Thursday, November 26, 2009

Wedding Day + Photo Shoot + Tow Truck = PERFECT DAY! (2002)



Ah, my wedding day!  This was taken at the base of the Bahai Temple gardens in the old German Colony, Haifa, Israel.  The most memorable moment of the photo shoot actually had nothing to do with my wife or me.  While the photographer and his assistant were busy taking photos, the cops came around and towed the photographer's car!  The assistant took off on his scooter to try to catch up with the tow-truck (to no avail), while the photo shoot went on.

Wedding Day...photographer...tow-truck...those are words that, when combined in a single sentence, usually spell D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R, but everything went according to plan.  The photographer had plenty of film and supplies in his pockets, and the entire day was a success!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Subtlety...Israeli Style



Let's say you have a burning sensation when you pee, or maybe some weird bumps are developing below the belt. You better get to the doctor!  More importantly, get there without anyone knowing what you are going to the doctor for!!   Well, if you are seen following the arrow to Dr. A. Kedem's office, everyone will know your shame.

When I saw this on the wall, just off Kikar Tzion/Richov Ben Yehuda in Jerusalem, I couldn't help but feel bad for the poor souls who needed to use the good doctor.  There's little chance you'd be able to keep your burning secret for very long.

Use a rubber next time, chaverim!!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Sar El at Hatzerim Air Force Base (1996)

Here is the calendar from my Sar El experience in February/March 1996:

I was looking for pictures of my time there, but seem to have misplaced them. I had a good time on the base. I was the only guy out of half a dozen OTZMA participants, so I had an entire barracks all to myself. FINALLY...my own shower! My own bedroom! MY OWN TOILET!! All mine! For some reason, there was NOBODY else in the barrack (a huge building). I assume it was up for a refurb.

We spent our days cleaning guns with an IDF soldier the girls nicknamed "Vegas," because he grew up in Las Vegas...he didn't really like that. Lots of tiyulim (trips) and lectures, too.

The most memorable moment, though, was when we went to visit the Air Force museum and found a mannequin dressed an a soldier hanging from the helicopter skid. We posed, pretending to be hanging from the dude, making all sorts of crazy faces...and then we realized what we were doing: Posing and joking with a representation of Ron Arad, the Air Force hero taken hostage in Lebanon. Pretty fucking stupid, but would you have expected any more from a group of post-collegiate North Americans? No.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Havana Moon in the Valley of Elah


My friend Alon (on the right) is somewhat of a cigar aficionado.  Whenever we get together, we usually celebrate with steak and kabobs on the grill, nargila, and cigars.  I never had a Cuban cigar before my 2005 visit, as they aren't sold here in the USA.  When I lit one up for the first time in Alon's backyard, I then understood why they are so legendary.  Such flavor!  So smooth!

Here is the ring from my very first Cuban:


My wife and I LOVE Alon and Miki's home.  A small house on the moshav with beautiful flowers around the porch and a small yard.  It really is the perfect place to come home to after a long day of work.  Whenever I make a trip to Israel, I always make time for a visit with old friends.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Domino's Pizza Delivers...to Haifa!



Whether you are watching the ballgame somewhere in Iowa, or drinkin' some Gold Star beer with your chevre in Haifa, you need pizza.  Domino's Pizza delivers!  Here's a refrigerator magnet I picked up in Haifa in 2005.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

OTZMA X - Tiyul to the Shfela Plain (1996)



Part of my OTZMA experience (www.otzma.com) was a stint as a volunteer on Hatzerim Air Force Base.  During those weeks, we took a day-long tiyul (tour) of sites in the Shfela Plain.

For a .PDF of both sides of the document, click here:   http://www.divshare.com/download/8617935-855

Monday, September 21, 2009

OTZMA X (1995-96)



I really can't explain how important the OTZMA program was in the context of my life.  After graduating college, I went on this 10-month journey (I actually stretched it to a year), and haven't been the same since.  My connections to Israel and Judaism strengthened and I now see this experience as one of the important milestones in my life.  Birth, College, OTZMA, Marriage, Children:  It may sound like I am going over the top, but trust me, I'm not.  The "X" means this was the 10th iteration of the program.

This photo (that's me in the back row/center - eyes closed, of course) was taken at the end of our initial 3-month stay at Kibbutz Ma'ayan Tzvi, where I volunteered as a gardener.  No, not planting tomatoes like your grandma, but essentially landscaping and irrigating the entire kibbutz.  I had a ball and was thankful I wasn't working down in the fish ponds.

My connection to the Land of Israel has only strengthened since 1996.  I have returned numerous times, and was married in Haifa in 2002.

Later in the program I was stationed elsewhere in Israel, specifically Beit She'an in the North, but I often skipped out on my "duties" (volunteering at a school) to go have fun with my Israeli boss-turned-friend who lived down the road at Kibbutz Nir David.

I encourage any recent college grad to check out the program at www.otzma.com.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Yitzhak Rabin Telecard (1995)


Following Yitzhak Rabin's assassination on 4 November 1995, the term "לא לאלימות" or "No To Violence," gained a lot of popularity.  Not simply as a term, but as a meaningful realization that the right-wing political rhetoric may have gone too far.  Before Rabin died, some rabbis associated with the right (I emphasize some, NOT all) placed curses on Rabin, images of Rabin in Nazi uniform circulated widely, and a general extreme hatred of him and his policies began to spread.  I picked up this telecard (used to place calls at public phones) in '95.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Salute To Israel Parade, NYC (1968)


Although this photo was taken a few years before I was born, I thought it would be great for my first post! (I just won this photo on ePay)

It is Erev Rosh Hasahna 5770. Yitzhak Rabin is a man I will always admire.  His bravery on the battlefield can never be questioned, and his bravery in Knesset is something that every politician should strive to duplicate.  Though his legacy will always be debated, I see him as a true hero - a man willing to risk everything for the sake of his people.