It could be difficult at times to describe feelings. Pain, joy, obsession, love, all of these are hard to describe. But when I think of my mummy as she is nowadays, after celebrating another birthday, I couldn’t possibly imagine my life without them.

When I was a little boy, next to Berlin, Tel Aviv was a name which exalted me the most. My first trip to Tel Aviv took place when I was 14 years old. I took the bus to Israel’s largest city, and walked in the streets admiring the teeming roads, the dazzling malls, and occasionally the beautiful girls as well. After being introduced to the great city once, I immediately submitted to the fact that there was life outside the boring, provincial town in which I spent my early days. I remember myself traveling to the Tel Aviv university, sitting with a book on the vast lawns by the campus, admiring the intellectual air. I remember sitting in the Cafes all on my own, studying German from a newspaper and a small dictionary. I remember my first visits to the local churches in Jaffa, spending occasional weekends in a local parish offering bed  as well as some food. When I broke up with Keren, mummy rented for me a room in a small motel, for the purpose of waking up in the morning in the then familiar residence of female beauty, and hectic life.

Little by little, my fascination with Tel Aviv became a painful obsession. I recall long days of wandering from one place to another. I remember long tedious hours of sitting in the Cafes with a book, waiting for something to happen. But Tel Aviv retained its dazzling glamour, despite the long nights without rest, without purpose, and when I finally moved in to Tel Aviv at the age of 33, it was a dream that came true.

About a year after I moved in to Tel Aviv, mummy took me with her to see the City of Lights. I always thought that visiting Berlin would be the realization of all of my dreams, but this unique trip to Paris was much more than being for the second time in my life abroad. It was a time when I was challenging my mental capacities with reading Marcel Proust in French, totally in love with the French language and culture. It was also a time when my relationships with my mother have turned from bitter and resentful to a virtual love story.

Mummy helped me out with my new residence in Tel Aviv. Nowadays we use to talk a lot on the phone, and we see each other quite often. When I think of Paris, I think of her, and what a wondrous surprise it was for me when I found out we could speak with each other in French. Speaking French is a great achievement for me, far above speaking and understanding any other language. The reason for this is that, having changed for the better, it is my way of remembring that language is first and foremost a means for communication, and by seeing my mother in a different light I feel I could look differently at other people as well.

Next year I will be 35, and I would like very much to see Paris with mummy by my side once again. I suppose that as long as I live, for me Paris shall be associated with my cultured mother, and traveling to the Capital of France shall be forever unique.

LOL Israel adjusted to Tel Aviv quite quickly. We were up and out and on our way to service projects by 9 am. The whole team was able to soak in the city as we walked 45 minutes along the Mediterranean to Calvary Chapel Tel Aviv. There we began a 3 day wall renovation in their overflow room. Also, a children’s mural and some maintenance work at the church’s apartments. We worked a full day and were so excited to bless Calvary Chapel Tel Aviv.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and the LOL Israel team couldn’t be more excited to come together, reflect and give thanks. The food team is preparing a bountiful feast full of all Thanksgiving classics.

Brittan Van Beuge

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”–John 14:12

In Acts, Peter and Simon were used by God to heal a lame man. The people flocked around, amazed with what they had just done. Peter asked the crowd, “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” Peter explained that it wasn’t them but rather God who performed the great work. Over the past few weeks we have served various cities in Israel, picking up trash off the littered city streets, painting and renovating, holding children’s outreaches. Many of the people we have encountered in Israel have been astonished coming to us asking why we would do such things, often pouring gratitude onto us. They wonder why we would come half way across the world to do such things, not understanding that all we do is not of us but of God working through us. Just as Peter and Simon gave glory to God for their works, we attribute our acts of kindness, motivated by love, to the Father and His love for them. We recognize that not man’s power but the power of God is at work, using us as vessels of servant hood. I believe that it is the people receiving the power of God through us that makes these simple acts so real and penetrates their hearts to respond with love and gratitude.

Ali Kaun

“For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out “Abba, Father”. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”–Romans 8:15-16

Last Sunday I met a guy who was mildly crippled from multiple attacks on his special forces regiment in northern Israel in the 90s. He threw his crutches and five of us into his car and drove us to Migdal. This small community on the heights above the Sea of Galilee, overlooking a cliff one might find in the Grand Canyon —was the home of Mary Magdaliane and one of the oldest synagogues in Israel. His father was the mayor for ten years and life is still very much a family affair. We joined them in the rigorous work of clearing an olive grove. The plan was that handicap children would be able to use the land in the future in the context of a small farm. He called his dad “Abba” as they worked. “Abba” could use pruning shears like my own father. I couldn’t help but miss those times connecting with my own adoptive father from my youth and yet I was so grateful to connect with my Heavenly Father who has now adopted me into His heavenly family. I experienced Him and His wondrous love for the beautiful people of Migdal as we met needs practically in an olive grove. I pray that the seeds that we planted in his heart about His Messiah, Jesus, would grow and take root before Christ comes back, but if not, that he might be one of the 144,000 saved in the tribulation. If he is to suffer through that horrible time I pray he would remember the love the Christians showed him on behalf of Jesus last week and that he would believe.

Another great list from Lonely Planet, the world’s top 10 places to party. I put the list to the test and found out whether TravelPod bloggers partied it up, or died of boredom…

1. Belgrade = Party Town

Some "barge-clubs" found in Belgrade, Serbia

“This is a town that knows how to go out. There are bars everywhere, the river is chock-a-block with barge-clubs and apparently most of the ‘coolest’ venues are still hidden away in unmarked basements. With no budget airlines serving Nikola Tesla airport it is also pleasantly lacking in British stag dos.” – Jiewu

2. Montreal = Fun, but expensive

Goldenfrog88 at Sky Pub in Montreal, Canada

We went to the gay district again to a bar that was recommended. We started off on their third floor terrace and ordered Canada’s infamously weak and expensive drinks. April and I ordered cosmos and got vodka crans in a plastic cup with one once of vodka for $7 each. After an hour we went to the first floor where a drag-show was happening. The performances were excellent with impersenations of the slum dog dance, Tina turner, and Madonna. I was surprised there was no way to tip them! Lastly, we went to the second floor to dance. Griselda and Isabella left earlier than April and myself. I tried getting over the whole “I don’t belong in gay bars” and just started dancng by myself to see what happens. I ended up dancing with some guy who had had way too much with different intentions of my own but at least he was cute. – Goldenfrog88

3. Buenos Aires = so-so

Curtisejtaylor meeting Brazilians at a pool hall in Buenos Aires

I don’t know what it’s like to party in big cities, but Buenos Aires, I found, is nothing worth boasting about. Nothing out of this world, if you’re wondering. It was good. – Curtisejtaylor

4. Dubai = “a very fun time”

Tnowakow at a private New Year's Eve party in Dubai, UAE

“The party was at a friend’s of Mona’s out in Jumeriah and we drove to a super market where he had cabs come and take us to the actual house (he didn’t want a bunch of cars at his place). It was a sweet looking villa with a pool outside and he had masks for everyone to wear before the New Year. He also had it catered with any kind of drinks that you would want. All in all it was a very fun time actually” – Tnowakow

5. Thessaloniki = “such a fun night”

Jhdavis' friend Allie, with her drink on a party boat in Thessaloniki

“We sailed around the bay for 30 minutes and the boat took us down the other side of Thessaloniki and across the downtown area by Aristotle Square and the waterfront bars and cafes. The music was great and all the people abroad where so friendly. At the end, we made our way back down to the dock and left the boat. It was such a fun night.” – Jhdavis

6. La Paz = a little boring

Wadeoliver at the "green party" in La Paz

“Boys with the booze arrived 8 with 1 10L bottle (looked more like a gas can) of rum and 20L of vodka plus mixers. Once everybody had a drink in their hand then the party really started. The arrival of 4 giant pizzas for dinner was fun (one slice = 3 normal) but because I wasn’t into the whole dance thing, I had had enough by 11:00. I had to unlock my door and leave it open while I went downstairs to give the key to Mike as the door can’t be left unlocked. Felt a little sick (ok, threw up a little), showered, bed 11:30. Mike woke me at 01:45 knocking on the door because he was too drunk to remember I’d given him the key! Then Jo is knocking on the door 5 minutes later and he’s having a conversation with her in his jocks out in the hall so not to disturb me more (he’s a nice guy) but as one of the guys chasing Jo passed by it must have been embarrassing!” – Wadeoliver

7. Cape Town = 24 hour parties!

Nat_yeo and her friends dressed up for a party in Cape Town

“We gathered at Proc’s house for champagne and dress ups before heading off to the big party at Ratanga Junction Theme Park, where the party was kicking into full swing. It is quite a thing to arrive at the party. Each group crosses over a catwalk and is announced as they arrive with cameras clicking and video cameras recording – you really want to ensure you have put enough effort into your costumes! The atmosphere was fantastic, the crowd very friendly and the music was rocking! We had a great night partying hard until the early hours before sunrise when we made a brief visit back to Cinds and Sebs for a quick shower and change, then off to another party!

The other party was an outdoor trance party held in a secret location around Hout Bay. Soon enough, we were kicking up a dust storm at breakfast time. We had a load of fun – I made some new friends and met some old and even had a call from UK friends cracking on back home whilst I walked through the surrounding forest. We called it quits around lunch time for some much needed sleep – a fantastic way to end 2 weeks in Cape Town.” – Nat_yeo

8. Baku = giant wedding parties

Lok loved the dancing at a wedding in Baku, Azerbaijan

“We then all drove to the village’s wedding hall (yes, weddings are the only events held here), honking all the way. Men and women were seated, at 20 long banquest tables, separately in the hall. It was packed with some 350 people. There were food, wine, vodka, live band and singers and a lot of speeches and dancing. They have a lot of arm movements when they dance – both guys and girls. I could not tell who are husbands and wives since they did not interact at all throughout the event.

After 4 hours, the party at the wedding hall came to an end at 12:30 a.m. It was only adjourned to the bride’s home for more drinks and snacks.” – Lok

9. Auckland = high class style

Andanddan ringing in the new year in Auckland

“An hour or so later we wandered back into the foyer area, which was by this time buzzing with people, and we made our way back to the original bar. Another band, comprising a male and female singer, were now in full flow and had the crowd rocking and the dance floor heaving. At this stage we decided not to move on to the Loaded Hog as originally planned – this was turning out to be a good night and the price was right too!” – Andanddan

10. Tel Aviv = Shabbat culture

Egsolove partied every night when he was in Israel

“I still have another night in Israel, and its going to be a good one. It’s shabbat, the party night. Israelis stay up very late, starting to party at 12:30 and not stopping until 5 or 6 sometimes. I’ve done this pretty much every night I’ve been in Israel. It gets exhausting for an American boy. But the culture here is amazing.” – Egsolove

Those who have been around here for a while, will agree when I say: Israeli are bad drivers.

I know, I know: I am Italian. Italian are famous for being wild drivers. At the wheel of our cars, we are fast, competitive, passionate, obsessive, skillful. But Israeli? hmm…. sorry, just bad.

One can easily notice that 80% of cars around show some sort of visible bump. Brand new cars won’t last intact for long. Mine lasted about three weeks, after which it got seriously damaged by some gentleman maneuvering in a parking lot (no, he/she did not let insurance details to straighten it out). I am not reporting only about unskillful drivers, but also lack of etiquette. This is not Switzerland. No one care about street signs, pedestrian crosses, giving way, signaling a turn. I think most of the accidents actually happens as a result of a certain careless driving style. My impression is that drivers in Israel behave as if they were alone in the street, with little or no consideration to what is happening around them. Even those who are supposed to be “professional” drivers, that is people paid for driving (think of truck and taxi drivers) seem to be totally illiterate when it come to road safety.

Since the establishment of Israel some 60 years ago, 29,585 people have died in road accidents. As a reference, this number is greater than the number of war-related casualties since 1860 (accounting for 22,305 people in 2007, the Foreign Affair Ministry of Israel says). A few weeks ago, a bunch of crashed cars were on display in Rabin Square, in the heart of Tel Aviv, to commemorate road accidents deaths. This includes car drivers, passengers, motorcycle riders, but most of all pedestrian. The Haaretz reports today that:

“The percentage of pedestrians among all those killed in traffic accidents in Israel is significantly higher than in most industrialized countries, a study recently carried out by the Or Yarok (Green Light) road safety association shows.
According to the findings, Israel is in third place in the world in the percentage of pedestrians killed in traffic accidents.”

Third place in the world! Here is a record you don’t want to be proud of.

The risk for pedestrian increases in urban areas, where density of traffic and number of crossings are at their most. Carelessness in drivers is reflected by carelessness in pedestrians, who apparently cross where they are not supposed to, when they are not supposed to, and not even bothering to have the proverbial look to the left before doing do. How have we come to this level of inattentiveness? Are people too busy nowadays to pay attention to their own life?

In Europe, many accidents are blamed on young and intoxicated drivers (the infamous “Saturday night deaths”, taking place after a long, alcoholic evening out). In Israel, death and vehicle crashes exceed those of all western countries, despite a lower number of drivers in this category.

Drivers training has been adjusted to the European standards, after a decision of the Israel Government in 2001. The procedure for receiving a license includes the usual: medical check, practical test, period of accompanied driving. In Israel a new driver is obliged to exhibit the sign for 2 years.

So if drivers are correctly educated and generally not under influence of alcohol and drugs, what makes Israel rate so badly in road safety? I am afraid the key element contributing to street accidents is once again carelessness. If you have a closer look at the findings, you’ll see that serious accidents (resulting in casualties), are steadily decreasing with the years, but those involving general damage are on a constant raise. We buy more and more cars, and more and more expensive ones, but we are less careful with them.

It goes without saying that a tired and distracted driver is a dangerous one. Drivers more likely to be tired when driving and possibly distracted, are people who work a lot. Worldwide, insurance companies reveal that the poorer drivers in occupational categories are computer engineers (bingo!), sales managers, chefs and doctors, that is all professions requiring long working hours and stressful environment. To find out if you are a distracted driver, you can take a test at the Israeli Road Safety website.

And don’t blame it on the ladies. A study of the road accidents (R.A. files) received from the Israel Police Force in 2002 shows that 78% of the drivers involved in road accidents were men and only 22% were women.

Man or woman, young or experienced drivers, bikers, pedestrian at crossways: watch out! There may be something way more dangerous in Israel than terrorism: the next car coming your way.

Say what you will about Israel, but fierce fashion is finding its way in Tel Aviv.

Here’s what makes this Israeli capital stand out from the rest.

Read my newest article on IGoogledIsrael.

Here’s a sneak peek:

Believe it or not, Israel is more than just gorgeous men and women dressed in army fatigues. The clothes on their bodies are just as statement-making and trendy as the new Hebrew slang coming out of their mouths. Here are the five things I love about Israeli fashion.

Go on, read the rest!

Photo: Sense of Fashion

As LOL Israel made the journey from Tiberias to Tel Aviv, by bus, we were blessed along the way with the opportunity to see many of the places written about in the Bible. The books we have only studied came to life, the Lord was so gracious to reveal their backdrops to us today.

Passing through Nazareth, we visited the home of Mary and Joseph, the very house Jesus spent His childhood. We stood atop the hills of Armageddon, the future battlefield in the time of the Great Tribulation told to us about in Revelations.

Before arriving in Tel Aviv, we caught a glimpse of Caesarea, the place Cornelius, the first Gentile to receive the Holy Spirit, written about in Acts. A symbol for how all Gentiles received salvation through the Jewish nation.

We praise and thank the Lord for showing us the places we have only read about in the Bible, for allowing them to come to life and become even more real and tangible in our lives.

The entrance to the Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre

Since first experiencing Gaga – the movement language created by Batsheva Dance Company’s artistic director Ohad Naharin – in early 2008, I have been yearning for more, and so has most of the dance world.  When the Israel-based company performs abroad, they try to offer Gaga classes not only for dancers, but also for the general public.  After all, Naharin developed Gaga after years of working with both dancers and non-dancers while also recovering from his own back injury.  Batsheva trains daily in Gaga, and since 2001, open classes in several cities throughout Israel have been available to the public.

Fortunately, my recent trip to Israel gave me an opportunity to once again experience Gaga (in Hebrew, גאגא) – this time at the Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre in Tel Aviv.  I could hardly contain my excitement as I approached the Centre and arrived at the studios.  With a heartfelt todah raba – thank you – to Deborah Friedes Galili, a dance scholar and expert on Israeli contemporary dance, and Yossi Naharin (Ohad’s brother), who oversees Gaga classes, I was able to take two classes while in Israel, and therefore immerse myself in two unique, transformative experiences that are now a part of my growing understanding of Gaga and sense of self.

The first class took place last Thursday evening and was taught by Ohad – not Ohad Naharin, but another man named Ohad who has worked frequently with Batsheva.  I was exhausted from my travels all over Israel in the days prior to the class, but I knew that one of the most essential guidelines for Gaga is listening to the body and becoming aware of its sensations, limitations, and abilities.  Furthermore, maintaining connection to pleasure in movement is critical, especially while exerting effort.  In my sleepy state, I knew it was acceptable – in fact, encouraged – to work at a pace that was best for me.  The introductory Gaga sheet that I received before class also assured me that taking class while feeling tired wasn’t such a bad idea:

Gaga is a new way of gaining knowledge and self awareness through your body.  Gaga is a new way for learning and strengthening your body, adding flexibility, stamina and agility while lightening the senses and imagination.  Gaga raises awareness of physical weaknesses, awakens numb areas, exposes physical fixations and offers ways for their elimination.  Gaga elevates instinctive motion, links conscious and subconscious movement.  Gaga is an experience of freedom and pleasure. In a simple way, a pleasant place, comfortable close, accompanied by music, every person with himself and others.

Throughout the hour-long class, Ohad gave verbal instructions in Hebrew and English to me and the other fifteen participants in order to draw attention to our actions and increase awareness of how we were – or weren’t – moving.  We started standing in silence, finding multi-dimensionality in the chest in order to breathe more freely while gently shifting our weight from one leg to the other.  Some of the prompts and instructions included: finding quivers at the center of your body and allowing them to move outward to your limbs, back, neck, and even to your voice; melting into the floor and then moving as if you’re standing, but using the floor’s gravity; lifting your bones away from your flesh; sensing a cloud around your body while feeling the earth below your feet; imagining a pool of water in your stomach and a pole that connects your arms by running through your chest.  Rather than each prompt replacing the previous one, Gaga layers one on top of the other, so the class is an accumulation of movement and sensations.

The home of Batsheva Dance Company’s studios

One of the most satisfying aspects of Gaga, for me, is the ability to move more honestly and openly, free from previous training, old habits, and technical do’s and don’ts (It’s also incredible to move in a judgment-free environment, since all mirrors are covered during Gaga classes).  In the most exhilarating moments, I was able to move without exerting much effort or force, instead allowing the energy, quivers, and quakes pulsing through my body to guide me.  Discovering movement that is based in pleasure and sensation does not abruptly end when the class does, but rather is part of an ongoing journey.  As I left the studios on Thursday evening I felt awake, refreshed, in touch with my abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and limitations, and eager for my second Gaga class the following morning.

All photos by Evan Namerow

After having a baby and trying to start my business it was decided that we all needed a break. That means fun, sun and beach. We thought that it was about time that we went on our first family vacation and that only meant one thing – Tel Aviv! We met up with Estee, a girl that I was in the army with and Michael took to her like a bee to honey. I knew that I had a friendly, smiley baby but it really hit home when he saw her. His face lit up and he was beaming from ear to ear. We were having breakfast at Max Brenner (a chocolate restaurant). This is where Michael tasted chocolate for the first time. He doesn’t seem to really know how he feels about it yet…

After the chocolate experience it was time for a little beach action! First stop was the Marina where we walked along the pier and looked at the fish in the water. This is what it looked like…

I am so proud of Michael, his first time at the beach was so much fun! He didn’t get freaked out with the sounds of the waves. The sea is definitely in his jeans .

We got to see friends and have a really relaxing day. Finally the day ended with a beautiful sunset!

COMMERCIAL BREAK—Zeji Ozeri, left, pauses with microphone in hand during
filming of a commercial of I-Chamba, owned by Vic and Lea Sefler, seated at right. Telemundo videographer is Nancy Castro
________________________________________________________

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO – Zeji Ozeri is a man of three cultures—Mexican, Israeli, and now American—and as a singer, song leader, comedian, documentary film maker and an entertainer on the local Telemundo station, he has developed strong followings among Jews and Hispanic citizens of this city.

“What you have to understand about Zeji is that there are probably more than 1,000 Jewish kids in San Diego who have fallen in love with Jewish songs through him,” commented Todd Salovey, director of the Lipinsky Family Jewish Arts Festival at the San Diego Rep.

“My kids have been taught by Zeji—and whenever Zeji comes to my synagogue (Adat Yeshurun) to pray, I feel as if a celebrity has come in—that’s the effect he has on so many people,” he said.

Rabbi Simcha Weiser, headmaster of Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School, has a similar opinion:  “He communicates beautifully with children,” he said. “He is able to inspire kids to sing – and that is not as simple as it sounds.  He puts so much heart, feeling and emotion into it.”

Although Ozeri had learned his prayers at the Yavneh school in Mexico City, which he attended from kindergarten through high school graduation, he did not really learn the Jewish liturgy until after he came to San Diego.  His first job in San Diego as a song leader and later as a  shaliach at the Ken Jewish Community were not permanent, and while he was in the process of becoming a resident alien with a green card, other organizations—although they admired his work—were reluctant to hire him, lest they run afoul of immigration laws.

Rabbi Arnold Kopikis, who was then the spiritual leader of Congregation Adat Ami – the forerunner of Ohr Shalom Synagogue – told Ozeri he wanted him to lead songs, and help with the services, at Adat Ami, where a large percentage of the membership was Spanish speaking.  Kopikis, an Argentinian rabbi, had served previously in Mexico City, where he had met Ozeri as a youngster.

Although Ozeri had friends who let him stay at their homes during this period of his life in the 1990s, he never wanted to stay with anyone too long—he was so embarrassed by his financial situation.  Occasionally, money was so tight, he had to sleep in his car.  So, while recalling in an interview how Kopikis had reached out to him in his time of need, Ozeri’s voice started to quiver, and he had to stop for a moment to regain his composure.  Rabbi Kopikis, now head of the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity, is one man to whom Ozeri says he he will be eternally grateful.

“I always like to call him ‘Broza,’”  Kopikis later told me, “because his singing style reminds me so much of (popular Israeli singer) David Broza.”

Besides as a singer, Ozeri became known to Salovey as an actor and a director—appearing at the Lipinsky Family Jewish Arts Festival as a member of the Spanish-language repertory group, Teatro Punto y Coma, for several years.

A friend from Mexico City and the Ken Jewish Community also in the group was Robert Moutal, who then was head of production for the Telemundo television outlet in San Diego.  Moutal, a member of Congregation Beth El, subsequently was promoted to general manager.

When a position opened for a local morning host on Telemundo,  Moutal recommended Ozeri, but a woman from Texas got the coveted job.  Forty-five minutes after telling Ozeri the sad news, Moutal phoned him back.  The woman apparently had changed her mind.  “The job’s yours.”

For the last six years, on Monday through Fridays, Ozeri has prepared three 150-second segments per day—each of which typically is broadcast twice.  The segment may be a commercial, or a comedy sketch, a brief interview with a visiting celebrity, or whatever else Ozeri may dream up.

On a recent morning, Ozeri was doing a commercial in the studio for I-Chamba— a company whose name means ‘Got Work?’  Owned by Vic and Lea Sefler, whose children go to Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School, I-Chamba is a web-based employment service for blue-collar workers.  As Ozeri ad-libbed a commercial, Lea Sefler couldn’t help but laugh off-camera.

“His personality is amazing,” she said. “He really has fun.  We tried to find some way to explain our service with the right slang word in Spanish, and he just picked the right one.  He is very funny, with his choice of words, and his energy.  He has a following in the Spanish market, and when he does the commercials, we get phone calls right away.”

Pitching products is just one part of his job.  Videographer Nancy Castro remembers that he “had a chimpanzee with one of his segments, and  the chimp kept on hitting his head like a coconut.  Zeji was playing off it.”

On another occasion, cameras whirled as Ozeri waited for his Telemundo-arranged blind date, zooming in as he realized that he had been “stood up,” Castro recalled.

Although Moutal is Ozeri’s boss, he says there is nothing he likes better than when his star asks him to appear in a sketch with him. “We do a segment in which he plays an Argentinian professor and I play a Spaniard, who says fallacies, and he corrects me,” Moutal said.  “It is a very light segment.”

Ozeri is physically recognizable – “slender, bald, with big eyebrows, he is easy to cartoon,” says Moutal.  “At the very beginning, we tried to dress him up, but it didn’t fly, so now he dresses casually and the clients like that.  They like his approachability.”

Viewers often recognize Ozeri as he goes about town, Moutal said. “They approach him as a friend.  ‘Hey, you’re Zeji.  How’s it going?’ like he’s their friend, and he is very nonchalant about it.  Sometimes they will ask for his autograph.”

Ozeri and Moutal traveled together to Israel to make a documentary film about the popular Hebrew song,  Erev Zavat Chalav U’Devash (The Land of Milk and Honey), and its composer, Eliyahu Gamliel, whom Ozeri describes as “our grandfather, everybody’s grandfather.”

The song, which almost everyone in Israel knows, has become something of a trademark for Ozeri, who will get requests for it if he fails to sing it at performances.  “He  personally brought the tradition of that song to San Diego,” Salovey says.

The documentary won three local Emmy awards for Telemundo; so far, Ozeri has won or has contributed to winning six such television awards.

He also has recorded two CD’s of Jewish music and that’s just the beginning—or perhaps the middle—of Ozeri’s story.  He says he has some other documentaries planned, is working on some English-language theatre productions, and expects to be recording more music.

So what is the background of this San Diego personality, who came to this city about 20 years ago?

Zeji is short for Zejaria in Spanish, or Zachariah in Hebrew and English.  His father, Aharon, was from a Yemenite Jewish family that ferried across the Red Sea from Yemen to Egypt and walked to Israel, where Zeji was born the eldest of four children.  His mother, Raquel Sefchovich, was a Mexican Jew who visited Israel on a year-long program, where she met and fell in love with Aharon, a soldier in a Nahal unit assigned to helping build a new kibbutz.

Coincidentally,  Kibbutz Erez, where his parents met, is one of the 10 kibbutzim of Sha’ar Hanegev, which became the partnership region of the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County more than a generation later.

Ozeri’s parents settled in Mexico City, to which his mother had returned to help in her family’s business.  After Aharon came to visit, they were married.  Born and raised in Mexico City, Zeji attended the Yavneh Hebrew School from kindergarten through graduation—and remembers the school as being similar to Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School, where today he teaches Hebrew songs, only Yavneh was staffed  by “fewer rabbis.”

The Yavneh School—named for the community in Israel where Torah learning was continued, even after the fall of the Second Temple—was an Orthodox institution, but many of its teachers and students were either secular or less observant, Ozeri remembers.

He recalled that while he was a student, a new headmaster came to the school – a rabbi who felt that morning  prayers for the students should be mandatory rather than optional.  Ozeri was among the children who rebelled over this change in schedule, hiding in the school bathroom with his legs above the toilet seat so he could not be spotted under the stall door.  It was no use; the rabbi would open the door of the bathroom and call out, “Okay, Ozeri, I know you’re in there, go to Tefilah (prayers)”

Insistent as the headmaster was, he also was tolerant, treating Ozeri’s rebelliousness as simply a youthful phase rather than outright disobedience. After a while, Ozeri started enjoying the morning sessions in which he learned his Hebrew prayers, and says, today, all these years later, he is glad that he had such grounding, because he can pray in fellowship with other Jews anywhere in the world.

The school was small, and students were regularly pressed into service for various school activities.  Ozeri found himself in the school choir, and in the Israeli folkdance troupe.  These experiences and active participation in the youth organization, Maccabi Hatzair, were important factors leading to Ozeri’s career.

Rising through Maccabi Hatzair from a camper to a counselor, he was chosen to spend nine months in Israel to learn to become a Jewish community leader.  Again coincidentally, he was sent to Kibbutz Or Haner for three months – it is also a kibbutz in the Sha’ar Hanegev municipality — and was surprised that kibbutzniks living in that section of Israel adjacent to the Gaza border still remembered his father. Ozeri spent three months on the kibbutz, another six months in Jerusalem at a school for leaders from abroad, and rounded out the tour with a stay in Ramat Gan for seminars at the headquarters for the Maccabi World Union.

At first, he admitted, he had a negative impression of Americans, thinking them hopelessly uninformed about other countries – Americans were surprised, for example, that there even was such a phenomenon as a Mexican Jew.  Furthermore, he said, Americans seemed to be more one-dimensional in their interests than his fellow Mexicans.  It was his impression that Americans picked one subject or activity—whatever it may be– to do very well, but didn’t try to distinguish themselves at anything else.  Mexicans, by contrast, did a lot of things well, but perhaps did not achieve the level of expertise that  Americans attained in their singular fields, he reflected.

Notwithstanding these differences, he made friends with the English speakers—and is particularly grateful to one American and one young Englishman with whom he went on an excursion to Mahane Yehuda market place in Jerusalem, where they began to play their guitars and sing Simon and Garfunkel songs, quickly drawing an admiring crowd.   Impressed, Ozeri decided he would learn to play the guitar at the first available opportunity.  It was a way to have fun, get in front of a crowd, “and, okay, it was also a great way to get girls” grinned Ozeri, who after two long-term relationships is still a bachelor.

In the Maccabi Hatzair program, there was an all-in-fun rivalry school boy rivalry between the Mexican and Americans, which took the form of water fights in which the Mexicans would spray the Americans with a hose, and yell “We want Texas back!  We want California!”

Ozeri was becoming hooked on Israel, but he didn’t know it yet.  He went home, graduated from Yavneh School, and started to enroll at Universidad de las Americas in Mexico City. After he told officials there he did not plan to attend the morning masses, he learned that the classes he wanted to enroll in somehow already had been filled.  ‘You know what,” he told his parents, “I’d rather go back to Israel  and go to school there.”

His father, in particular, agreed, and Ozeri was off to Tel Aviv University, where he majored in theatre and minored in Jewish Studies.  Ozeri came from a working class family—and as he tells the story, his folks gave him $500 and wished him luck in Israel.  Any expenses over and above that, he’d have to earn.

His previous certification as a Maccabi World Union counselor served him in good stead; he was chosen to be a counselor for students from foreign countries, many of them Americans.  Ozeri remembers meeting groups of them at Ben Gurion Airport and quietly shepherding them to the bus.  Then he would count them—loudly, enthusiastically, in Spanish!—and the startled students would wonder if they somehow had landed in the wrong country.

As counselor for the overseas students, he arranged trips to various parts of Israel as well as volunteer projects for them to participate in.  As their residence adviser, he offered a shoulder to cry on when students felt homesick or, in the case of some of the young women, mistakenly believed themselves to be pregnant.

One community service project he helped organize was the donation of old clothing to people living in the poorer sections of Tel Aviv and Jaffa.  Given his own economically needy condition, he became a recipient of some of the clothing himself.  In particular, he remembers obtaining his first-ever pair of Levi jeans.

Because his Hebrew was not good enough to merit parts on stage, Ozeri’s focused his theatre studies on backstage work—lighting, costumes, props, curtain.  All the while, his academic minor of Jewish Studies was becoming increasingly important to him, especially lectures by Survivors about the Holocaust and by pioneers about the establishment of Israel.  In Mexico, history had been something that happened long ago, to people he could not necessarily relate to, but hearing Survivors tell their stories in the new Jewish state—where never again would Jews face such humiliation and degradation—reinforced his parents’ teaching: “Zeji, always remember who and what you are.”

In Mexico, he reflected, people thought of him as a “Jew,” whereas in Israel, where everybody was Jewish, people thought of him as a “Mexican.”   At Tel Aviv University, one of the buildings in which he studied was called the Mexico Building, as money for its construction was donated by Mexican Jews.  Ozeri remembers looking at the Mexican sculptures associated with that building and thinking “I’m in a Mexican bubble.”

Graduation burst the bubble, and not long after visiting his family at home, he was off to Los Angeles at the invitation of his uncle to make movies for the Mexican market.  But his uncle got very sick with cancer, and Ozeri had to sell the movies the uncle already had made.  In Los Angeles, Moises Edid told him that his brother Abraham—whom Ozeri had known at Maccabi Hatzair—was living in San Diego County, so Ozeri decided to come down for a visit.

Edid took Ozeri to a party in the Eastlake area of Chula Vista, and “I opened the door, and it was filled with Mexicans.  I knew there were (Jewish) Mexicans in San Diego, but I had no idea there were so many.  I saw people who went to school with me—Joel and David Chayet – and there were even two first cousins who I hadn’t seen in maybe twelve or thirteen years.  One of them, the face looked familiar—the last time I saw her she was seven or eight, but now she was grown up—and I said, ‘is your name Sharon?’  And when she said it was, I said ‘I’m your cousin Zeji.’”

With his guitar, he led some singing at the party, prompting David Chait, who was working as a shaliach at the Ken Jewish Community (the Spanish-language JCC) to invite him to become a song leader at the Ken’s camp.

In turn that led to Ozeri eventually becoming the shaliach at the Ken, as well as to other jobs as a song leader at  San Diego Jewish Academy, at Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School, and at Ohr Shalom Synagogue, among others.

“I had a double identity as a Mexican and a Jew,” Ozeri reflected.  “Now as a San Diegan, I have a triple identity.”

*
Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World

Sitio en pruebas

En la imagen, la ciudad de Tel Aviv, paradigma del crecimiento socioeconómico, tecnológico e industrial.

Now that I have quit smoking (4 weeks, 2 days and 18 hours ago, yes… cigarettes are like the girlfriend who dumped me), I try to make guests smoke out in the balcony so as not to completely ruin the smoke free / Berry Splash Glade scent mixture in my flat. Since the Israeli winter has decided to stay in Western Europe, much like other smart young citizens, this balcony smoking law isn’t really a bother and it even creates for a voyeuristic experience, like the one on Sunday night…

I was inhaling the exhaled fumes of a certain someone’s cigarette out in the balcony and beneath us, on the street, an old ragged hobo-ish woman walked up to my building’s big green trash cans. She opened one up and started to rummage between the bits of left over spit and diapers. Scavenging through the garbage with her head fully tilted into the belly of the plastic dumpster. Suddenly, she paused, lifted her head up and to the side of the trash can and puked her guts out onto the sidewalk. I was disgusted, my gag reflex was kicking in. My so called friend was laughing hysterically. The woman / creature / troll like figure just took a deep breath and immersed herself into the green fortune chest, looking for her prize. After a few seconds, again, tilt of the head, up and over and evacuation of the stomach.

This went on in cycles as she meticulously searched the insides of these fly ridden canisters. As my desire to hurl finally calmed down, I started thinking of Michael Phelps. This woman had stamina, and she was not giving up. Every time the stench of garbage got too much for her, she lifted her head, as a swimmer does gasping for air, and puked. Revitalizing herself for a few more critical seconds in which she can sink herself back in the trash and look for her hidden treasures. She did not give up, she did not move on to a more aromatic bin, she braved through the stench and scouted the miserable content.

To me this woman is like an Olympian Athlete, the Rocky Balboa of Frug Street Gypsies, Lady Gag Bag.

PS – Idea to self: ‘Survivor 6^th Street – the search for leftovers”

ein guter ort fuer verabredungen in tel aviv ist der dizengoff platz . der dizengoff platz ist keine schoenheit. aber der platz liegt mitten in tel aviv und wer sich vor den brunnen stellt oder setzt kann eigentlich nicht uebersehen werden.

der dizengoff platz ist sehr zentral gelegen. die dizengoff strasse ist eine der hauptverkehrsstrassen und auch eine einkaufsstrasse. das riesige dizengoff einkaufsentrum liegt nicht weit entfernt. aber die dizengoff street hat auch dutzende von cafes und restaurants zu bieten. ich persoenlich bin kein freund des dizengoff centers. ich finde das einkaufszentrum viel zu gross und unpersoenlich. ich bin ueberhaupt kein freund von einkaufszentren. liebe setze ich mich in eines der vielen cafes und lasse das treiben auf mich wirken.

hier treffen sich die beiden grossen geschaeftsstrassen im zentrum von tel aviv. die ben yehuda und die dizengoff. nehmt euch zeit hier vorbei zu schlendern und das leben zu geniessen. es lohnt sich.

]]> http://archaeologyandtech.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/imprint-of-sandals-and-feet-from-the-roman-period-in-an-israelic-mosaic/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:22:44 +0000 loleth http://archaeologyandtech.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/imprint-of-sandals-and-feet-from-the-roman-period-in-an-israelic-mosaic/

En scen ur Inglourious Basterds.

Jag var rätt nyligen och såg Quentin Tarantinos nya film Inglourious Basterds (jo, titeln stavas faktiskt så) som handlar om en styrka amerikanska judar som får i uppdrag att sprida skräck i Tredje riket genom att brutalt mörda och skalpera nationalsocialister i naziockuperade Frankrike. Styrkan leds av löjtnant Aldo “The Apache” Raine, spelad av Brad Pitt, som kräver att var och en av de nio som ingår i gruppen skall avliva minst 100 tyskar och dessutom skalpera dem och överlämna skalperna till honom!

Under resans gång  knyts en tysk soldat som lustmördat 13 Gestapo-män till “The Basterds”, som gruppen kallas av tyskarna, och tar sig med nöje an sin nya uppgift. I Paris stiftar gruppen bekantskap med den unga judinnan Shoshanna Dreyfus, spelad av Melanie Laurent, som flytt från sitt hem på den franska landsbygden sedan hon så när blivit infångad av SS-officeren Hans Landa (Christoph Walz) som sänts ut av Hitler för att spåra upp alla judar i Frankrike; hela hennes familj mördas.  Shoshanna driver en biograf i Paris tillsammans med en färgad vän.

Det är när den tyske krigshjälten Frederick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), som blir förälskad i den tysk- och nazihatande Shoshanna, kommer in i handlingen som en utstuderad plan att spränga biografen innehållande hela nazitoppen tar form. Zoller lyckas nämligen övertala sin vän Joseph Goebbels, den tyske propagandaministern, att låta en nyinspelad film om honom själv och hans “hjältedåd” som prickskytt premiärvisas på Shoshannas biograf. Samtidigt jobbar Raine och hans mannar på att mörda nazitopparna på sitt eget kaotiska sätt.

Här skall inte filmens spektakulära slutfas avslöjas för den som tänkt se filmen medan den ännu finns på den svenska repertoaren, men nog blir det fyrverkerier i den högre skolan och en extra knorr på slutet. The Inglourious Basterds gör inte anspråk på att vara någon realistisk krigsfilm utan är en typiskt tarantinsk skröna, som för en gångs skull framställer judar under Andra världskriget som blodtörstiga slaktare och inte som viljelösa offer. Ombyte förnöjer som bekant, och nog är detta en mycket välgjord och en mycket underhållande film som jag gärna rekommenderar.

Brad Pitt som Aldo “The Apache” Raine.

Det fanns emellertid litet varstans i verkligheten militanta judar som bekämpade tyska nazister under Andra världskriget. Jag har redan (7 oktober) på min blogg skrivit om upproret i Warszawaghettot 1943, där polska judar visade för världen att de var både villiga och kapabla att ta sig an Tredje riket. Warszawas kämpande ghettojudar hämtade inspiration från en judisk gerillarörelse i Litauen och Polen, som leddes av den legendariske kommendanten Abba Kovner. Om detta har Rich Cohen skrivit en fascinerande bok som heter The Avengers. A Jewish War Story (Vintage, London 2000).

The Avengers är historien om  tre judiska ungdomar- ingen av dem hade fyllt 20 år – som lämnar sina hem i västra Polen och omsider hamnar i det judiska ghettot i den litauiska huvudstaden Wilna (Vilnius). De tre är Abba Kovner, Vitka Kempner och Rozka Korczak. Kovner utvecklas till en ledargestalt i ghettot medan de båda unga kvinnorna Kempner och Korczak blir hans ställföreträdare. 1943 flyr de tre ghettot i Wilna och ställer sig i spetsen för ett band gerillakämpar som gömmer sig djupt i de polsk-litauiska skogarna och utför sabotageaktioner mot de tyska stridskrafterna. Här stannar de tre under resten av kriget för att därefter småningom ta sig till vad som snart blev Israel.

Efter krigsslutet började Abba Kovner, sedan han anlänt till Palestina, med sina vänner bland motståndskämparna planera för en spektakulär hämndaktion mot den tyska nationen. Genom förgiftade vattenreservoarer i tyska städer skulle miljoner tyskar mördas: öga för öga, tand för tand. Kovner och hans grupp lojala judiska motståndskämpar kallade sig “Hämnarna” (avengers, på hebreiska Dam Yehudi Nakam). “Vi kanske inte kan förhindra en ny förintelse”, resonerade man, “men vi kan se till att den inte blir ohämnad.”

The real deal – Rozka Korczak, Abba Kovner och Vitka Kempner.

Av olika skäl inställdes denna aktion (plan A) men i stället genomfördes en plan B, då ett krigsfångeläger för tyskar nära Nürnberg utsattes för en giftattack med arsenik vilket enligt uppgifter i amerikansk press ledde till att 2238 man förgiftades och måste vårdas på sjukhus.  Om några av dessa dog, och i så fall hur många, är oklart. Det kan nämnas att sionistledaren Chaim Weizmann, som skulle bli Israels förste president, enligt Cohens skildring godkände plan B under ett samtal med Kovner.

Det dröjde inte länge efter sin ankomst till Israel innan Abba Kovner på nytt blev inblandad i krigshandlingar, nu som kämpe i den israeliska armé som betvingade de fem arabiska nationer som angrep staten Israel efter dess utropande i maj 1948.  Senare blev Abba Kovner (1918-87) rikskänd som poet, filosof, visionär och även arkitekt (han har designat Diasporamuséet i Tel Aviv).

Abba Kovner gifte sig 1948 med sin livskramrat Vitka Kempner (Kovner), född 1920, som när detta skrivs uppges fortfarande vara i livet och ha två barn och fyra barnbarn. Rozka Korczak (1921-88) dog, liksom Abba Kovner, i cancer.

die familie fuss vermietet ferienwohnungen in israel. unter anderem in tel aviv. schaut euch dieses angebot an. kann eine ferienwohnung in tel aviv noch zentraler liegen ? wenn ich mir die preise fuer die wohnungen ansehe kann ich nur sagen: viel billiger als ein hotel.

ausserdem verfuegen die wohnen ueber eine wireless internet anbindung. das spart dem grenzgaenger eine menge geld. schliesslich bloggt der grenzgaenger auch im urlaub und ruft regelmaessig seine e mails ab. das geht ganz schoen ins geld und genau dieses geld kann man sich sparen wenn man eine ferienwohnung er familie fuss mietet.

es war sehr schoen im internetcafe “private link” (Ben Yehda Strasse 78).

aber auf der anderen seite ist das angebot in der ferienwohnung zu surfen kaum zu ueberbieten. zumal ich dann mein eigenes netbook benutzen kann.

sobald ich wieder – mit hilfe g”ttes – gesund bin werde ich wieder nach tel aviv reisen und die ferienwohnung testen.