Tel Aviv

Hotel Montefiore: Enjoying Tel Aviv under the threat of war

November 26, 2024

The first thing Adam, the assistant manager, did upon our arrival at the Hotel Montefiore in Tel Aviv, was point out where the bomb shelters were

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50 shades of chutzpah

August 18, 2022

When our hotel canceled us at the last minute, I demanded an upgrade. Was that Israeli chutzpah or just being assertive. (It worked.)

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Secular in City

March 16, 2016

Yaniv doesn’t like Jerusalem. “It’s nothing personal,” he said nonchalantly between demonstrative slurps of my wife Jody’s famous chicken soup, as he joined us at the Shabbat table a few weeks back “I just don’t feel welcome here – in the city that, is,” he added, looking sheepishly at Jody. “It’s just so…you know…religious.” There’s […]

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Telecommuting No More at Comverse (and Yahoo)

March 21, 2013

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer was in the news last month after she announced that the company she heads will no longer support telecommuting. Starting June 1, employees who work from home, all or part of the time, will be asked to report to the office. If they don’t, too bad. The company is even discouraging […]

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The Personal Beach Concierge

August 29, 2012

I have a love-hate relationship with the beach. Speaking with friends, I know I’m not the only one. But I may have a solution…and a potential moneymaker to boot. The love part: dipping in the warm Mediterranean waters of August (after the jellyfish of July have jumped ship); feeling the sand between my toes; chilling […]

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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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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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From Rothschild Boulevard to a Jerusalem Living Room

September 22, 2011

We first met Niv Kaikov a few months back at Tel Aviv’s White Night celebration. We were strolling on Rothschild Boulevard – yes the same one that’s been filled with tents all summer – which, during White Night, is instead filled with musicians. Every block, sometimes even every half a block, there is another band […]

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Meet Me at the Mugrabi

July 8, 2010

When I was hired to record a series of conversations to accompany a course on teaching Hebrew to English speakers, I didn’t know I’d be getting a lesson in Tel Aviv nostalgia. The project was to edit a 500-page curriculum originally developed to prepare U.S. diplomats posted to Israel. Along with the written text, there […]

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Israeli Sci Fi and Fantasy Fans Get Beamed Up

January 18, 2007

Whether their taste was Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, or just good old aliens, there was something for every Sci Fi fan at the tenth annual ICON Festival held recently in Israel. Bringing together more than 5,000 young enthusiasts to the Tel Aviv Cinemateque, the festival was a four-day celebration for fans of science fiction, fantasy […]

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