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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Jerusalem Elections 2008: The Most Crucial in Years

October 31, 2008

Several weeks ago I gave an Israeli take on the upcoming U.S. elections. But there’s another vote in November that may prove to be just as momentous for this country. I’m talking about the Jerusalem mayoral elections. Five years ago, the status quo was broken when the ultra-Orthodox (haredi) community fielded a candidate for mayor […]

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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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Twitterific

October 17, 2008

I’ll admit that when I first heard about Twitter, I thought it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. As a journalist and a long time blogger, I take pride in crafting a well thought out story, with a beginning, middle and end, and a common theme running throughout. So the idea of “micro-blogging” […]

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An Israeli Take on the Upcoming U.S. Elections

October 10, 2008

I just received my absentee ballot for the upcoming U.S. elections in the mail and I’m psyched. Yes, I know that some critics will question whether an American living outside the country has the moral right to vote for a president of a country in which he is no longer living. But I plan on […]

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Love, Politics and Controversy as Srugim Airs its Last Episode Tonight

October 6, 2008

The show may be ending but the fun has just begun. Srugim, the popular television series about young Israeli singles living in Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood, airs its last episode on Israeli TV tonight. But don’t fret: the show, which was previously only available on the YES satellite network, is coming to Israel’s Channel 2. That […]

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Tempur Sexy

September 25, 2008

Warning: the following column is a bit risqué. Continue on at your own risk! My wife Jody and I recently decided to buy a new bed. After 20 years sleeping on the same mattress, we thought it was time to upgrade. We had our eye on a bed from an Israeli company called Hollandia that […]

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Militant Vegetarian

September 19, 2008

When I was growing up in San Francisco Bay Area, there was nothing more politically correct than being a vegetarian. Meat was murder, and all good wannabe hippies (like me) would necessarily consider the eating of meat to be an unforgivable sin. While I never adopted vegetarianism myself – I admit to my own human […]

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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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