Only in Israel

Doughnut Quiche

December 26, 2008

(Today’s post is a holiday-inspired TNL Classic first published in 2002.) I know they’re bad for me. But I can’t resist. I’m talking about doughnuts, of course. Whatever shape, size or variety, I go do-m’shuga-nut over them. And at this time of year, in the midst of Hanukkah, Israel is overflowing with that uniquely Jewish […]

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Better Holiday Shopping with ViewScore

December 19, 2008

It’s been a particularly tumultuous holiday shopping season. With pocketbooks worldwide squeezed especially tight this year, price conscious consumers have been weighing every decision particularly carefully, pouring over reviews posted online by both professionals and other users. With sometimes hundreds of reviews appearing for a new camera or cell phone, that process can be daunting […]

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Detox

December 12, 2008

It’s been six years now since I’ve been unable to sleep without pills. It’s not something I like to talk about, despite the big drug companies’ reassuring promotion of sleep medications as a safe and tested long term solution for the some 30% of sufferers around the world who report regular bouts with insomnia. I […]

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Sigd: the Next Generation

December 5, 2008

50 days after Yom Kippur, on the 29th day of the Hebrew month of Heshvan, thousands of Jewish immigrants from Ethiopia converge on our southern Jerusalem neighborhood. This year, my wife Jody and I joined them. The gathering is for the Sigd festival, a holiday that symbolizes the acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai. […]

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A Sneak Peek at the Future of Jerusalem Mass Transit

November 28, 2008

Stepping into one of the sleek and shiny new light rail vehicles set to zip through Jerusalem in the next year and a half, it’s hard to imagine the controversy the system’s roll out has engendered. CityPass, the international corporation that is building and operating the Jerusalem light rail system, recently opened the doors to […]

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From Barack to Barkat: A Look Back at the November Elections

November 14, 2008

The just concluded Jerusalem election, while certainly not as important on a world stage as last week’s U.S. presidential contest, was in many ways spookily similar to its overseas counterpart. For those who supported Nir Barkat, who beat his main competitor Meir Porush by a commanding 9 points (52 to 43 percent), the sheer jubilance […]

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Jerusalem Election Diary: Haaretz gets it so wrong

November 7, 2008

I don’t usually write about the same topic two weeks in a row, but, with less than a week to go, the upcoming Jerusalem mayoral elections is so critical that I feel compelled to post again. Last Friday, the Haaretz newspaper, considered Israel’s version of “The New York Times” (and a paper which I regularly […]

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Art Show at the Museum of the Underground Prisoners

October 24, 2008

Just when you think you’ve seen all that Jerusalem has to offer, along comes a surprise in the most unusual of spaces. For weeks, the Jerusalem municipality has been running full-page ads promoting Art Jerusalem 08, an exhibition with hundreds of mostly new and unknown artists. The setting was the Underground Prisoner’s Museum just off […]

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Israel’s Bootcamp for Social Entrepreneurs

September 11, 2008

Israel is well known for its hi-tech entrepreneurial spirit. Now, a new non-profit organization hopes to use that expertise to train young Jewish professionals from North America how to become “social entrepreneurs.” A social entrepreneur, explained Aharon Horwitz, who along with Ariel Beery co-founded Presentense, the force behind the new initiative, uses the same business […]

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Bureaucracy

July 25, 2008

It was supposed to be a simple process. 16-year-old Amir had lost his teudat zehut – his identity card – when it fell out of his pocket on a bus a few months back. By Israeli law, once you turn 16, you’re supposed to carry your ID with you at all times. Getting a replacement […]

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