In the News

Lost in Africa, Israel

August 15, 2012

We were on a guided tour of South Tel Aviv to get an in-person look at what dominated the news a few months back when my friend Eliot and I got lost. We were visiting the Central Bus Station and we had to use the bathroom. When we came out, our group was gone. As […]

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Israeli Wine Tasting Festival Grows Up

August 2, 2012

The first year we visited the annual Israeli Wine Tasting Festival held at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem in 2006, there were a modest number of wineries all lined up on the single gently sloping outdoor passageway from the museum entrance until the main buildings. Six years later, the festival has grown – and grown […]

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Surprises at the Israeli Presidential Conference

July 1, 2012

When Elie Klein, one of the PR execs working behind the scenes at the just concluded Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem, told the coterie of bloggers – including yours truly – that they would have the chance to meet President Shimon Peres in a small group question and answer session, I was stoked. Now well […]

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The Travel Nightmare Begins in August

June 22, 2012

Anyone who’s ever driven up the hill on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway in the afternoon, in the stretch between Sha’ar Hagai to Shoresh, knows that during rush hour it can be a nightmare. The combination of a steep incline, too many curves and slow trucks in the right lane can – and often does – […]

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Jerusalem to Introduce Doggie Poop-ternity Test

June 15, 2012

Poop you scoop Israelis are notorious about not picking up dog poop. If the subject of this post offends you, I apologize in advance, but stepping in dog droppings offends me even more. And, as the new owners of a dog ourselves, keeping the city streets safe for strollers is even more of a mandate. […]

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It’s Official: Tel Aviv is Cool. But Where are Tel Avivians Really From?

May 31, 2012

It’s now official: 60 Minutes has declared Tel Aviv one cool city. The venerable CBS television news magazine ran a 12-minute report on Israel’s beachside metropolis and Tel Aviv came out glowing. Of course, this being television, 60 Minutes had to “frame” the segment. It starts out: We went looking for a place of calm […]

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Ambivalence on Jerusalem Day

May 21, 2012

Yom Yerushalayim was yesterday, but this post on Israelity generated so much comment, I’m reprinting it here on This Normal Life. Motta Gur before entering the Old City in 1967 I’m never quite sure what to think of Yom Yerushalayim – Jerusalem Day in English. The day commemorates the reunification of the city following the […]

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Cell Phone at the Supermarket? You Can Save Big

May 18, 2012

YouPhone is one of the new cellular carriers hitting the Israeli market Israelis won’t be saying “hallo” on their cell phones, but that doesn’t mean low prices aren’t coming. A few weeks ago, a much-rumored new discount-priced Israeli cellular phone company called Hallo dropped its plans to launch after it emerged the company didn’t have the contacts […]

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A Celebration of Young Ethiopian Musicians

March 21, 2012

Avraham Terifa Avraham Terifa is in the eighth grade but he looks like he’s only nine-years-old. A tiny dynamo of a boy, he stands before an audience of several hundred at Jerusalem’s Mishkenot She’ananim concert hall and begins to play his violin. All around the room you can hear jaws start to drop as the […]

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No more lying for “religious” girls

February 10, 2012

We know a girl named Liat who lied to get out of doing army service. Despite living a secular lifestyle, she told the army she was religious, which gave her an automatic exemption. She then made matters even worse: instead of signing up for national service, which most non-haredi religious girls do, she instead fled […]

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