Quiet times and Arab violence

B"H

Politics, worldly affairs, business and all kinds of stress ... these are issues Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have to deal with but not northern Israel. Everything goes slower in the northern regions and people have their own issues and problems. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv are far away. There are times when they seem to be as far away as another planet. 

However, the Galilee cannot escape all worldly affairs. Plenty of Palestinians have settled in the area and a bit more than a year ago, Zfat was facing a severe problem: The local small university has a high amount of Arab students and it was them causing trouble downtown. Yelling at Jews and driving the nearby Chabad Yeshiva nuts with loud music on Shabbat. Furthermore, many young Arabs run after Jewish girls and try getting them into an intermarriage. Those Arabs even succeed in convincing haredi girls marrying them. This is a huge problem all over Israel. 

Jewish teenage girls from poor families like the expensive gifts Arab boys make them. The girls tell themselves that this particular Arab guy running after her is nice and not a suicide bomber. He must be nice when he is giving her presents and taking her out to expensive restaurants. Once the girls run away with the Arab boyfriend, their families kick them out. Thus the girls end up in the nearby Arab villages and then hell begins. The formerly nice boyfriend turns out to be a molester beating his Jewish wife. 

Not every Arab marrying a Jew girl ends up beating her but there are plenty of stories going around. For instance, Nazareth, a town divided between Arabs and Jews, has been facing an extremely high amount of intermarriage between Jews and Muslims. It is mostly Arab guys marrying Jewish women and not vice versa. 

The second problem the Galilee is facing is the high amount of unemployed inhabitants. There is no real infrastructure and factories or other businesses like to settle at the coast and not in Tiberias, Zfat or Beit Shean. If enterpreneurs decide opening a company in the north, then it will be mainly Haifa but not the Upper Galilee. 

Tiberias and Zfat live from tourism. The latter rather from Jewish tourists who come for a visit searching for the remains of the medieval Kabbalists and any kind of spirituality. There isn't too much to do for Gentiles except for walking through the alleyways of the Old City, enjoying the great view and passing the art galleries. 

Nevertheless, Zfat is worth a visit and if you are in Tiberias and have some time, take the VEOLIA bus no. 450 from the Central Bus Station. Zfat is about 30km far away on a mountain top overlooking the Kinneret. The ride is inexpensive (15,50 Shekels one way / approx. 3,5 $). Get off at the final stop - the Central Bus Station in Zfat and you are already in the Old City. 

The yellow press doesn't mention it: The MADONNA - House in Zfat. The "Kabbalah - Lady" wanted to build her own villa in Zfat. Madonna together with the Kabbalah Center. The Zfat inhabitants went wild and Madonna gave up. Until today you can see the former construction site but the house has never been finished.  

Downtown Zfat

Tourismus & Art = The two most important industries in Zfat.

There is definitely no lack of art galleries in town.

Photos: Miriam Woelke

Where to eat at the Machane Yehudah Market ?

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One of the best places to eat when you are walking around at Jerusalem's Machane Yehudah Market is the Fish & Chips place in one of the smaller alleyways, right across "Pasta Basta". The "Fish & Chips" is a small place run by a couple of young Sephardi guys. The place has a Hechsher from the "Rabbanut Yerushalaim" (Kasher Le'Mehadrin) and you can either order take - away or sit on one the chairs nearby. 

Personally I recommend ordering the 32 Shekel meal (approx. 9 Dollar) which is chips and fish sticks. Very fresh and great taste. All kinds of dips are included.

Photo: Miriam Woelke

Photos from NEVE ZEDEK / Tel Aviv

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Here are some further photos from Tel Aviv's famous romantic - looking neighbourhood NEVE ZEDEK. One cannot visit the city without seeing this cozy neighbourhood. You don't have to go into the rather expensive restaurants but just enjoy a nice walk. By the way, you will also see quite a few old Synagogues, as Neve Zedek used to be one of the oldest neighbourhoods. Only later, chassidic Rabbis moved to Bnei Brak. 

My advice: Don't come in a tour group and if you do, choose a guide who lives in Tel Aviv !!! Don't take a guide who, himself, is a tourist in our city, as he has no clue about all the stories going on around the subject. 

The best is to pick up a free - of - charge Neve Zedek map from the tourist office and go on your own little tour. This way, you discover much more and may have time to meet some of the residents. This is much more interesting and adventurous than an expensive tour guide dragging you all along within in hour or so.

Copyright / Photos: Miriam Woelke

A piece of the true Tel Aviv, Part 1

B”H 

Tel Aviv can be easily divided: Inhabitants of the northern part have money, inhabitants of the southern part don't have too much money. Everyone else finds himself somewhere in the middle part. 

Making the same determination for Jerusalem turns out to be a little harder. Of course there are wealthy people, living in neighbourhoods like Rehavia or the German Colony but you alos find ordinary people in those areas of town. In Tel Aviv, on the other hand, the wealthy areas are pretty obvious. Just look around Arlozorov Street let alone Ramat Aviv. You only need a short glimpse through the windows in order to discover expensive and fance televion screens. 

I have never been interested in any posh living standards but live in the center of Tel Aviv. Actually I had been thinking of moving back to Jerusalem but seem to have forgotten that I like living in a big city. A city where everyone has his freedom and is not being judged by a religious or secular appearance.

Wherever I move, I prefer living with the working class and artists. In a way, Tel Aviv has a bit of a Berlin character. However, within the past years, the city has undergone severe changes. Skyscrapers (Israelis prefer to call them "Towers") have been built. Luxury apartments and offices. Thousands of Israelis from all over the country keep on moving into the city at the coast, as the job market is much better than almost anywhere else. 

Thus, Tel Aviv has changed a lot and some really old and original neighbourhoods have either lost their character and totally disappeared. One example for the lost character is the Yemenite Quarter next to the Carmel Market. Once a poor neighbourhood for new immigrants from Yemen and a red light district, has turnt into a posh area. There aren't too many of the earlier Yemenites left. First the students discovered the neighbourhood and then the wealthy moved in. The same, by the way, has been taking place in Jerusalem's Nachlaot neighbourhood near the Machane Yehudah Market.

Someone had told me that there is still a true original part of Tel Aviv where you can find those inhabitants sitting with their open shirts outside their stores and playing Sheshbesh (Backgammon). Levinsky Street with its Central Bus Station as well as the surrounding streets such as Shomron Street, Finn (Pinn) Street or Bnei Brak Street are the trash cans of the city. Prostitution, illegale Africans and Philippinas working in Israel. A crime ghetto where you shouldn't walk around alone after midnight. 

Nevertheless, the Levinsky also has a very different face and you can find it when you walk down to HaAliyah Street, cross the traffic light and continue straight into the second part of Levinsky. A widely unknown part right at the border to the popular student and artist neighbourhood Florentin. This second part of the Levinsky offers you Shwarma for 15 Shekels (approx. 4 Dollar) only. Almost everywhere else in town you pay at least 25 - 27 Shekels (approx. 7 - 8 Dollar). 

As soon as I enter the second part of the Levinsky and its surrounding streets, I feel at home. I simply fell in love with that part where cafes are still affordable and the cost of living is much lower than in other neighbourhoods. Also the people are unique have still show signs of a real neighbourhood. Mainly Sephardic Jews with the simple behaviour and living standards in contrast to any posh or artificial hood behaviour. The entire area is located in a very central position: Almost at Allenby Street with the border to Florentin and the nearby Neve Zedek. Downtown Tel Aviv – South. Dirt, original neighbourhood with a homelike atmosphere. 

 Photos: Miriam Woelke

Photos from Herzliya

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I have been to Herzliya (north of Tel Aviv) the day before yesterday because I was running some interviews with elderly people about a former Tiberias celebrity I am writing a book on. Walking through Herzliya and searching for the old people's home I made the following photos which have nothing to do with frum Judaism but are nice to look at:

Train station to Tel Aviv and Netanya.

 

Herzliya was named after "Theodor Herzl" and when you look closely, you can see his stature on the monument in the background.

Today, Herzliya is known for its wealthy inhabitants. Not everyone in town is rich but a lot of people are.One thing for sure: It is not cheap to live there. If it was, I would consider moving there.

Photos: Miriam Woelke

Photos from Kiryat Shmona

The Theatre

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Two weeks ago I went on a trip to the northern Israeli town KIRYAT SHMONA. Only a few kilometers separate Kiryat Shmona from the border to Lebanon and the town has become well - known due to the Hizbollah rocket attacks.


Many Israelis may consider Kiryat Shmona as a village and boring but two weeks ago, I got to know it from a very different side. Shopping malls, a nice market, cultural places, industrial areas and malls again. I would rather call Kiryat Shmona the "Tel Aviv of the North".

The Mall 

The local market.

One of the bomb shelters.

Whenever the Lebanese terror group Hizbollah is in a freaky mood, Katyusha rockets are falling on Kiryat Shmona.





Photos & Copyright: Miriam Woelke

Trip to Kiryat Shmona

B"H

I have only been once to KIRYAT SHMONAH and then I neither had time to enjoy the landscape nor did I come for having such a great time.

Since I moved to the north, I am still struggeling with organizing everything at once but, at the same time, I feel the urge to get to know my new environment. Get to know new places and make new friends. You may also call it networking.  

Today I am going on a short trip to Kiryat Shmona; a small town near the border to Lebanon. My original plan was taking another bus from Kiryat Shmona and going to Metulla (at the border to Lebanon) but I am not sure if the bus connections work that well.

Those of you now thinking "Kiryat Shmonah", I have heard that name before, are right. The town has been in the news for many years because the Lebanese terror organization Hizbollah shot its Katyusha rockets right into Kiryat Shmona. 

The Shabbat, however, I am going to spend in Zfat (Safed). More or less religious and with friends.

How the "poor" Palestinians live in Israel - Part 2

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Do those posh buildings belong to rich Israeli Jews?

No, those houses are part of small Palestinian towns near Umm al Fachem (norther Israel).

See further photos HERE !

Photos: Miriam Woelke

Touring Tel Aviv

Levinsky Street in South Tel Aviv.

One of those areas you shouldn't walk around at night.

B"H

A colleague at work suggested that I should organize tours through Tel Aviv - South and show people who are interested what is really going on regarding drugs, prostitution and foreign workers.

I would be willing to do this to whoever is interested in having a tour for at least an hour. Charge: 35 Shekels.
Includes: Tour around the Central Bus Station, Levinsky Park, HaShomron Street, alleyways and Yad Charutzim.

I made this offer on one of my German blogs and already have inquiries if I do other parts of Tel Aviv as well. :-))) The answer is that it very much depends on my time.

Abu Gosh

Abu Gosh - An Arab village near Jerusalem.

When all Arabs were as peaceful as the Arab inhabitants of Abu Gosh, we would have a great peace in the Middle East. The people of Abu Gosh don't run and complain to the world but work and live their ordinary lives.  

For those readers who don't care about keeping kosher: The village is famous for its Humus.

Photo: Miriam Woelke

Pessach Trips

Netanya

B"H

So, how is Pessach ?

Busy and I have done quite a few trips so far. Feeling like a human being without being at the bakery all the time. However, the bakery has contacted me on Facebook and there is just no escape.:-)

I went to the Chabad (Meshichistim) Seder (in Ramat Aviv) but it was extremely nice. The next day, the first holiday, I spent at the beach in Tel Aviv. Yesterday I had my cultural tour through the "Eretz Israel Museum" as well as through the nearby "Diaspora Museum - Beit HaTefuzot", both in Ramat Aviv.

I wouldn't recommend the "Eretz Israel Museum" too much but what I liked was the temporary exhibition about the "suffering" or "hard times" of Tel Aviv. Arab pogroms and suicide bombers throughout the 20th century.

Almost next to the "Eretz Israel Museum" is the "Palmach Museum" but I am not too much a Haganah - Palmach type but rather more with "Lechi", "Etzel" or the "Irgun". This is why I skipped the Palmach and went to the "Diaspora Museum" where it was packed with Bnei Brak Haredim.

The most amazing exhibition is the one showing the miniature Synagogues of former Eastern Europe such as the one of the Vilna Gaon or the Great Synagogue of Warsaw. Both buildings were destroyed by the Nazis.

Furthermore the museum exhibits Synagogue models of the Altneushul in Prague (from the Maharal) and the Rashi Synagogue in Germany. A very surprising custom I didn't know about was that Jews in the Caribbean used to built a sand floor into their Synagogues; representing the Israelites marching through the desert as well as the destruction of the Temple.

The "Diaspora Museum" is running various temporary exhibitions at the moment and I am going to write about the Israeli artists Mika Drimer and the Spanish diplomats in the Holocaust separately.

Today I went to the "Tel Aviv Art Museum" and I realized that there was too much art for me. I may be interested in writing but cannot paint or build installations. I do like art installations but drawings … I think that I don't have any imagination to figure out what Picasso or Rubens intend with their pictures. Rubens may be more logical than Picasso though. All those different kinds of paintings drove me nuts and I didn't feel like interpreting confused artist minds.

I decided to take the bus to Netanya and lay at the beach. As a matter of fact, there is more kosher food for Pessach in Netanya than in Tel Aviv. However, not at Mac Donald's at the Central Bus Station. They offered kosher food for Pessach and I walked in, ordered and ate a burger with chips. Later I found out that the place is kosher for Pessach but not kosher at all, as they serve meat and milk together. Meaning that I had a kosher burger for Pessach but I could have ordered a coffee with milk too. A kosher burger with milk.

Surprise, surprise !

Netanya is nice but a little boring. Nevertheless, I had a good time at the beach. Plenty of haredi families were around and the languages I heard was Russian, some English but mainly French. The entire square before the beach area seems to be French. French bistros and estate agents.

When I went back to Tel Aviv I felt like looking for a kosher for Pessach Aroma coffee and ended up inside the Azrieli Tower where is was completely packed. I didn't even get to the Aroma counter and thus didn't see if the branch was kasher le'Pessach.

The Swedish clothing chain H & M just opened its doors recently and Israelis still keep on storming in. H & M in Azrieli had a line up of 50 - 60 people. The store looks too posh and the private guards reminded me a bit of the SS. With their dark uniforms and their looks in their eyes. As if anyone was an enemy to shoot.

Tomorrow I am going back to Jerusalem for Shabbat. There, at least, I am getting a kosher Aroma coffee !

Mea Shearim early in the Morning

B"H

Pictures from Jerusalem's Ultra - Orthodoxen neighbourhood Mea Shearim. Travel guides always stress the importance of Mea Shearim among the haredi population in Jerusalem. The truth is that, during the past few years, haredi population spread all over town. Today we have many haredi neighbourhoods. Just look at Kiryat Belz, Kiryat Matterdorf, Kiryat Zanz, Sanhedria, Bar Ilan, Beit Israel, Ma'alot Dafna, Ramat Eshkol, Beit Vagan, Teile Ramots, and others.

All photos may be viewed http://www.bhol.co.il/news_read.asp?id=15342&cat_id=18  !

Tourists, no matter if Israelis or others, should avoid visiting the Mea Shearim market as well as the backyards. Mea Shearim inhabitants consider this as tresspassing their territory and if you go, you should definitely dress up very modestly and even wear haredi style. Women should avoid raising their voices and keep away from screaming around.

If you want to visit Mea Shearim as a tourist, do so during the week and walk along the main road called Mea Shearim Street.

Pictures from the Yahrzeit of the Baba Sali

B"H

This year's Yahrzeit of the Baba Sali, Rabbi Israel Abuchzeira, was commemorated on 10 January. According to the worldy calendar !

Here are some photos from the event in Netivot:

All pictures may be viewed HERE !

Further Links:


Photos from the Baba Sali grave


My Trip to Sderot and Netivot