Cover Story
May 2, 2008
60 Ways To LOVE Your Homeland
First, get on the plane, Jane ...
Maayan Jaffe
Staff Reporter
In less than one week, on May 8, Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people, will celebrate its 60th year as a modern state. Diamonds are the traditional anniversary gift for 60 years of marriage. In this article, we’ll look at the “diamonds” of Israel, the people, places and things that make Israel a jewel.
Dr. Rivkah Lambert Adler offered insight and sent an e-mail out to hundreds of members of the local aliyah group, that she started, to compile this. Professor Yoel Wachtel, senior lecturer of modern Hebrew at Georgetown University, and a Pikesville resident, recommended political leaders to include: Guy Har-Nir, Baltimore Zionist District shaliach and senior tour guide in Israel for more than a decade, noted places in Israel one should visit. So did professionals from the Jewish National Fund and from the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.
Claudine Davison, JCC assistant director of galleries, film festival and performances, proposed noteworthy artists. Folks from the Zionist-focused Suburban Orthodox gave ideas. Israel experts at the Israel Hasbara Committee in Jerusalem provided suggestions.
What follows are lists — totally subjective lists. One could replace any item with another; there are many more than 60 extraordinary nouns in/about Israel.
Here are some to ponder ...
10 Hot Israeli Artists
1 Oshri Cohen: Standing 6 feet 4 with black hair and emeraldgreen eyes, this 20-something actor had a leading role in “Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi” (2003) and in “Beaufort” (2007), which was nominated for Best Foreign Movie at the 2008 Academy Awards.
2 Gilad Goldschmidt: A director since 1995, Mr. Goldschmidt most recently put out the short film “A Green Chariot,” which won three awards and showed at dozens of film fests across the country.
3 Ivri Lider: This sexy 34-year-old is one of Israel’s most successful rock artists of this generation.
4 Mashina: This five-man pop rock band was formed by Yuval Banai, a member of Israel’s most famous entertainment family. With a twist of ska and some hard rock interludes, the band has enjoyed five gold albums.
5 Tal Mazliah: This fine artist has displayed her works inseven solo shows since 1997 and 22 group exhibitions since 1993. With diverse portraits using a lot of orange, green and other muted hues, she’s award-winning and unique.
6 The Moshav Band: Started on the Carlebach moshavnear Modi’in, the band has been rocking L.A. and the rest of the U.S. for a decade. Its next show will be May 4 at the Julia Bindeman Suburban Center in Potomac.
7 Ari Sandel: With a face reminiscent of a young RickyNelson, this Israeli-American’s musical comedy, “West Bank Story,” won 28 awards. The love story of a Palestinian fast food cashier and an Israeli soldier was Mr. Sandel’s way of calling for Mideast peace.
8 Dror Shaul: A native kibbutznik, Mr. Shaul made it far almost by a fluke. His most recent film, “Sweet Mud,” won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
9 Teapacks: Pronounced “Tipp-ex” in Israel, the band hasreleased 10 albums, six that went gold and two that went platinum. Teapacks represented Israel in the 2007 Eurovision song contest.
10 Guy Zagursky: Only 36, Mr. Zagursky’s three-dimensional art has made it into some of Israel’s most important galleries, including the Haifa Museum of Art and Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art.
10 Innovative Israeli Businesses
11 Alvarion Ltd.: It’s the world’s leading supplier of WiMax technology — a long-distance wireless system that is integral in mobile telephone technology. (Basically, WiMax is one of the big reasons you can read e-mail on your PDA.)
12 Comverse: It’s the world’s leading provider of software and systems enabling network-based messaging and content value-added services, converged billing and IP communications.
13 Elbit Imaging Limited: With a market cap estimate at over $1 billion, this Tel Aviv business engages in the initiation, construction, operation, management and sale of shopping and entertainment centers. (Of course, it also owns, operates, manages, and sells hotels, as well as leases real estate properties, and a few other things ...)
14 G. Willi-Food International: It’s Israel’s largest food importer, and a single-source supplier of the world’s most extensive range of quality kosher food products.
15 Ituran Location & Control Ltd.: Its products wereoriginally developed for the Israeli military to assist in locating downed planes. Now they’re used to track cars, goods and even people (a rival of Lojack).
16 Machon Tzomet: The Alon Shvut company specializesin patenting Shabbat elevators, wheelchairs and other Shabbat-minded tools and appliances for the observant.
17 Ormat Technologies: It’s green technology at its finest. Ormat develops, builds and operates its own geothermal and recovered energy generation power plants –– and supplies it to other operators in the United States, Central America and Africa.
18 Pet Splash: Founded by Seattle immigrant Martin Pittman, it’s an American-style dog care business in downtown Raanana.
19 Tanach Tours: The company offers a not-so-average tour since its guides are not tour guides, but respected Jewish educators, like Alon Shvut’s Shani Taragin and Menachem Leibtag.
20 Vyyo Inc.: Totally revolutionary, this publicly traded company created the first ultraband compression system, which allows cable companies to increase the bandwidth on their existing lines without having to replace miles and miles of cable. It could save homeowners over $1,000.
5 Tremendous Zionists
21 Dr. Rivkah Lambert Adler: Just call her “Dr. Aliyah.” Dr. Adler founded and runs the local chug aliyah. Since she started it, dozens of Baltimore families have moved to Israel.
22 Irwin Freed and Leia McKenna: They’re the future of the Baltimore Zionist District. Inspired by a trip to Israel, they started BZD’s young leadership group, Dor Chadash, and now they reach out to connect the next generation with Israel.
23 The Goldberg Family: The Zionist spirit started with Americans for Israel and Torah (AMIT) member and matriarch Pauline Goldberg. It pervaded her son, Dr. Aaron, and now permeates the grandkids, Moshe, Avi and Shira. All the youth are in Israel. The boys each served in the army. Avi’s best known for starting “America Eats for Israel.”
24 Avi Meyerstein: He founded the Alliance for Middle East Peace, ALLMET, a group of 55 non-governmental organizations that promote people-to-people co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians.
25 Barry Nabozny: Israel is the side job of this ever-busy real estate agent. He and his buddies take last-minute trips to the Holy Land to visit wounded soldiers and are always raising money. During the 2006 Lebanon War, for example, Mr. Nabozny, with sidekicks Irv Shnidman and Jeremy Staiman, raised thousands to purchase combat goggles for soldiers in front-line units.
10 Paramount Places To Visit in Israel — Not The Usual
26 Amirim: It’s Israel’s vegetarian retreat near the Sea of Galilee. Green, fertile and tranquil, Amirim is comprised of about 80 families living cooperatively.
27 Chocolatte: A delectable restaurant in Rosh Pina, the menu is comprised of one food — chocolate. There are 40 types of chocolate truffles and even chocolate soup.
28 City of David Segway Rides: The latest in urban adventure, tour ancient Jerusalem on this sophisticated two-wheeled vehicle.
29 Dialogue-in-the-Dark: It’s an exhibit at the Holon Children’s Museum. Visitors are led by blind guides through specially constructed darkened rooms, in which scents, sounds, wind, temperatures and textures convey the characteristics of daily environments as the blind would experience them.
30 Dudim Cave, Ein Gedi: Just above the usual tourist path is a longer trail that leads to an even more dynamic set of Ein Gedi springs. On the path you pass a Copper Age temple (6,000 years old) and a small pond with water fresh enough to fill your bottle. In the end, you reach the cave, the place where King David hid as King Saul and an army of 3,000 men chased him (Song of Songs).
31 Kibbutz Lotan: A southern Israel center for “creative ecology,” Lotan members focus on peace, justice and the environment. Activities range from alternative building, organic gardening and creative recycling.
32 Machon Ayalon: Located in Rehovot, the Ayalon Institute was once a secret factory built underneath a limestone hill. It was the largest Israel Military Industries factory to operate underground and produced more than 2,500,000 9-mm bullets mostly for Sten guns between 1946 and 1948.
33 Ramon Crater: A spectacular geological feature in the Negev Desert. It’s the world’s largest erosion cirque.
34 Village of Pek’in: The ancient peace village in the Galilee where Jews, Christians, Druze and Muslims have lived together for 2,000 years. Traditionally, this is the location of the cave in which Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his sons were holed up learning Torah for 13 years. A spring in the town square is believed to be from where they drank.
35 Women of Valor Center, Nitzanim: A Society for the Preservation of Israel Heritage location, the site is dedicated to the triumphs of women soldiers.
10 Political Leaders To Know — Past & Present
36 Ehud Barak (1942- ): He was the most decorated IDF soldier and the youngest to achieve the rank of general. Under Barak’s premiership (1999-2001), Israel withdrew from Lebanon. It was in part the failing of his peace talks with Yasser Arafat that led to the second Intifada (2000).
37 Menachem Begin (1913-1992): A disciple of Zev Jabotinsky, he served as the sixth prime minister of Israel. He’s most remembered for giving back Sinai to Egypt, signing the Camp David Accords and then a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979.
38 David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973): He helped found the state, the most important and dominant political party of the past, Mapai, and the Worker’s Union. (And, in his free time, he served as prime minister, 1948-1953 and 1955-1963.)
39 Golda Meir (1898-1978): She was described as the “Iron Lady” of Israeli politics. Meir served as prime minister from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel’s first woman P.M., and the third woman in the world to hold this office. She served during the Munich Massacre (1972), after which she authorized the Mossad to hunt down and assassinate the Black September and PFLP operatives who carried it out.
40 Binyamin Netanyahu (1949- ): One of the most articulate political figures in Israel, he was most successful as finance minister under Ariel Sharon (2003-2005). He was the first and only prime minister (1996-1999) to be born after Israel’s founding.
41 Ehud Olmert (1945- ): He’s the current Israeli prime minister and the former mayor of Jerusalem (1993-2003). The head of the new political party Kadima, he took office after Ariel Sharon fell into a coma. Polls indicate he’s a very unpopular leader.
42 Shimon Peres (1923- ): With one of the longest ever political careers, he’s known for his switch from hawk to dove. He played a key role in Operation Entebbe, helped the first settlers establish their communities (1970s), played a role in the peace agreement with Jordan (1994) and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Oslo Accords (1994). Today, Mr. Peres is the president of Israel. (He should be in that post until the age of 91.)
43 Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995): From a commander in the Palmach to chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces to prime minister of Israel, Rabin is most remembered for (1) signing the Oslo Agreements in 1993 and 1995 and (2) his assassination in 1995.
44 Yitzhak Shamir (1915- ): He’s known for holding the position of prime minister for the second longest period (from 1983 to 1984 and again from 1986 to 1992). He served during Desert Storm; he acquiesced to the United States and didn’t retaliate against Saddam Hussein’s scud attacks.
45 Ariel Sharon (1928- ): A military and political hero, he led the Jews in the 1948 Second Battle of Latrun, in which he was badly injured. He later served as defense minister, during which his abilities were questioned with the Sabra and Shatila massacre (1982). He helped build most of the settlements and then, as prime minister, dismantled the Jewish communities in Gaza (2005) before a massive stroke in January 2006, of which he has yet to recover.
5 Israel Web Sites To Click On –– Not Just For The News
46 The Israel Hasbara Committee(http://www.infoisrael.net): With more archived articles on Israel than your average portal, the IHC claims to be fighting “gross falsehoods and distortions of truth, which are the greatest threat to Israel’s existence.”
47 Israel Insider (http://www.israelinsider.com): Kind of quirky, it features interesting Israel-related commentary.
48 Israel 21C (http://www.israel21c.net):The good news from Israel.
49 Kol Israel (http://www.kolisrael.com): Links to Israeli radio, TV and online newspapers (and a lot of other places, too).
50 The Marker (http://www.themarker.com): A real time look at Israel’s business arena.
10 Things To Love About Israel
51 Aliyah:If you move to Israel, you don’t just relocate, you make aliyah, rise up, take a spiritual, progressive step up toward claiming the land God promised to the Jewish people close to 4,000 years ago.
52 Bamba: While every school in America has gone peanut-free, children in Israel are munching on peanut-covered corn puffs. And unlike most popular American snack foods, Bamba has no cholesterol, food coloring, preservatives or high fructose corn syrup — and it’s vitamin fortified.
53 Children: In Israel you get paid to have them — at birth and monthly thereafter.
54 Egged: It’s the national bus company. Soldiers ride for free. Signs remind passengers of the halachic mandate to stand up for one’s elders.
55 Fruits and vegetables: While fruits and veggies in America look beautiful and delicious, they’re covered in wax and sometimes tasteless. In Israel they taste better than they look.
56 Gemachs: There are free loan societies for everything, from medications to the chickpeas customarily served at a shalom zachor, ceremony marking the birth of a son.
57 Holidays: On Chanukah, you see chanukiot in every window. On Sukkot, every restaurant puts up a sukkah. On Yom Kippur, the entire country shuts down. On Passover, you can get kosher-for-Pesach food at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem (and many eateries as well).
58 Jews: They’re everywhere and permeate everything. Cab drivers quote the Torah. The currency is the shekel, just like in biblical times. There are 120 members of Knesset, the same number as were in the Sanhedrin. The Kotel remains one of the most popular school field trips for kids in almost every region.
59 Sabras: The clerks at the Ministry of the Interior will ignore you, yell at you and maybe even insult you, but when you cry, they’ll offer you tissues, help you sit down and tell you it’s going to be OK. The same person who honks and curses at you on the road will pull off to the side and give you a hand if your car overheats and stalls seconds later.
60 Snow: The country’s once-every-other-year-or-so snows of about 2 inches shut down the entire country. (Of course, this past winter, Gush Etzion got close to 15 inches and people like Maryland olim Shimshon and Esther Rosenblum played in the snow.) The night before snow is predicted, the stores run out of bread because people have stocked up like for a war. But you’ve never seen anything as beautiful as the Jerusalem skyline under a blanket of white.
Reporter’s Notebook
To Be In Israel?
Israel. It’s been almost three years since my family and I made “yeridah”, since we left Israel, took a step away from the dream God has for all the Jewish people — to live in our homeland. I still sometimes feel like an Israeli.
I ask myself, “Will we stay in America forever?” “Will we go back?” “Will my son, Shlomo, do the army?” “Will I be in America 20 years from now and tell my grandkids, ‘We used to live in Israel’?” The answer is always, “I don’t know.”
When I lived in Israel, there was this incredible spirituality. The prayer services were more beautiful, for sure, but it was more than that. It was the knowledge that every step I took was on holy ground. God’s presence was there.
The friendships you make in Israel are stronger. The food is tastier. The weather is nicer. Even Acamol, the Israeli version of Tylenol, works better.
Being Jewish is easier.
There are also stresses. It can take a full day to make it through the line at the National Insurance office (or it could take five minutes, but one can’t plan that way). The language is difficult. I consider myself fluent in Hebrew, but sitting through hours-long meetings in a foreign language, no matter how comfortable you are in it, is tiring. You have almost no energy left to interpret the Bezeq telephone bill.
There’s the terror. When I was living in Israel I don’t remember ever being afraid. I never worried what would happen to my son if I should be driving one day and a rock would smash through my window. (Incidentally, an Arab boy did throw a rock at my car one day on the Gush Etzion road. It was small and caused little damage to the exterior. I called my office, the Jerusalem Post, to report it but forgot to tell the soldiers at the checkpoint — typical journalist.)
However, watching from here, just visiting, I admit I’m scared. Two years ago, I attended the Orthodox Union semi-annual conference in Israel. We took a tour of the northern region following the Lebanon war and met with children who were emotionally traumatized. I pictured my son — and now envision him and my daughter — going through what these children endured and I wonder, “Is this what I want for my family? Do my children need to be essentially elementary school-aged soldiers?”
Again, the answer is, “I don’t know.”
So I keep paying my National Insurance tax; I recently renewed my darcon, Israeli passport.
Israel turns 60 next week. It will survive — until 120 and beyond.
Israel is our homeland and each of us should ponder packing up and moving there. We need to want to live in Israel. But what I didn’t understand before, I understand now. We might not all make it there until Mashiach, the Messiah, comes.
It’s OK. Give money. Offer support. Believe in Israel. Then one day, God will give us the privilege of living in our homeland in peace.