Misadonet Kurdish Kitchen in Jerusalem (2001)

 

I can't imagine that this place is still open, but if it is, then they most likely completely revamped their menu.  My then-girlfriend (now my wife) and I found this place and thought it would be a nice little hole-in-the-wall restaurant.  WRONG.  The qubeh were lousy, tough, and heated in a microwave.  With as little traffic as this place saw, you'd think they could throw together a real meal.  My Israeli buddy Alon mocked me for going to such a crappy place!

Graffiti in Herzliya (2013)

Some decent pieces, hiding in the back of a parking lot near the intersection of Sderot Abba Eban and Richov HaSadna'ot in downtown Herzliya.

Coral Beach, Eilat (2001)

My wife's and my last Eilat getaway without kids.  In June 2001, we laid out on Coral Beach under the umbrella sipping freshly made mango-ice smoothies, and walking in the water and feeding the fish (but don't tell anyone...you're not supposed to do that!).

Israel Is Born - A Documentary LP (1953)

Label: Caedmon Records – TC 1014
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1953

Complete LP info here: www.discogs.com/Various-Israel-Is-Born/release/3662434

A fantastic slice of history presented in that long-deceased format, the narrated documentary LP.  I'd like to send a shout-out to Field Noise for posting the audio to this.  In more modern times we get these documentaries through CNN and other video formats, but there is something to be said for an audio-only spoken-word document of one of the greatest historical events in World History - the return of the children of Israel to the land given to them by God.

Download the LP in its entirety HERE.

Bus Receipts (2010)

The Texas Grill - Eilat (2000)

Anya and I were looking for something filling one evening while staying Eilat.  We happened upon the Texas Grill, which sounded pretty good.  A "real American BBQ" on the Red Sea coast?  Count me in!

Well, long story short, the short ribs were just plain awful.  Not too much meat and not too much BBQ.  I think a better description of the restaurant would be "The Real Israeli Interpretation of American BBQ by Someone Who Never Had American BBQ."  I ate what I could and then made my way back to the nargila bar!

Shana Tova l'Kulam!

Cleaning Guns - Hatzerim Airbase (1996)

For a couple weeks I participated in the SAHAL program, which is essentially volunteering with the IDF.  You are helping out the military by doing the BS work that would normally be done by soldiers.  Here we are at Hatzerim Air Base in the Negev desert cleaning UZIs, M-16s, and Galils.  Our supervisor Oren, nicknamed "Vegas" by one of us because he had spent time there, was really nice - even though he would confide in me that American girls drove him up the wall, especially when you had to deal with a bunch of 'em at once. No shit, chaver!

The newest recruits had to sleep in those tents in the background.  Suckers!!  Also funny, the soldiers on the base who had screwed up and lost their gun (or misplaced it) had to walk around with fake guns painted red and made of wood!  Talk about shaming someone into never making a mistake again...

The OTZMA X Songbook - Eli, Eli (1995)

A mandatory entry in the American Jew's songbook is Hannah Szenes's "Eli, Eli."  Her story of Jewish nationalism and anti-Nazi heroism is legendary:

In 1941, Hannah joined Kibbutz Sdot Yam and then joined the Haganah, the paramilitary group that laid the foundation of the Israel Defense Forces. In 1943, she enlisted in the British army in the Woman's Auxiliary Air Force as an Aircraftwoman 2nd Class and began her training in Egypt as a paratrooper for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE).  In March 1944, she and two male colleagues, Yoel Palgi and Peretz Goldstein, were parachuted into Yugoslavia and joined a partisan group. After landing, they learned the Germans had already occupied Hungary, so the men decided to call off the mission as too dangerous.  Szenes continued and headed for the Hungarian border. At the border, she was arrested by Hungarian gendarmes, who found the British military transmitter she was carrying, used to communicate with the SOE and other partisans. She was taken to a prison, stripped, tied to a chair, then whipped and clubbed for three days. The guards wanted to know the code for her transmitter so they could find out who the other parachutists were. She did not tell them, however, even when they brought her mother into the cell and threatened to torture her too.

Whilst in jail, Szenes used a mirror to flash signals out of the window to the Jewish prisoners in other cells, and communicated with them using large cut-out letters in Hebrew that she placed in her window one at a time and by drawing the Magen Davidn the dust. She tried to keep their spirits up by singing, and through all the things Szenes went through she still kept her spirit high and stayed true to her mission. -  Wikipedia
 

This is a songsheet handed out (probably on a Shabbat) during OTZMA X:

Volunteer Card From My Life-Changing Year

I can't remember if I've said it before on this blog, but my year in Israel as part of the OTZMA program changed my life forever - and here is where it all began.  After arriving in the country we filled out these cards, which gave us volunteer status for 11 months.  I have reflected on that year almost every day of my life...and that was 1995-96!

Erotic Massage (Without Sex!) - 2007

Professional Erotic Massage

30 minutes - 150 NIS

45 minutes - 190 NIS

4 hand massage - 200 NIS

Without Sex!

Body Naked Girls!

Come to us or order

Free Ride To The Place

Please tell me the point of being massaged by naked girls when you can't have sex?!  Even so, my wife wouldn't let me call.

Pretty Things Receipt (Beit Shemesh, 2010)

I happened to find this in my wallet today...months and months after I crammed it in there!

Jeffrey Seidel - Judaizer of the Secular Masses!

 

(May 15, 2000) Most American visitors will recognize the name on this card.  Jeffrey comes off like a real nut, but his heart is in the right place.  You could usually find him hanging out around the Kotel looking (hunting?) for the secular visitors.  You'll always have a free place to stay as long as you can handle the Orthodox lifestyle.

Check out Jeffrey's WEBSITE for further reading...

Bus Trip Through the Desert (6/2000)

Anyone who has ever had to sit on a long-distance Israeli bus knows how they can seriously suck.  There is always some douchebag who likes to keep a window open when everyone else just wants to relax in the air conditioning!

My friend Anya and I were leaving the hot comfort of Eilat for the cooler temperatures of Jerusalem.

NFTY Field Trip - Eric Clapton Live in Jerusalem - 13 July 1989

Our National Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) group was exhausted.  Well into our trip, we were offered a night out in Jerusalem to see Eric Clapton.  If I remember correctly, it was about 30NIS for the ticket.  Our entire group signed up...we loaded up the bus and headed over to Sultan's Pool - a large grass-covered area in the heart of Jerusalem.

Sultan's Pool

I think every Anglo in the country converged on Sultan's Pool that night!  We hit the porta-johns first, with their lack of toilet seats (aim for the hole!) and then the t-shirt stand.  My mom still wears the t-shirt I purchased.  

The stage was large.  Before the concert began, James Brown was playing out of the speakers and our group spontaneously started that late-80s chant, "Free James Brown!  Free James Brown!"  (He had been arrested for domestic abuse and drugs, but he's the Godfather of Soul - he should get a free pass, right?)

It has been more than 20 years, but I still distinctly remember the feeling I had that night, just a tall, skinny 15 year old standing in a crowd and watching Clapton in the center of Jerusalem.  Brief memories shoot through my brain from that night...I remember at the rear of the Pool (visible to the right in the above photo) there were large wooden "walls" so pedestrians and people on the street couldn't easily watch the concert for free, and one of these walls SMASHED to the ground below, scaring the hell outta me.  Some of the girls in our group sat on guys' shoulders to get a better view.  I wouldn't have been strong enough to carry the girl I had a HUGE crush on, but I remember standing next to her for much of the night.  

I saw Clapton again on this tour in Richfield, OH, and he didn't play with the same intensity as he played on this night.  Can you blame him?

I have found a recording of this concert and I offer it for download HERE for your listening pleasure in 256kbps MP3!

"Journey To Jerusalem"

Sultan's Pool, Jerusalem, Israel

July 13, 1989

1. Crossroads

2. White Room

3. I Shot the Sheriff

4. Bell Bottom Blues

5. Lay Down Sally

6. Wonderful Tonight

7. Wanna Make Love to You   

8. After Midnight   

9. Can't Find My Way Home  

10. Forever Man

1. Same Old Blues

2. Tearing Us Apart

3. Cocaine

4. Layla
5. Badge
6. Sunshine of Your Love
7. Interview

Eric Clapton - Guitar, Vocals
Phil Palmer - Guitar
Nathan East - Bass
Steve Ferrone - Drums
Alan Clark - Keyboards
Ray Cooper - Percussion
Katie Kissoon - Backing Vocals
Tessa Niles - Backing Vocals

The Mamila Deli - Jerusalem

One night, I went into Jerusalem with the family and my wife's cousins.  I was really stunned by the renewal going on throughout the Ben Yehudah Street/Kikar Tzion area of downtown.  There is so much that has changed over the past 10 years!

So, the cousins took us to the Mamila Deli, where the boyfriend of the cousin's sister-in-law works.  All I could say was...wow...this food was fantastic.  I devoured it in seconds.  I ordered a Mamila Sandwich with all of those delicious Israeli toppings you can think of.  I left there bloated and happy.  There's nothing like it here in Virginia...so all I have to savor is the memory of a delicious night out in the city of Jerusalem.  Great choice, Maoz!

Wipe your punum, chaver!

"Keeping The Faith" Ticket Stub

(June 9, 2000) An odd, but appropriate choice for a movie in Israel!

NEVER FORGET: The 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre

Jim McKay and his broadcasts from the Munich Olympics.

Never forget, nobody ever needed an excuse to kill Jews.  What is equally sickening to me, is that during the massacre other countries blamed Israel for ruining the Olympics.  And if you didn't know, the Olympic Committee has never officially recognized the murdered Israelis...even through a moment of silence.  I remember watching the Olympics in 1992 to see if there would be something said about the 20th anniversary...but no such luck.  If you think times have changed, you're wrong.  Like it or not, we are alone.

Watch the outstanding documentary, "One Day In September," about the Munich Olympics.

Kai Fresh Sushi - Tel Aviv

Kai Fresh Sushi ephemera!

My cousin took us for a night out in Tel Aviv, and we all agreed upon sushi.  A great little joint to grab your sushi off a conveyor belt.  So, over raw fish and beer, we caught up on each others' lives and had a fantastic dinner.  One thing I'll never forget is that my oldest son felt like misbehaving and laid his head next to the conveyor belt so he could lick each dish as it passed by.

Get Yer Kippot Here!

When you are in Jerusalem, you're bound to drop by Ben Yehuda Street, the center of the city's tourist universe.  If you are looking for kippot, this area ain't exactly cheap.  However, if you really need a kippa NOW (as I did) this is a great place to go.  Just off Ben Yehuda is Joel /Yoel Salomon Street, and that's where Michael Kippa Center is.  The woman behind the counter was wonderful, offering our boys water while we went through drawers of kippot.

Yoel Salomon Street, Jerusalem