Tel Aviv

August 27, 2008 at 2:19 pm | In Old Friends, Tel Aviv | Leave a Comment

When I first arrived in Israel in 1968, I enrolled in a program at Tel Aviv University and stayed there only for a month or two before dropping out.  My dorm roommate was Jonathan Katz, a nice Jewish boy from Long Island.  Jon met an Israeli woman a few years older than him named Tsvia Gottesdiner who worked at a downtown shop selling posters and records and who soon became his girlfriend.  When Jon finished his year abroad in Israel and returned to college in the US, Tsvia and I become close friends.  First, while I attended an ulpan at Kibbutz Ein Shemer (near Hadera), I would take a bus to Tel Aviv to visit her and stay at her roof-top apartment on Hamelech George St.  Tsvia was and is politically very much to the left (even by Israeli standards) and a member of the Israeli communist party.  Her political activism and a very early marriage kept her from military service.  She would take me to parties with her hip, leftist friends and I made some great connections through her.  Then when I moved to Kibbutz Gezer, Tsvia would come to the kibbutz hear Ramle to spend Shabbats.  While at Gezer, I met Liza, whom I eventually married.  We moved to Jerusalem, where I worked as a clerk then manager in the main branch of Bank Leumi.  I pretty much lost contact with Tsvia by then.  And I certainly didn’t keep up contact with Jon Katz.

However, about fifteen years ago while swimming at an outdoor pool in Newton, a man about my age recognized me from his past.  Jon had since gotten a doctorate at Brandeis, married, and was settled in Newton.  We renewed our friendship.  When I knew I was going to be spending time in Israel, I asked Jon to get me Tsvia’s contact information.  She has marrried and was still living in Tel Aviv.  During my first week here, I called her (quite a surprise to her!) and arranged to meet her in Tel Aviv yesterday.

Getting from my home in Mercaz HaCarmel to Tel Aviv couldn’t be easier.  I drove down the mountain to the new Hof HaCarmel bus and train station, parked the car in the lot, and bought a round trip rail ticket to Tel Aviv (about $13).  The train is modern, air conditioned, and sleek.  The trip to Tel Aviv along with a lot of commuters and soldiers (traveling for free) took less than one hour.  Since I arrived very early, I decided to walk (and walk and walk).  I headed down Kaplan St. to the center of the city.  At Diezengoff I turned left down Hamelech George, part of the oldest section of this huge, cosmopolitan city.  To me it looked very much the same as it did 35 years ago.  At the end of Hamelech George is the Carmel Market.  Although once devoted to fruits and vegetables, this crowded, bustling market now also sells everything from foods to clothes to arts and crafts.  Some of the stalls are even staffed by Africans (generally either Ethiopian Israelis or Sudanese refugees allowed to enter Israel).  I then headed up Allenby to Ben Gurion to Diezengoff (once the most trendy street in the city but now a bit worn) to meet Tsvia as she finished her haircut on upper Diezengoff. 

Other than looking a bit older, Tsvia hadn’t changed a bit!  It was great to see her and to hear about her life.  She had married Merek, a new immigrant (family originally Polish/German who had fled to China during WWII) who is a  French trained gynecologist and now a high-level manager of a multi-hospital department.  They have three daughters, two married, and two grandchildren.  Despite living at the top of Israeli economic and social levels, she and her husband maintain their political leanings and are active in many initiatives, including illegal immigration, bedouin and Palestinian rights, etc. 

She took me to a new section of the city along the northern waterfront that is being developed with high-end restaurants and coffee shops, boutiques, and a beautiful boardwalk that will eventually extent all the way to Herzliya.  We had lunch at a fancy place serving traditional Arabic food with a flair (and price tag to match).  We sat for several hours eating slowly, catching up on our lives, discussing politics (local and global), and my getting her take on today’s Israel.  It was great.  We then wandered some more, bought some delicious sorbet (it seems like everyone in Israel enjoys sitting outdoors eating, drinking coffee, and talking), and then I headed back to the train station to catch the express train back to Haifa. 

Despite it being what I have since found out was the hottest day of the year and the fact that I walked many miles in that heat, I had a delightful, moving, stimulating day, doing something I really hoped would happen during this sabbatical – renewing friendships and learning intimately about life here.

Alonei Abba

August 23, 2008 at 2:30 pm | In Old Friends | Leave a Comment

For about three years (1973-1976) we lived in a small Moshav Shitufi (collective/private agricultural village) in the Galil.  Today I drove from Haifa to Alonei Abba to see if I could find anyone remaining from the period I lived there.  It’s about a 30 minute drive from Haifa, first weaving down from the top of Carmel to sea level, then heading east towards Nazareth.  As I entered the highway leaving Haifa, nothing seemed familiar to me.  However as I climbed the hill to Kiriat Tivon and then down into the valley, it did start looking like I remember it.  Of course, at the turn-off onto the road up to the village, the little shopping mall with the MacDonald’s (all run by Kibbutz Alonim) was new. 

After about five kilometers I turned right into the village.  I parked next to the hundred and fifty year old deserted Templar church in the center of the village.  Alonei Abba was originally settled by Romanian Jewish immigrants in 1948, when they expelled a group of German Christians (templars) who had sympathized with the Nazis during WWII.  Several of the original buildings were either used as houses or left to deteriorate.  The church is one of the latter.  It was a very hot Shabbat morning and the village was very quiet.  I didn’t see anyone around, so I just wandered the few streets recognizing some of the old houses and noticing that several new, quite fancy, houses had been built or were under construction.  I even walked down the road to the refet (dairy) where I spent many very early mornings milking cows.  It was much larger than it was in the 1970’s, but otherwise largely unchanged.  I finally asked a woman if anyone remained from the era that I was there.  She mentioned a few names, most of which I recognized.  However most of these folk weren’t there that day.  Hannah Rosner (now Hannah Levav), an artist and sculptor, had just left for India (not sure whether it was for three months or a year).  Many, of course, had passed away.  The woman told me that Feivel and Joyce  Falk, Americans from Baltimore, were still on the village. However their oldest daughter had recently died in an auto accident and they had become quite reclusive since then.  I would guess they are in their late 70’s by now.  I went and knocked on their door, but no answer. 

I wandered further and finally encountered a guy about my age named Eli who had lived there for about fifty years.  He vaguely remembered me and I vaguely remembered him.  He was, I suspect as usual, was in a very chatty mood.   As we stood in his yard (with a run-down Appalachian look) he expounded in detail on who died, who moved away, who had fights with others, how the community had deteriorated and turned into a commuter community for people working outside.  Apparently in the early 1990’s there was a bit of a revolution in the community and they had transformed from a collective settlement to a more capitalistic model.  Residents were given three choices.  They could  work in the village (mixed agriculture and light industry) and receive a stipend depending on family size.  They could work outside the village, contribute their entire salary to the community and receive a similar stipend.  Or they could work outside, keep their salary, and pay a resident fee to live in the village.  The process of switching to this model caused a major split in the community and most people opted for option #3.  Eli himself originally worked in the village but now works as a construction supervisor for a private company.  He still lives in one of the expropriated templar buidings that he has lived in since he first immigrated.  Eli also expounded on his take on all the problems with Israel (I’ll save those for another conversation) and was basically a pretty cynical man. 

I was left with a lot of thoughts and emotions as I drove back to Haifa.  I was glad that I had revisited an important part of my past.  I was also really disappointed that the very close community and friends I had there were now dispersed and I most likely won’t be able to track them down very easily.

A stop at my new favorite Arab restaurant for lunch did much to lift my mood.

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Settling In

August 22, 2008 at 1:48 pm | In Haifa | Leave a Comment

Israel has always been a place of huge contrasts – old and new, modern and ancient, hip and traditional, secular and spiritual.  That will never change.  As I finish my first week in Haifa, I am struck by these contrasts as I get my first impressions of what has changed since I left in 1976 and what has not. 

The changes are certainly significant.  Superficially I am struck by the Western influences that abound.  There are now shopping malls that compare with those in the US.  Everyone is carrying at least one cell phone and it appears that everyone is constantly using one, while walking, while sitting at a cafe or restaurant, while driving.  I’m also struck by some of the demographic changes that have taken place over the past thirty years.  It’s as if Russian is now competing with Arabic and English as the second language here.  Automated customer service calls give choices in Hebrew (press 1) or Russian (press 2).  I’m generally opting for Hebrew and getting by fine.  Most of the shops in the bustling Hadar commercial district of Haifa are run by Russians and signage reflects this.  And I have done a couple of double-takes as I see African faces in uniform and at the university, reflecting the successful absorption of the Ethiopian Jewish community two decades ago.

However, much of what I remember and love about this country and its people has not changed.  The mix of people, the bustle of the aliveness of this place remain.  The open-air markets look the same to me, both Arab and Jewish.  Egged buses and shared taxis (sherot) remain the same - efficient, affordable, and reliable.  The beauracracy hasn’t seemed to change, at least from my preliminary dealings with the phone and gas companies.  I’m sure I’ll get to experience plenty more of that!  The food is still awesome.  I took the Carmelite (underground light rail system) down to the port area yesterday and ate some amazing humus and fool (a bean stew) at a little Arab hole-in-the-wall restaurant that put a smile on my face and satisfied my need for food for the rest of the day.  Cheap, healthy, and charming.  And since today is Friday, one feels the early afternoon bustle as people do their last-minute shopping (including obligatory flower bouquets) in anticipation of Shabbat.  Shabbat Shaloms abound!

Obviously I haven’t been here long enough (or traveled outside of Haifa yet) to get any real sense of the changes - culturally, politically, socially.  Within the next few months I am sure that will take care of itself.

I’ve already made contact with my colleagues at the University of Haifa.  Opportunities for research collaboration, in addition to my contracted teaching, seem to be plentiful.  And on top of that, the marine science department at the university is seeking volunteers for an underwater archeological project (a recently discovered Byzantine-era wreck nearby).  So I’ll probably help out in October and do some scientific diving. 

I’ve been invited to Rani Hoitash’s parents’ home for dinner tonight.  Tomorrow I am planning to drive to Alonei Abba, a small moshav where I lived for a few of years in the early 1970’s.  I assume someone there will remember me.  Next week I may go to Jerusalem for a couple of days.  It is much too hot to go to Tel Aviv in August, but Jerusalem typically is a little cooler.  I’ll intersperse my wanderings with a very nice daily routine in my home in Mercaz HaCarmel.  I am enjoying sitting in my garden with Turkish coffee and yogurt in the morning, while checking e-mail, reading the US newspapers on-line, and listening to NPR.  Then I either swim laps at the local pool or attend a yoga class around the corner.  Afternoons are perfect for writing and a bit of exploring.  Evenings are for reading and even watching a little TV (many more channels than I remember!).  I don’t start teaching for a while.

Shabbat Shalom from Haifa.

Arrival

August 18, 2008 at 5:10 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

As soon as I passed through the special security set up at the Frankfurt airport for passengers traveling to Tel Aviv and entered the secure waiting room, I felt like I had come home.  I was surrounded by a great cross-section of Israelis – orthodox men in one corner putting on talitiim and tifilin for morning prayers, the entire Israeli national women’s basketball team returning from a match in Germany, a Russian immigrant drinking from his latest duty-free bottle of liquor (at 9 AM!), and the usual assortment of mixing-pot Israelis returning from “behutz learetz” (outside of Israel). 

On the plane to Isreal I sat next to a very nice couple from Nehariya who helped me through immigration and to the new train station next to the airport.  Needless to say I have a standing invitation to visit them!  And, wow, entering the airport I was immediately struck by what everyone has been telling me – Israel has changed since the last time I was there (1976!).  From the ultra-modern airport to the express train through Tel Aviv and on to Haifa (less than one hour), I could hardly recognize anything. 

Ron, Rachel, and their son Natan welcomed me like family and despite a miriad of random instructions and explanations of idiosycracies of their house, frequently interrupted by equally random visits by friends and neighbors wishing them a good trip and promising to look after me, I have been trying to stay out of their way as they do their last-minute packing and preparations for their departure to Boston tonight.

So I took a couple of long walks around the neighborhood of Mercaz HaCarmel and here is a list of random observations:

  • I ate what was easily the best felafel sandwich that I’ve had in over 30 years!
  • It’s really hot here!
  • I am hearing a lot more Russian accents than I did before.
  • I can get soy milk in the local supermarket.
  • The super-pharmacy carries all the vitimins and supplements I’ll need to eventually replace.
  • The neighborhood ice cream stand has five flavors of frozen yogurt and about 15 flavors of sorbet.  The chocolate sorbet is better than JP Licks.
  • The bread is as good as I remembered.
  • The house I’m staying in is large, airy, conducive to contemplation and writing.  I’m going to be very content here.
  • Sprint’s promise that my Blackberry would accept an Israeli SIM card was not quite accurate.  After several phone calls, I found a local carrier that promises to change the settings and set everything up for me.  That’s my adventure for tomorrow.
  • There is a very nice yoga center around the corner and I’ll continue my practice several times a week.
  • There is an olympic-size swimming pool within walking distance and I’ve already signed up for a six-month membership.
  • I’ve already managed to find and purchase dried lentils, black beans, red beans, and brown rice at a local Arab shop (which has another shop with awesome baklava and halva right next door!).

And I’ve only been here for 24 hours!

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