fighting three times now where there were alternatives.  It is Hamas that is endangering Palestinian civilians by continuing this war.

One can only hope that the people of Gaza will start to see that a different approach in dealing with Israel would have very different results.  Contrast the situation in Gaza with the situation in the West Bank to understand that point clearly.  Under the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, many West Bank Palestinian are working with Israelis in productive ways and are reaping the benefits of economic progress, stability and relative calm.

4.  Hamas has very few friends right now - which makes a cease fire difficult to arrange.

Much of the world realizes that Israel has few alternatives and that Hamas is a terrorist organization.  In the past, Hamas relied on Egypt to quietly supply it with weaponry, permit it to smuggle items in to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing and then pressure Israel into a cease fire before it could damage Hamas.  The situation is quite different now.  The current Egyptian government has little time for Hamas and recognizes that Hamas has embarked on a dangerous operation with no realizable end-goal that makes any sense.  Russian President Putin has been remarkably restrained, at least as reported publicly.  Canada has been strongly supportive of Israel and the U.S. has been publicly supportive.  While there have been anti-Israel demonstrations across the world, most western governments seem to have realized that Israel is facing a terrorist threat and has few alternatives but to continue its current operation.

The most vocal supporter of Hamas has been Turkish president Erdogan, who has made the ludicrous allegation that Israel is "far worse than Hitler." Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu rightly commented in a press conference that this is the type of statement we would expect to hear from Hezbollah, Al Qaidah, or Iran - not from Turkey.  That is all not necessarily a surprise but it is quite disappointing to consider that this is the direction Turkey seems to be heading.  Of course the proper response would be to ask Erdogan about Turkey's genocide against the Armenian people and to put everything into context.  How crazy is it for the leader of a country which has never really accounted for its massacre of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Armenians to be comparing Israel to the Nazis in the context of a war in which hundreds of civilians have been killed, unintentionally.

The challenge that the world faces right now is the lack of a broker to arrange a deal between Hamas and Israel.  John Kerry has no credibility with Hamas (the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Hamas and views them as a terrorist organization).    So Hamas has turned to Mahmoud Abbas, Turkey and Qatar.  To be an acceptable mediator, it seems, you have to be prepared to describe Israel in Nazi-like terms.  Much like Palestinian leader Hanan Asharawi has done in calling the Israeli operation a giant war crime while refraining from saying anything about Hamas and its tactics.  So the question remains - who can broker a cease fire or push Hamas into accepting some type of deal?  The answer is unclear.  For the Israeli political and military leadership, the best answer is that more time is needed to further limit Hamas' ability to start another war any time soon.

5.  Prime Minister Netanyahu has been very measured

Prime Minister Netanyahu has generally acted in a manner which has been statesman like and impressive.  He pushed his cabinet to agree to two different cease fire proposals, even though acceptance would have meant that Israel would fall short of its aims.  He made every effort to avoid launching a ground war in Gaza until he was forced to do so.  He has ordered the army to take every precaution to minimize the number of Palestinian civilian casualties even while Israel has been facing unceasing rocket fire.  Prime Minister Netanyahu has been holding together a coalition that includes members who have publicly advocated re-occupying Gaza completely - along with other members who strongly support continuing peace talks as quickly as possible.  

6.  Things must change or this will happen again soon

What can Israel do to prevent this from happening again soon?  That is the really challenging question.  For those on the left and sometimes, for Israel's critics, the answer is that Israel should simply "end the occupation" and everything would be fine.  But isn't this what Israel tried in 2005 in Gaza?  Israel left unilaterally.  The result has been three wars.  Unilateral disengagement has not worked in Gaza and it will not work in the other territories.  Ultimately, Israel needs a genuine, enforceable peace deal with a partner that is committed to the arrangement.  As long as Hamas continues to run Gaza, there can be little hope of an arrangement like this any time soon.  Perhaps the people of Gaza will realize this and will bring about a change in their political leadership.  But at this point, many will have been scarred bitterly by this war and will want nothing to do with a government that takes a moderate approach to Israel. 


Unfortunately, the picture is grim.  A cease fire deal with Hamas in the short term will not lead to peace or to any long term solution of the current issues unless Hamas changes its positions dramatically which is not about to happen.  Accordingly, Israel has little alternative but to destroy as much of Hamas as it possibly can and destroy the terror tunnels that lead from Gaza to Israel.  Perhaps in these circumstances, a different type of government will emerge that has an interest in some kind of deal with Israel.

In the meantime, I am certainly hoping and praying for a speedy but successful end to this war and for Israel's soldiers to return home safely and in good health.  I am also hoping that civilian deaths in Gaza can be minimized and that the Palestinians can find a way to make much better decisions.  They deserve better than these Hamas-led wars.






 
 




  

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Upcoming Israeli Presidential Elections 2014 and Other Random Comments...

The temperature has cooled down somewhat in Israel but the political atmosphere has been heating up.  While Israelis are now enjoying seasonal temperatures in the 27-30 C range, I would imagine that it is quite a bit hotter inside the Knesset.

On Tuesday, Israeli MKs (Member of the Knesset - the Israeli Parliament) will hold a closed-ballot election for the position of President of Israel.  The MKs will select a replacement for outgoing President Shimon Peres.  The campaign for a new president has been mired in scandal with various allegations surfacing over the course of the campaign against different candidates.

The most recent casualty was Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, the candidate favoured by many Labour party members.  He withdrew from the race after being questioned about financial improprieties relating to his purchase of an apartment and the source of the funds.  Another candidate, Sivan Shalom, dropped out of the race earlier after 15 year old allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced.  The allegations were not substantiated and the Shalom was vindicated but the damage had been done.  Other allegations were made against some of the remaining candidates but so far they have remained in the race.

The position of President in Israel is largely a figurehead position, much like the position of Governor General in Canada.  The President has the power to ask a party to form a government after an election (by building a majority coalition)  though by convention, it is generally the part with the largest number of seats in the Knesset.  If that party cannot form a government, the President can ask another party to try if the President believes that the party can put together a coalition.  The President also attends various state ceremonies and has certain powers to pardon convicted criminals.

Former Israeli President Moshe Katzav was convicted of sexual assault and is now serving time in prison.  His successor, the current incumbent President Shimon Peres, has seemingly restored dignity to the office and has been a very popular president.  A recent poll of Israelis indicated that more than 63% felt that Peres has done a good job.  Many would probably prefer that he continue to serve in the role.  However, as indefatigable as the 90 year old Peres might be, he is limited to one term by Israel's "Basic Law." 

Peres has been a tireless promoter of peace and of Israeli goodwill worldwide.  He has met with leaders across the world and has sought to build bridges and create mutual understanding.  Tonight, President Peres will be in the Vatican along with the Pope and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.  The three will be participating in a multi-faith prayer ceremony for peace - with prayers in English, Hebrew, Arabic and Italian.  The prayers will include Jewish, Christian and Muslim prayers, focusing on peace.  While no one expects that these prayers will have any immediate political impact, the symbolism on Peres' part, as one of his last big gestures as the Israeli President, demonstrates his desire for peace and his hope that his participation will be seen as a representation of the yearning of the Israeli people for a peaceful solution to the problems of the Middle East.

Whomever is elected on Tuesday as Peres' successor will have big boots to fill.  Meanwhile, in light of the most recent withdrawal from the race of Ben-Eliezer, some Knesset members, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, are reportedly making efforts to delay the vote by a week or two.  Perhaps the thinking is that this would given them more time to try to find other potential candidates - or to decide who they should support from the remaining field.   It is hard to see how a two week delay would change very much in this race - though perhaps further scandals will emerge and the field of candidates will be narrowed even further. 

Meanwhile, Sivan Shalom, who is no longer a presidential candidate, was a strong advocate of making Sundays a day off in Israel.  His push for a five day week seems to have lost some steam recently and Israelis continue to enjoy a six-day work week (even though many Israelis do not work on Fridays).  Our kids continue to "enjoy" a six day school week.  I note this simply to point out that although next Sunday is Father's Day in Canada and the United States, there is no such holiday in Israel.  On the third Sunday in June, the kids will be in school just as they are on any other Sunday.  Those who are serving in the army will be at their bases as they would be on any other Sunday. 

How does this all tie in to the Israeli presidential elections?  It probably doesn't.  But here's hoping that whichever candidate is elected as Israel's next President will serve the State with dignity and honour and continue along the path of outgoing President Shimon Peres in spreading Israeli goodwill throughout the world.



Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Shavuot 2014 - the Rolling Stones, the Heat Wave and Reform Conversions in Israel

The Jewish festival of Shavuot has drawn to a close in Israel.  The holiday is celebrated for one day in Israel though it is celebrated for two days outside of the Jewish state in Orthodox and Conservative communities.
Across the country, many Israelis joined evening study sessions - "tikkuns," of all different types.  Some were more traditional, focusing on the study of the Torah and accompanying commentaries.  Other study sessions featured discussions and lectures on current political events, issues facing Israel and contentious issues facing the Jewish people.  In recent years, the number of Israelis participating in tikkuns has dramatically increased, even though many of these events are not religious in nature.

Many Israelis also enjoyed the custom of eating dairy on the holiday of Shavuot - cheese blintzes (known as blintches in Israel) are a particularly popular food item.  Cheese cake and other cheese dishes are also ubiquitous.

Israelis woke up this morning to an extreme heat wave.  Record temperatures of 44C in Beersheba (for this date) and 41C in K'far Saba (where are our shul is located) were reached.  Fortunately our shul air conditioning seemed to be working  This meant that I could read the fourth aliyah (the recitation of the 10 commandments) without sweating too much...

The big event in Israel this apres-Shavuot evening was the Rolling Stones concert in Park Yarkon in Tel-Aviv.  Attendance for the concert was estimated at 44,000, with ticket prices ranging from 700 to 1800 N.I.S. ($225 to $575, approximately).  It was the first ever Rolling Stones concert in Israel.  The Stones went ahead with the concert as planned despite a great deal of pressure from the anti-Israel BDS movement, which called on the Stones to boycott Israel.  The Stones rejected calls from vocal anti-Israel activists including members of Pink Floyd and went ahead with the concert and their mini-tour of Israel, much to the delight of many Israelis. Band members were seen at different historic sites in Israel earlier today including Caesaria and the Old City of Jerusalem.

Kol Hakavod to Mick Jagger and the Stones for performing in Israel.  Having seen them a number of years ago, I was not interested in laying out that kind of money for a relatively short (15 to 17 song set), general admission concert with 44,000 of my best pals.  But it certainly was a "happening" in Israel and that is great for those who attended.

Finally, on an issue that is somewhat related to the holiday of Shavuot, I thought it would be interesting to mention that, earlier this week, the Israeli High Court began hearing a case involving the issue of whether or not the State of Israel should recognize Reform (and Conservative) conversions in Israel.  The case involves a Colombian born man who married an Israeli and underwent a Reform conversion to Judaism in Israel.  Under current Israeli law, non-Orthodox conversions that are performed outside of Israel are recognized for purposes of the Law of Return, even for Israeli residents who leave the country to convert.  However, non-Orthodox conversions performed in Israel have not been recognized.

The issue has generated a great deal of controversy in Israel, which continues to grant a monopoly to Orthodox Jewish institutions over a whole range of personal status issues in Israel including marriages, burials, conversions and divorces.  For example, Israelis looking to marry in Israel are forced to have their weddings officiated by Orthodox rabbis if they wish to have their marriages recognized under Israeli law.  Many Israelis choose to leave Israel and marry elsewhere rather than agree to this state-enforced monopoly.

While there had been some hope among many Israelis that Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and his party would succeed in changing some of these laws and introducing alternatives for Israelis, progress has been slow on this issue.  The issue is particularly relevant on the holiday of Shavuot since we read the Megillah of Ruth, the story of Ruth a convert to Judaism.  Many commentators have pointed out that it was far easier for Ruth to join the Jewish people than it has become for someone to convert to Judaism under current Israeli law.
Nevertheless, there are still many prominent, secular Israeli commentators and broadcasters who seem willing to continue the current status quo.  Often, it is a case of "the shul that I don't go to should be an Orthodox one....if I were ever to attend..."

So how does this all tie together?  I am certainly not making any suggestion that Mick Jagger or Keith Richards will attempt a Reform conversion to Judaism while in Israel (highly doubtful) nor do I have any idea whether or not they will manage to sample some cheese blintzes in honour of the holiday of Shavuot.  I do know that they will experience some stifling Israeli heat even though their limos, hotel rooms and private jets are well air conditioned - and the concert stage features giant air conditioners to keep them singing "start me up" without passing out.  That's about the best I can do in terms of tying together a few different Shavuot related notes.

Chag Sameach to all.







Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Israelis Rejoice - Tel-Aviv's Maccabi Electra Wins European Basketball Championship

Maccabi Tel-Aviv Wins European Basketball Championship
The big news in Israel this week is unquestionably basketball.  Tel-Aviv's Maccabi Electra won the European Basketball Championship for the sixth time in its history on Sunday night, May 18, 2014, defeating Real Madrid in overtime 98-86.  Maccabi has played in the European Championship 15 times since 1958 and has been the dominant team in Israeli basketball for much of its history.

For a small country like Israel, this type of sports accomplishment is simply huge.  By some estimates, close to 10,000 Israelis travelled to Milan, Italy to attend the game.  Haaretz reports that approximately one third of Israelis actually watched the game, including my family members, as well as Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Peres.  (Not in the same location...)

Jubilant Israeli fans celebrated at Rabin square in Tel-Aviv and reporters crowded the Tel-Aviv airport awaiting the return home of the victorious team.  The Maccabi basketball team, like many of the European basketball clubs, features several American players.  Maccabi has seven American players on its roster who played at U.S. colleges including Tyrese Rice, Ricky Hickman and Devin Smith, all of whom featured prominently in the Maccabi win.  There are also a number of Israeli born players on the roster, including Ben Altit, Yogev Ohayun and Guy Pnini.

Basketball is quite popular in Israel, though probably second fiddle to soccer (football).  Nevertheless, a testament to the success of Israeli basketball is the fact that two Israeli basketball players currently play in the NBA.  The first Israeli to make the NBA, Omri Casspi, plays on the Houston Rockets.  He spent a few years of his early career in a starring role on Maccabi Tel-Aviv.  The other Israeli NBA player is Gal Mekel, who currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks.

Many Toronto basketball fans are well aware of the Maccabi basketball team.  Retired NBA star Anthony Parker played several seasons for Maccabi Tel-Aviv before joining the Toronto Raptors.  While with Maccabi, Parker was instrumental in helping the team rack up championship victories.  He joined the Toronto Raptors in 2006 and helped the team to its first playoff berth and first division title.  In fact, Maccabi beat the Raptors in an exhibition match at the Air Canada Centre on October 16, 2005, 105-103.  The Raptors took revenge a year later, beating Maccabi 118-84 on October 19, 2006.  The Maccabi 2005 victory was reportedly the first time that a European basketball team beat an NBA team in North American.

Sadly, amid all of the hoopla, the Maccabi victory was not without its detractors.  Israeli news service Haaretz reported that more than 18,000 offensive, anti-Semitic tweets were posted on Twitter, mostly in the Spanish language, following the victory by the Israeli team.  The content was obscene and outrageous and I am not about to dignify these tweets by publicizing the words used.   This type of racist deluge is similar to the flood of obscene tweets that PK Subban, a Montreal Canadiens' hockey player faced a couple of weeks ago after the Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins in an NHL playoff hockey game(In Subban's case, the tweeters attacked the colour of his skin rather than his religion). 

The barrage of anti-Semitic tweets apparently emanated, primarily from Spain.  But it may have been indicative of a broader problem of widespread European anti-Semitism.  These tweets came only a week or so after the ADL published its global anti-Semitism survey, in which Greece captured the ignominious title of "most anti-Semitic country in Europe" with some 69% of Greeks described as espousing anti-Semitic views.  Moving to another part of Europe, the Jerusalem Post, this week, reported that some 75% of French Jews are considering leaving France, with a significant number citing concerns about anti-Semitism as a key factor. There have been numerous reports of anti-Semitic incidents in Ukraine as current events have progressed in that country.  So taking everything into account, it is perhaps unsurprising that an Israeli basketball team has elicited an anti-Semitic response from some Europeans.  Hopefully these are only the actions of a small minority.

Overall, this Maccabi victory injected a huge dose of pride into Israeli society, which is always happy to celebrate national accomplishments.  Now if only the Israeli national soccer team could return to the World Cup, the country would really celebrate.  As it stands, Israel was only able to qualify for the World Cup of Football in 1969.  It has faced an enormous qualifying battle since Israel is forced to compete against the best European teams rather than its neighbours.  (For my April Fool's column about this issue, click here)

As this year's World Cup gets underway in June, 2014, much of Israeli society is likely to grind to a standstill during some of the key matches, particularly the later rounds of the playoffs.  One could only imagine what would happen if Israel were to make it to the later rounds of the World Cup.  Hopefully one day we'll find out.  For now, Israelis will have to revel in sports accomplishments on the court floor rather than the football pitch. 

Congratulations to Maccabi - or, as they say in Israel, "Kol HaKavod!"



  
  

  













Sunday, May 4, 2014

Yom Hazikaron (Israeli Remembrance Day) - Through Music

It is one of the most difficult weeks in Israel.  Two of the most significant days of the year are commemorated within a week of each other.  Last Monday was "Yom Hashoah v'Hagevurah" - Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day.  The link is to my blog entry from 2012.

Tonight marks the start of Yom Hazikaron in Israel - Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers and victims of terror.    I have provided a link to one of my previous blogs about this emotional day.

But I wanted to focus this time on a different aspect of this sombre day - the use of music.  Much of the most beautiful Israeli music has been written about loss, about war and about those who have fallen.  On Yom Hazikaron, the radio and TV stations play special Yom Hazikaron music all day.  At commemorative ceremonies, many different singers perform these songs throughout the country.  One can't help but weep while listening to so many of these songs, often written by those who have suffered the loss of a family member, close friend or fellow soldier.

In this youtube collection of Yom Hazikaron songs, Yaniv Siso has put together a collection of 99 songs.  He has dedicated the collection to his brother Netanel, who fell at the age of 23 while serving in the Israeli Defence Forces.

 



There are so many songs that it would be difficult to choose the most recommended.  But I have always found this song to be incredibly powerful - it is called "Ma Avorech" (link includes lyrics and tranlation)

("

This next piece is a powerful song by Boaz Sharabi - "kshe Tavo" - "when you come back," which is dedicated to Israeli Air Force pilot Ron Arad who went missing in 1986. 



And finally, I thought it would be worthwile this song "Tzair L'Netzach," performed by Rami Kleinstein:



These are just a few examples of the powerful music that Israelis might hear on Yom Hazikaron.  It is really a unique aspect of the commemoration of such a solemn holiday.  Certainly, I cannnot think of anything comparable in Canada or the United States.  This music stirs the hearts and souls of Israelis everywhere as they remember those who have fallen - and as they sing and hope for an end to the wars and strife that have plagued Israel and the Middle East.