The RJ Insider's Guide to Israel Travel - Summer 2013

The RJ Insider’s Guide to ISRAEL TRAVEL

Nation of Innovation: • Ecotourism • Museums • Cuisine • Fashion • Religion

A Union for Reform Judaism Publication

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RJ INSIDER’S GUIDE TO ISRAEL TRAVEL

Nation of Innovation: Ecotourism

By Darryl Egnal

Ariel Sharon Park (park sharon.co.il) and Mount Hiriya (hiriya.co.il)

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ithin the 2,000-acre Ariel Sharon Park in the heart of Greater Tel Aviv (Gush Dan) stands Mount Hiriya, a former environmental hazard turned into a national asset— indeed, one of the most successful reclamation projects in the world. For almost 50 years, Hiriya functioned as a landfill. Then, in 1999, when it had grown just under 200 feet tall, Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection decided to clean it up. In only two years it was transformed into a recycling park and environmental educational center which runs tours, movies, lectures, and seminars to educate the public about recycling.

Nowadays you can stroll through the park, go bird-watching, hike on a 50-acre scenic foot path or follow the bicycle trail, and enjoy the vista from the park’s crowning glory—a metropolitan observation deck called the Belvedere. You can also take five different group tours: an introduction to the rehabilitation of Mount Hiriya, bird watching, a

Darryl Egnal is a freelance feature writer, editor, and photographer (darrylegnal.com). She thanks Joe Perlov and his associates at IsraelExperts (israelexperts. com) for guiding her on this eco-tour of Israel.

Welcome to the 3rd RJ Insider’s Guide to Israel Travel

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n celebration of Israel’s 65th birthday, we are pleased to present this Israel travel guide, produced in partnership with the Israel Ministry of Tourism (“Come find the Israel in you”—goisrael.com) and the Association of Reform Zionists of America (“Building a pluralistic and democratic Israeli society”—arza.org).

Today’s visitors to Israel will not only marvel at historic treasures, but also at the creative imagination of its people. Come along with us on a journey through Israel’s innovations in ecotourism, museums, food, fashion, congregational life, and technology. Inside you’ll also discover the first-ever map to Reform synagogue worship in Israel, giving you the inside track on connecting with your Jewish family throughout the country.

See you in Israel.

—The Editors

bicycle tour of the park trails, “Who Lives under the Stone?” (the world of reptiles), and “Environmental Innovation: Then and Now” (including a tour of Israel’s first agricultural school). In upcoming years the park will be beautified by an amphitheater, a boardwalk, cafés, an archeological area, heritage sites, and an observation bridge constructed from recycled shipping containers that will link it with the main thoroughfare leading to Tel Aviv.

Vertigo EcoArt Village (eco-artvillage. org)

A TREE SCULPTURE BY ARON NAVE, KIBBUTZ REVIVIM.

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bout an hour’s drive south of Ariel Sharon Park in the Valley of Elah, you’ll discover the

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creative handiwork of the four Wertheim sisters—Noa, Tali, Rina and Merav.

Over the last five years, starting out with nothing but an abandoned chicken coop, they’ve built Vertigo Eco-Art Village, a center for education, art, and dance on Kibbutz Netiv Ha Lamed Hei—thereby realizing their dream of living together in an environmentally-sustainable way while expressing their passions for the arts.

Vertigo is open to visitors and groups year-round. Group activities include movement workshops for both dancers and non-dancers as well as hands-on learning (such as how to make art from mud and building with adobe mud bricks). The sisters also continued on page 30 About Our Cover Jerusalem Chords Bridge at the entrance to the city. Inaugurated in 2008, it is now being used by Jerusalem Light Rail, which began service in 2011.

Cover Photo: Itay Bar-Lev / Gett y Images; Forest Photo: Tal Glick / Israel Ministr y of Tourism; Tree Photo: Darr yl Egnal

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srael is now a world leader in green innovation, conservation, and environmental sustainability—and many of the initiatives are open to all of us to see and experience.

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JOIN US IN

© iStockphoto.com /Gannet77, courtesy of Matov u Productions

Smart Hospital Bed: Hospitals and nursing homes around the globe utilize Smart Beds, created by EarlySense, a health monitoring device the size of a heating pad that is placed under a mattress to monitor heart rate, breathing, and body movements.

Israeli Tourniquet: The Emergency Bandage, invented by an Israeli military medic, Bernard Bar-Natan, applies pressure to a wound and can be used as a tourniquet in cases of severe bleeding. The bandage is so easy to use, an injured person can apply it with one hand.

Fighting Mosquito-Borne Diseases: Ben-Gurion Univer-

sity Center for Biological Control director Yoel Margalith’s continued on p.30 This article has been adapted with permission from Israel: Repairing the World by Rabbi Stephen Wise (Shaarei-Beth El Congregation, Oakville, ON), Matovu Productions, ma-tovu.ca.

2013 DEPARTURE DATES

16 DAYS INCLUDING 2 NIGHTS IN EILAT

16 DAYS INCLUDING 2 NIGHTS IN EILAT

MAR. 5 - 20

APRIL 23 - MAY 8 MAY 7 - 22 MAY 21 - JUNE 5

GUARANTEED TO BE THE TRIP OF A

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BAR /BAT MITZVAH AND FAMILIES

Ceremony on Masada & Rabbi’s services Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration party Archeological hands-on dig Kayaking Camel rides Snorkeling Hiking Gifts And more!

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Our exceptional FREE offer for your Bar/Bat Mitzvah child Our meticulously planned, world renowned tour Our dynamic, wellrouted itinerary Our ultra-deluxe hotels - Including The King David Jerusalem Our guides – the most requested team in Israel, led by our Israel Tour Director, Ben Ami Geller.

All departures include Eilat

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FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE!

FA M IL OW N Y ED AN OPER D AT S IN C E D E

ADULTS ONLY

A Camera You Can Swallow:

Doctors in 60+ countries use the PillCam, a smooth capsule the size of a pill that patients can swallow, to determine best treatment protocols. Developed by Given Imaging, its miniature camera THE PILLCAM takes 50,000+ images inside the body over an eight-hour period.

2013

2013 DEPARTURE DATES

By Stephen Wise

M A R G A R E T M O R S E TO U R S NO ONE DOES ISR A EL BETTER, NO ONE!

FREE TOUR INCLUDES

ISRAELI INVENTIONS AT WORK

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FAMILY- BAR/BAT MITZVAH 15 DAY – DELUXE TOURS JUNE 17-JULY 1 / JUNE 24-JULY 8 FAMILY- BAR/BAT MITZVAH 12 DAY – DELUXE TOURS JUNE 13-24 / JUNE 27-JULY 8 / AUG. 15-26 FAMILY- BAR/BAT MITZVAH 12 DAY – VALUE TOURS JULY 25-AUG. 5 DECEMBER TOURS DEC. 22-JAN. 1 2014 / DEC. 22-JAN. 4, 2014 ADULT 15 DAY – DELUXE TOURS SEPT. 30-OCT. 14 / OCT. 14-28 ADULT 15 DAY – VALUE TOURS APRIL 22-MAY 6 / JULY 1-15 / OCT. 21-NOV. 4

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Make your dream journey come true.

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3/28/13 7:14 PM

ANYWHERE ELSE THIS WOULD BE A ROOM WITH A VIEW. But this is the desert of Masada, the Dead Sea, and the largest geological crater in the world. “It’s like looking back into time,” said Caitlin McNamara from her hotel’s terrace, overlooking the 200-million-year-old Ramon Crater. It’s the highlight of her first trip to Israel with her partner, Arthur. They’ve seen spontaneous oases, orchards that flourish in the desert, and the ancient Spice Route that led caravans to the Mediterranean – just a few of the wonders of Israel, where the history that makes us who we are still lives.

goisrael.com

There’s a little bit of Israel in all of us.

Come find the Israel in you.

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Innovation: EcoTourism continued from page 26

discovery of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti), which kills mosquitoes and black flies, was used along China’s Yangtze River, reducing the incidence of malaria by 90%. Unlike chemical insecticizes, Bti does not harm the environment.

offer tours of their socially responsible practices, such as how they recycle grey water to fertilize and irrigate their organic gardens. And Vertigo’s resident chef will prepare vegetarian kosher meals if ordered in advance.

Stand Up and Walk Again:

(neve-midbar.ilbiz.co.il)

Some people who would otherwise be confined to a wheelchair can stand, walk, and climb stairs as a result of ReWalk, a light brace support suit REWALK BRACE SUPPORT SUIT containing motion sensors and small motors worn over clothes, developed by Argo Medical Technologies.

I Seek You—ICQ: In 1996

Mirabilis created ICQ, the first instant messaging computer program. When America Online bought Mirabilis and its ICQ program for $470 million to develop its popular instant messaging system AIM, it was then the highest price ever paid to purchase Israeli technology.

Today, with 100 million+ users, ICQ is available for all Mac, Windows, and Linux computer operating systems, as well as iPhone, Android, Symbian, and Blackberry devices.

Leave a Message: In 1986, Comverse developed the world’s first voicemail system combining voice, fax, and calling functions into a single system. Today Comverse leads the world’s messaging market.

Helping the Blind: Project RAY developed a series of cell continued on p.31

Neve Midbar

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bout an hour south of Vertigo is Neve Midbar, a desert resort and thermal spa complex built around natural hot springs. Regional Mayor Shmuel Rifman conceived the idea of building a resort here in 1997, after learning that area farmers, exhausted after a hard day’s work, would spend their evenings relaxing in the natural, hot, mineral-rich pools.

Today, this desert oasis, amidst palm trees, pergolas for shade, chairs, and lounge beds, offers visitors three thermomineral laden pools, an indoor Jacuzzi, and a baby pool (all pool waters being recycled to irrigate Neve Midbar’s gardens). Popular spa treatments include hot stone massage, shiatsu, body peeling, and reflexology. Guests can dine at Neve Midbar’s kosher meat restaurant or dairy cafeteria. Nearby lodging is available at Kibbutz Mashabe Sade and elsewhere.

Chai Negev (chai-negev.net)

Mitzpe Revivim (mitzpe-revivim.net)

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ess than half a mile away, on Kibbutz Revivim, historical tours are given of a lookout point established in 1943 to defend the Negev. You can explore caves once serving as the command bunker and field hospital, walk through the restored fort and climb its tower, search trenches for hidden weapons, learn secret communication methods, and view WWII-era planes that transported military supplies to the area during the Arab siege of the kibbutz.

And if you’re like me, you’ll marvel at the tree art garden created by local kibbutz artist Aron Nave, who molds tree trunks into “impossible” shapes such as a Magen David and a pair of eyeglasses.

Nitzana Educational Community and Solar Park (nitzana.org.il)

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fter a 30-minute drive southwest, join the crowd at a massive tower that shades and cools the entrance to Nitzana Educational Community and Solar Park. A guide will take you through the park and demonstrate equipment

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ust four miles northwest of Neve Midbar, at Kibbutz Revivim’s Chai Negev zoological park, you can observe wolves, coyotes, foxes, and other desert animals in specially constructed habitats of mud, brick, and wood. You can also pet and feed SITTING AREA, ZIMMERBUS FOR COUPLES. monkeys, lambs, parrots, rabbits, and other tame animals; used to recycle dew, distill fog for reuse, bake your own pitas on an open fire, and desalinate seawater. You’ll also served with cheese, vegetables, olives, learn applications for different renewable and tea; walk the grounds, adorned by energy sources—among them sun, wind, 30 life-size stone statues of animals and water, and gravity. birds crafted by local artist Amnon BarIn 1986, former Knesset member and reform judaism

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zilai; and browse a gift shop stocked with locally-produced products. Overnight accommodations include mud brickconstructed African huts, Bedouin tents with authentic decorations, and teepees.

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ReWalk Photo courtesy of A rgo Medical Technologies and Matov u Productions; Zimmerbus photo: exodia.co.il

INVENTIONS from p.27

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ECO CAMPUS AT KIBBUTZ LOTAN.

Israel Prize Laureate Aryeh “Lova” Eliav (z”l), assisted by the Jewish Agency, started Nitzana to teach Israeli and Diaspora youth that the Negev Desert is a “living desert” which can sustain human habitation if done so in harmony with nature.

Nowadays, every year, some 15,000 young people attend seminars at Nitzana on preserving desert ecosystems, water conservation, solar energy, and more. Through tours of the Solar Park, adult visitors are learning some of these lessons as well.

A kosher lunch is available. Accommodation options include a guest apartment, a youth hostel, and a Bedouin tent.

Ezuz—Zimmerbus (exodia.co.il)

Eco Campus: courtesy of K ibbutz Lotan

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n one of the remotest parts of Israel—Ezuz, a town in the foothills of Mount Negev on the Sinai border about eight miles from Nitzana—you’ll also find one of Israel’s most unique ecoaccommodations—a bed-and-breakfast inside recycled buses. When owners Eyal and Avigail Hirshfeld first moved to Ezuz 11 years ago, they needed a place for their friends to sleep, so they fixed up an old, discarded bus. Friends loved staying overnight in the bus, and soon it became a popular weekend stop.

After strangers started asking the couple if they could sleep over too, the Hirshfelds decided to buy more buses, charge a fee, and name their enterprise “Zimmerbus” (“zimmer,” German for room, has become synonymous in Israel with “guest house”). Now the Hirshfelds own three buses: a regular sized bus with one room for a couple or two singles; and two larger buses, each with two bedrooms, for families—one of them an extra-wide former

airport shuttle bus. Refurbished to high standards, the buses are comfortable for sleeping, relaxing, and cooking. The larger ones contain a fully-equipped kitchen, dining area, lounge, and bathroom with Jacuzzi bath; the regular-sized bus has a shower and a sheltered outside kitchenette. Guests have the option of breakfast, which includes Avigail’s delicious homemade pita bread.

Reserve early, as the buses are very popular with tourists, not just for the unique accommodations but also for the locale, which features the largest sand dune area in Israel; magnificent spring flowers; nearby hiking, cycling, and camel trails; and Ezuz music events.

Kibbutz Lotan (kibbutzlotan.com)

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here is no community in Israel, or perhaps anywhere in the world,” says Alex Cicelsky, director of Research and Development of the Lotan Center for Creative Ecology, “where Jewish and environmentalist values have had more of an impact than in our Reform Movement’s Kibbutz Lotan.”

For nearly two decades, the Center— ensconced in the middle of the Arava Valley desert about 35 miles north of Eilat—has been experimenting with and teaching earth mud-building construction utilizing straw bales and recycled waste. Its EcoCampus is now carbon neutral. Its solar shed, which shades Israel’s first recycling station, supplies more clean energy than the buildings consume and also offsets the carbon emissions produced during Lotan’s “Green Apprenticeship” certification courses and “Peace, Justice and Environment Academic College Semester” programs.

In this eco haven you can find rejuvenating experiences for mind, body and soul. Lotan will customize educational programs for visitors, such as study sessions on Judaism and creative ecology, kibbutz life, pluralism in Israel, the desert as home, natural and holistic health, spirituality and awareness, and various forms of meditation. On-site therapeutic body treatments include cranial sacral therapy, reform judaism

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INVENTIONS from p.30 phone apps helping blind people to become more independent, such as an app to find their destination while walking down the street, and another app to make sure the right medication is taken when needed.

Cell Phone Photos: TransChip

made taking pictures with cell phones possible by developing the first high-resolution camera to fit on a single electronic chip for use in cellular phones.

Exploring Mars: Because of

mathematical calculations developed at the Technion in Haifa, NASA Opportunity and Spirit rovers were able to run on Mars MARS EXPLORATION ROVER using solar power and send pictures back to Earth. Both rovers found signs suggesting that water, and possibly a form of life, existed on Mars in the distant past.

Growing Plants—Drip by Drip: Drip irrigation, an Israeli

invention, releases a controlled amount of water through plastic perforated DRIP IRRIGATION IN ISRAEL pipes near the roots of plants, enabling each plant to receive the right amount of water for its growth.

This method conserves water and makes farming possible in arid regions worldwide.

Making Salt Water Drinkable:

Having very little rainfall but plenty of seawater led Israelis to continued on p.32

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INVENTIONS from p.31 pioneer desalination, which removes salt and minerals from salt water, thereby turning salt water into drinking water. Beyond watering its own agricultural industry, Israel has manufactured China’s largest desalination plant and many others elsewhere.

World Leader in Water Recycling: As the world’s lead-

er in water recycling, Israel recycles 75% of its waste water and sewage. Spain, in a distant second place, recycles only 12% of its water. As of 2012, 100% of sewage from the Tel Aviv metropolitan area is treated and reused for watering fields and public parks.

Better Place for Cleaner Air:

Better Place, the brainchild of Israeli Shai Agassi, created a revolutionary all-electric car transport system designed PLACE to make BETTER ALL-ELECTRIC CAR Israel oil independent by 2020. At charging stations in Israel and elsewhere, electric cars can switch batteries in about five minutes, less time than it takes to fill up a gas tank.

science, curiosity, and teambuilding can create bonds of friendship between Jewish and Arab high school students. In an experiential school program, young people from 14 educational institutions attend lectures and research in teams for projects lasting anywhere from a month to a year.

For half a dozen years, Birthright Israel and other groups have come here to discuss how ecological cooperation can help close the divide between Israeli Arabs and Jews. You’ll have that same opportunity; plus, your guide will take you on a Greenhouse tour, explaining such ongoing projects as environmentally sustainable fish farming and the study of microalgae for biodiesel production. Along the way, you’ll have the opportunity to meet with Jewish and Arab Israeli student representatives and hear firsthand how the Greenhouse has impacted their lives.

Ketura Sun

Agamon Hula Lake Ornithological and Nature Park (agamon-hula.co.il)

(keren-kolot-israel.co.il)

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bout two-and-a-half miles down the road from Kibbutz Lotan is Israel’s first commercial solar field.

In 2006, Kibbutz Ketura member Ed Hofland, together with American businessman David Rosenblatt and human rights activist/environmentalist Yosef Abramowitz, created a solar power company that, they envision, will someday supply Israel with 10% of its energy needs. Today, the 20-acre Ketura Sun solar field, owned and operated by Arava Power, contains 18,500+ Suntech photovoltaic solar panels which produce nine million kilowatt hours of electricity per year, powering some 4,000 homes with clean, renewable energy. At the current rate, over the next 20 years, Ketura Sun will offset some 125,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of planting 180,000 trees.

Visitors are welcome by appointment. Guided tours are available through Kibbutz Ketura’s Keren Kolot Educational Institute.

The Ecological Greenhouse—Kibbutz Ein Shemer (greenhouse.org.il)

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ead north from the Arava and in about four hours you’ll arrive at Kibbutz Ein Shemer’s Ecological Greenhouse, an independent nonprofit study and research center predicated on the belief that ecology, reform judaism

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ant to get close to flocks of cranes—60,000 migrate here in continued on page 47

When Visiting Kibbutzim or Other Agricultural Settlements Working is another way of praying.

You plant in Israel the soul of a tree.

You plant in the desert the spirit of gardens.

Praying is another way of singing.

You plant in the tree the soul of lemons.

You plant in the gardens the spirit of roses.

Singing is another way of loving.

You plant in the lemons the spirit of your son.

You plant in the roses the soul of your daughter.

Loving is another way of living.

You plant in your daughter the spirit of Israel.

You plant in your son the soul of the desert.

—Dannie Abse From Birkon Artzi: Blessings and Meditations for Travelers to Israel (CCAR Press, 2012)

Ecological greenhouse: Darr yl Egnal

THE ECOLOGICAL GREENHOUSE, KIBBUTZ EIN SHEMER.

yoga, and watsu—a relaxing shiatsu massage in a heated indoor pool, set inside a large mudbrick-constructed pavilion and open all year round. You can also enjoy swimming in the kibbutz pool any time from Pesach to Sukkot; bird-watching; guided tours of the kibbutz and the region by tour guide/ Lotan resident David Schoneveld; and, at the Solar Tea House, gourmet dairy fare harvested from Lotan’s organic gardens. A guesthouse offers accommodations, and guests are welcomed to join the Kibbuz Lotan community for Shabbat services and a festive dinner.

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RJ INSIDER’S GUIDE TO ISRAEL TRAVEL

Nation of Innovation: Museums

By Abigail Klein Leichman

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y shaky hand before the tour began, had difficulty which had been doctored so fitting the each of us looked 30 years key in the older. Interestingly, the door lock. individual audience memMacular degeneration bers’ reactions appeared to obstructed my vision, and depend on their real ages. A my feet felt leaden as I tried couple of teenagers in our to climb stairs. group appeared pleased by At 53 years old, I am— their virtual transformation; thank God—hale and hearty. those of us in middle age But I was at the new Diagasped in unison to see the logue with Time exhibition wrinkles and bags trans(dialogue-with-time.com), TOUCHING A METEORITE FOUND IN OKLAHOMA WHILE STANDING UNDER muting our projected faces; A MODEL OF AN ASTEROID, PART OF WHICH WAS BROUGHT TO EARTH where technology enabled and a few seniors expressed

BY A JAPANESE SPACECRAFT, MADATECH. me to experience what it’s relief that they wouldn’t like to be old. look all that different in the It is one of three interactive minihow to communicate through expresfuture. sions and gestures. museums housed at the Children’s Our group spent a good chunk of our Dividing into teams, our group 90-minute tour discussing the issues Museum of Israel (childrens played an interactive game of matching spurred by the interactive exhibits. In museum.org.il/) in the Tel Aviv suburb up sign-language symbols and words one, we were shown images of people of Holon, each of which utilizes a mixthat the guide swiveled around on a of varying ages doing different jobs— ture of ingenuity and homegrown, cutfor example, a 70-year-old jet pilot and ting-edge technology to personalize and game board like Vanna White on “Wheel of Fortune.” Using charade-like a 22-year-old mayor—and had to vote transform your museum experience. motions, we also assigned ourselves electronically whether or not we thought a person of that age could do the job nicknames based on our interests or Invitation to Silence pictured. Each of us explained our vote professions. I was amazed at how well Invitation to Silence offers hearing we functioned. By the end of the hour people a rare opportunity to journey and then engaged in a lively debate led we were able to order snacks in the into a world where communications

by Emanuel. Afterwards we watched silent canteen using only hand signals. depend upon visual cues, body lanvideo clips showing, for instance, an In this soundless world, we learned guage, facial expressions, and gestures. actual 70-year-old commercial pilot.

It is the world’s only such permanent about the remarkable ability of other sensAt one point, Emanuel divided our es, working in tandem with the human exhibition. The exhibit premiered in group into teams to play a multimedia brain, to compensate for lack of hearing.

Paris and then came to Holon, where it trivia game on aging. I was doing pretty stayed put in its own building on the well when suddenly he pointed to me Children’s Museum campus, as a result Dialogue with Time and told me to go sit on the sidelines. I of the unusually strong response from Having a personal connection with felt puzzled and a bit disappointed.

Israelis and foreign tourists alike. your guide is an essential component of After eliminating several others in the Walking into the small auditorium in each of the three exhibition experiences. same way, he explained that the game is the anteroom of the intimate museum, At Dialogue with Time, the guides are a device to let us feel what it’s like to be you are introduced to your deaf guide all aged 70 or older. Ours was Emanuel, forcibly retired, even when at the top of and given noise-cancelling headphones. 73, a retired journalist, military man, one’s career. Emanuel himself had been From that moment on, your group is and licensed tour guide, who regaled us cast out of the military at age 50. plunged into utter quiet for 75 minutes. with a photographic journey of his But your guide quickly teaches you career and family as we sat in a small Dialogue in the Dark auditorium. And then—to our surprise Pioneered in Germany in 1988, DiaAbigail Klein Leichman is the assistant editor and sometimes horror—Emanuel logue in the Dark offers a journey of of the educational website ISRAEL21c.org. flashed the photos taken of each of us sensory discovery in total darkness. reform judaism

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By Nicky Blackburn

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sraelis were at the forefront of cutting-edge developments in 2012, including these:

NASA TRANSPORT POD

Space age rapid transit debuts in Tel Aviv: It sounds

like something out of a sciencefiction movie, but if all goes well, within two years Israelis will be the first to try out a futuristic rapid transport system designed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in California.

The software-guided personal transport pods, designed for two, drive along a guide rail suspended from existing power lines.

Magnets in the vehicle create a magnetic field around the metal coil inside the rail, causing the vehicle to lift up and glide 60 miles per hour on a cushion of air.

The system uses very little energy and potentially could be powered entirely by solar panels. The goal is to build a pilot project in Israel, and then take it worldwide.

Cardboard wheelchair to roll out: The inventor, Israeli continued on p.38 Nicky Blackburn is editor and Israel director of Israel21c, an online news magazine about 21st-century Israel.

This article has been excerpted with permission from Israel21c. To read the full piece: israel21c.org/culture/ israel21cs-top-10-stories-of-2012.

Visitors get a short briefing, a long cane, and a visually impaired guide (the museum is now Israel’s largest employer of the blind), who guides them and their families/ friends into a pitch-dark series of simulated rooms—a public park, a bustling city street, a food market, and a working café. At the end, the VIRTUAL MEETING WITH PRE-STATE FIGHTERS, PALMACH MUSEUM, TEL AVIV. group converses with the guide about visual disability and coping the needs of the current museum exhibition. The upper and lower galleries strategies. Many participants have called the experience “life-changing.” A are shaped like white boxes; no visual distractions deflect attention from friend who went recently described the objects themselves. Just one exhibihow odd it felt for a group of sighted tion at a time takes place here, and people to become dependent upon a blind guide. “You build real bonds with the museum closes for a few weeks in between. both the guide and the others in your Visiting last February, I walked group, relying on one another for audithrough “Common Roots: Design Map ble and tactile clues about everyone’s of Central Europe,” an exhibit showcasposition in the environment,” she told me. “And when you can’t see, your oth- ing furniture, lighting, decorative, and utilitarian design from 10 FSU couner senses seem so much sharper. For instance, in the city street area, I felt the tries (Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, vibrations of the cars. I don’t think I Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia). ever noticed that before.”

Their designers are reviving nearly lost This cluster of experiential minicrafts, such as glassblowing, weaving, museums at the Children’s Museum is and furniture making. My two favorite so in-demand, advance reservations are objects were a garden chair nestled in a a must. You can request an Englishweatherproof cover that closes over it speaking guide. like a pod and an embroidered linen bread basket with an unusual adheDesign Museum Holon sive—starch. The exhibition, created ust as the Children’s Museum here, is now traveling through Europe. complex put Holon on the Israeli From March 19 through May 4, the museum map, three years ago the Design Museum will host “Lady of the Design Museum Holon (dmh.org.

Daisies,” focusing on the iconic Israeli il/default.aspx), designed by the renowned London-based, Israeli-born Gottex swimsuit brand established by architect Ron Arad, put this Tel Aviv fashion designer Lea Gottlieb. Ordinarsuburb on the international map. ily, the galleries display works of interThanks to Arad’s imagination, the national designers with some Israeli Design Museum experience starts even participation, but during the period of before you enter the 40,000-square-foot Israeli Independence Day, Israeli design building, as you are visually enveloped takes center stage. In the summer, Ron in its curving sweep of red- and orange- Arad will mount the first Israeli retrohued Cor-Ten steel alloy. A dark under- spective of his own works, following belly, meant to evoke a womb, supports successful shows in New York, London, the structure, leaving the two interior and Paris. gallery spaces unimpeded by pillars.

Make sure to stop into the Design Natural light is played to interesting Lab, where Israeli design academy stueffect; a louvered roof above the upper dents spend a semester honing a particgallery can be adjusted depending on continued on page 38

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Transport pod: Courtesy of sk yTran, sk y tran.us; Palmach Museum: Israel Ministr y of Tourism

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RJ INSIDER’S GUIDE TO ISRAEL TRAVEL

Nation of Innovation: Reform Congregations A Reform Movement Collaboration

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olls show that grown. Participants are both nearly 25% of sabras (native born Israelis) Israeli Jews choose and olim (newcomers). ConReform as the gregations strive toward a Jewish movement natural synergy of the highthey most closely identify est ideals of both Progressive with. That may explain why Judaism and Israeli society, the Israeli Movement for and the Israeli experience is Progressive Judaism (IMPJ, manifest in Israeli prayer reform.org.il) is growing books, traditions, issues, so rapidly. In the last three insights, and rituals. In genyears alone, 12 new Reform eral, Israeli Progressive communities have formed, Judaism tends to be more many in smaller cities and viltraditional than in the DiasCANTOR FREDDIE PEER (WITH MICROPHONE) LEADS HAKAFOT TORAH lages as well as on kibbutzim. CEREMONY AROUND KEHILAT KODESH V’CHOL IN HOLON, ISRAEL, 2011. pora. A Progressive Beit Din Meanwhile, long established (religious court) regulates Reform congregations within Israel’s conversion procedures and guides other start paying these salaries. larger cities are forming satellite ritual matters. Nonetheless, at services Israel’s Reform communities are congregations. All told, 40 Progressive you will hear familiar prayers and meldiverse. Some primarily serve Russian communities are now active in every odies—and be warmly welcomed to or Spanish-speaking Israelis. Others are corner of Israel, from the Galil in the your spiritual home away from home. best known for their creative or musical north to the Arava in the south.

So, the next time you visit Israel, worship services, special women’s proAnd our Israel Movement is expected grams, lectures and study sessions, outcome and meet your Reform Jewish famto continue growing, to accommodate all door services, early childhood education, ily. Turn to the next page for your handy who seek a Progressive belief system guide to all the Progressive communities and offerings for children and adults that integrates traditional and modern in the Jewish State, complete with worwith special needs. values; conducts Jewish rituals in a fully ship offerings and contact information.

All the communities are homeegalitarian way; and works toward social justice reflecting Judaism’s highMeet ARZA est prophetic character, which calls for freedom, equality, and peace among all often in collaboration with the URJ and RZA—the Association for the inhabitants of the land.

Reform Zionists of America— other Reform organizations.

The IMPJ’s public and legal advocacy Reform congregations in the Diasworks in partnership with arm is the Israel Religious Action Center pora can connect to their Israeli counthe Israel Movement for Reform and (IRAC, irac.org), which for the past 25 terparts through ARZA’s Mifgash proProgressive Judaism and the Union years has served as Israel’s preeminent gram, which facilitates Israeli worship for Reform Judaism to support and civil and human rights organization, experiences, a deeper understanding strengthen the growing Reform championing democratic and societal of the IMPJ’s strides in Israeli society, Movement in Israel. ARZA’s member change, including women’s rights and and informal encounters with Israeli households (22,000 to date) are full religious equality for all streams of eligible to vote for World Zionist Con- Reform leaders and congregants.

Judaism (official recognition, funding, To support ARZA’s work and ensure gress (WZC) delegates, enabling the equal status for non-Orthodox rabbis, U.S. Reform community to advocate the Reform Movement remains well institutions, and communities). As one for a pluralistic Israeli society. ARZA represented in Israel politics, join example, this past February the IMPJ also spearheads initiatives ranging ARZA, the primary connection to filed a petition with Israel’s High Court, from targeted emergency campaigns Israel for all American Reform Jews, charging it with “foot dragging tactics” to to aid Israeli war victims and rebuild before the 2014 WZC elections. avoid paying regional non-Orthodox rabdamaged property to sponsoring For more information: arza.org, bis, even though the Attorney General celebrations of Reform Israel Shabbat, ARZA@ARZA.org, 212-650-4280. ruled in May 2012 that the state would

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ISRAEL TRAVEL

Visiting Your Family*

1

Arava: Kibbutz Lotan Worship Kabbalat Shabbat 1x month; D.N. Chevel Ayalot, Kibbutz Lotan 88855; 011-972-8-6356888; kibbutzlotan.com; lotancenter@lotan.ardom.co.il

10

Arava: Kibbutz Yahel Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly; D.N. Chevel Ayalot, Kibbutz Yahel 88850; 011-972-8-6357911; yahel.org.il; benjiegruber@gmail.com

Haifa: Kehilat Or Hadash; Worship Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat morning weekly; Rehov Hantke 55, PO Box 3711, Haifa 31036; 011972-4-8343905/6; or-hadash-haifa.org; com1@or-hadash.org.il

3

11

2

Arava: Reform Initiative in the Arava; N/A; benjiegruber@ gmail.com

4 5

Be’er Sheva: Adult Havura; N/A

Caesaria: Kehilat Tefilat HaAdam; N/A; 011-972-54-6246811; ayalasamuels@gmail.com

6

Haifa: Kehilat Ohel Avraham; Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly, holidays; Leo Baeck Education Center, 90 Derech Tzarfat, Haifa; 011-972-4-8300500; leobaeck.org.il; ohelavraham@gmail.com

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Haifa: Kehilat Shirat HaYam; Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly; Beit Ha’Gefen, Rehov Ha’Gefen 2, Haifa; 011-972-4-9508316; shirathayamcarmel.org.il; info@shirathayamcarmel.org.il

Even Yehuda: Kehilat HaShachar; Worship Kabbalat Shabbat 2x month, Shabbat morning 1x, monthly Beit Midrash; Nachman Revah, Box 961, Even Yehuda; 011-972-54-3976358; facebook.com/ kehilat.hashachar; kehilathashachar @gmail.com

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7

14

Gedera: Kehilat Yuval; Worship Kabbalat Shabbat biweekly; Rimonim School, Rehov Rabin, Gedera; 011-972-52-3401401; facebook.com/gedera-congregation; gederagroup@gmail.com

8

Gezer: Kehilat Birkat Shalom/ Kibbutz Gezer Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly; Mobile Post Shimshon, Kibbutz Gezer 99786; 011-972-8-9270646; birkatshalom.net; info@birkatshalom.net

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Gilboa: Kibbutz Beit HaShitta; N/A; tlalitshavit@gmail.com

CELEBRATION AT KEHILAT KAMATZ, MEVASERET ZION.

Herzliya: Kehillat Sha’are Kedem Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly; Sirkin 6, Herzliya 46392; 011972-54-9802373; shaare-kedem.org.il; shaarekedem@gmail.com Hod HaSharon: Kehilat Yonatan; Mosinzon Youth Village, Rehov Aliyat Ha’Noar, Hod HaSharon; 011-972-9-7463447; kehilat-yonatan.org; boyden@kehilat-yonatan.org

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Holon: Kehilat Kodesh V’Chol Worship Kabbalat Shabbat 1x month; Psagot Community Center, 21 Rehov Serlin, Holon; 011-972-547791033; kholon.org; holon.kehila@ gmail.com

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Jerusalem: Kehilat Kol Haneshama Worship Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat morning weekly; Rehov Asher 1,

Jerusalem 93470; 011-972-2-6724878; kolhaneshama.org.il; kolhaneshama@ kkh.org.il

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Jerusalem: Kehilat Mevakshei Derech Worship Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat morning weekly; Shderot Shai Agnon 22, Jerusalem 93589; 011-972-2-6792501; mevakshei.org; office@mevakshei.org

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Jerusalem: Kehilat Har-El Worship Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat morning weekly; Rehov Shmuel HaNagid 16, Jerusalem 94592; 011-972-2-6253841; kharel.org.il; harelcon@netvision.net.il

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Jerusalem: Chavurat Kiryat HaYovel; N/A; Tali School, Rehov Volta Elite 12, Kiryat HaYovel; 011-972-2-6724878; kolhaneshama.org. il; rabbiende@kkh.org.il

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Karmiel: Kehilat Yedid Nefesh Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly; Naamat House, 1 Havezelet, Karmiel; PO Box 50135, Karmiel 21605; 011-972-4-9983767; yedidnefesh.co.il; iedidnefesh@gmail.com

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Kiryat Ono: Kehilat Brit Olam Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly, most Shabbat mornings; Academic Campus Center, Rehov Tzahal 104, Box 608, Kiryat Ono; 011-9723-5340084; britolamono.org.il; info@britolamo.org.il

* NOTES: All information was furnished to RJ by ARZA in consultation with these IMPJ congregations. N/A means information was not made available to us or is not applicable to the community. Call before attending services. Map bottom adjusted to fit the space. reform judaism

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Kiryat Tivon: Kehilat Ma’alot Tivon Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly; Rehov Yitzhak Rabin 47, Box 7039, Kiryat Tivon 36000; 011-972-4-993-0459; maalotivon.com; maalotivon@gmail.com

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Megiddo: Kibbutz Megiddo; N/A; tlalitshavit@gmail.com

Mevaseret Zion: Kehilat Kamatz Worship Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat morning weekly; Rehov Anbar 4, Box 40148, Mevaseret Zion 90805; 011-972-2-5700361; kamatz.org; info@kamatz.org

bat morning or afternoon weekly; Box 1309, Ramat HaSharon 47100; 011-972-3-5473594; d-noam.org; vaad@d-noam.org

Rosh Ha’Ayin 48630; 011-97254-4272393; bavat-ayin.org.il; bavat_ayin@013net.net

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Rishon LeZion: Kehilat Achavat Yisrael Worship Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat morning weekly; Rehov Amzalag 6, Box 420, Rishon LeZion 75103; 011-972-3-9563822; www.achvatisrael.org.il/home/english; achvatisrael@bezeqint.net

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Rosh Ha’Ayin: Kehilat Bavat Ayin Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly, Shabbat morning 1x month; Rehov Mivtzah Dani 1, Neveh Afek,

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Rosh Pina: Kehilat Rosh Pina; N/A; 011-972-52-4204090; maayan@1885.co.il

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Sha’ar HaNegev: Kehilat Sha’ar HaNegev/Kibbutz Mifalsim Worship Kabbalat Shabbat biweekly; Tair Soussana, 45 Kibbutz Mifalsim; 011-972-54-7791109; N/A; Tair1465@ walla.com

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Mitzpe Har Halutz: Kehilat Har Halutz Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly; Har Halutz 20121; 011-972-4-9802373; halutz.org.il; lori10@012.net.il

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Modi’in: Kehilat Yozma Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly; Hativat Givati 31, Box 128, Modi’in 71700; 011972-8-9753461; yozma.org.il; yozma@yozma.org.il

Mapping Your Visit

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Netanya: Kehilat Natan Ya Worship Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat morning weekly; Rehov Beckman 10, POB 2654, Netanya 42126; 011-972-77-4225272; natan-ya.org; kehila@natan-ya.org

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MITZPE HAR HALUTZ

25 •

KARMIEL•20

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Ramat HaSharon: Kehilat Darchei Noam Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly, Shab-

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• 10, 11, 12 MEGIDDO

•23

40 • ZICHRON YA'AKOV

•9

GILBOA REGION

5 •CAESAREA 28

• NETANYA 6 •EVEN YEHUDA 29 14

RA'ANANA

• • HOD HASHARON

13•HERZLIYA 30•RAMAT HASHARON YAFO

•ROSH HA'AYIN

•• •21 32 36, 37 39 KIRYAT ONO 15•HOLON • 31

TEL AVIV

RISHON LEZION 35 SHOHAM MODI'IN 26 GEZER MEVASERET ZION 8 24 JERUSALEM GEDERA 38 16, 17, 18, 19 7 TZUR HADASSA

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•

•

•

•• •

34 •SHA’AR HANEGEV

Tel Aviv: Kehilat Tefilat Ha’Lev Worship Kabbalat Shabbat bimonthly; Tzucker Center, Rehov Rashi 48, Tel Aviv; 011-972-50-2534566; beit-daniel.org.il; facebook.com/ KehilatHaLev; orzohar@ yahoo.com

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Tzur Hadassa: Kehilat Tzur Hadassa Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly; PO Box 248, Tzur Hadassa 99875; 011-972-02-5790018; N/A; kehilah@ktzh.org

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Yafo (Tel Aviv): Mishkenot Ruth B’Yafo Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly; Sderot Yerushalayim 47, Yafo; 011-9723-5442740; beit-daniel.org.il; miraraz@gmail.com

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4

BE’ER SHEVA

Tel Aviv: Kehilat Beit Daniel Worship Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat morning weekly; Rehov Bnai Dan 62, Tel Aviv 62305; 011-972-35442740; beit-daniel.org.il; office@beit-daniel.org.il

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• 22

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Ra’anana: Kehilat Ra’anan Worship Kabbalat Shabbat, Shabbat morning weekly; Samueli Center, Pardes Meshutaf 94, Box 506, Ra’anana 43104; 011-972-9-7740311; raanan.org; kehilat-raanan@bezeqint.net

ROSH PINA

KIRYAT TIVON

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Nahariya: Kehilat Emet VeShalom Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly; Rehov Ha’Maginim 12, Shelter No. 723, PO Box 168, Nahariya; 011972-4-9927293; facebook.com/ groups/Emet.ve.Shalom; emet. veshalom.nahariya@gmail.com

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NAHARIYA

HAIFA

Shoham: Reform Community of Shoham; N/A; shoham.reform@gmail.com

•

1, 2, 3

• ARAVA REGION

Zichron Ya’akov: Kehilat Sulam Ya’akov Worship Kabbalat Shabbat weekly; Rehov Aharon 2, Box 10011, Zichron Ya’acov 30900; 011-972-46293113; facebook.com/k.sulam. yaakov; sulam@bezeqint.net

4/12/13 2:21 PM

entrepreneur Nimrod Elmish, started out with a low-cost cardboard bicycle made from recycled materials, but when a leading charity asked if he could also make a cardboard wheelchair, he realized it was a perfect match for his innovative technique.

Now his company, I.G. Cardboard Technologies, has entered into an agreement with an international non-profit to set up a $6 million factory for the production of cardboard wheelchairs in Africa.

The cost of these wheelchairs, which are made of recycled cardboard, plastic bottles, and recycled tires, is likely to be in the region of $10 each.

Revolutionary Israeli toilet:

It’s an invention that could transform the developing world.

Israeli company Paulee CleanTec has developed a toilet that needs no water, leaves no waste, and is powered by solar energy.

The toilet, which won funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, turns solid waste— including toilet paper—into odorless, sterile fertilizer in 30 seconds. The fertilizer is automatically dropped into a removable canister and can be used on crops.

Liquid waste will be sterilized separately and then used as gray water to flush the toilet.

The Gates Foundation believes that a reinvented toilet could save millions of lives.

Some 1.1 billion people don’t use a toilet, and about 80 percent of human waste goes into rivers and streams untreated.

Innovation: Museums continued from page 34 ular skill with a mentor—when I was there, it was Hebrew typography—providing a wonderful window into Israel’s active process of design.

MadaTech—Israel’s National Museum of Science, Technology & Space, encompassing Noble Energy Science Park

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ant to operate Leonardo da Vinci’s canal lock (revolutionary in his time and still used in navigating boats through narrow waterways)?

Would you like to “fly” in a helicopter based on the principle of aerodynamics discovered by the 18th-century physicist Daniel Bernoulli? How about using Archimedes’ heat ray to focus blinding sunlight onto approaching toy ships?

You’ll find all this and more at the Noble Energy Science Park on the museum grounds in Haifa. In separate courtyards you can interact with working models of inventions conceived by the master inventors mentioned above, as well as those of Isaac Newton (a giant “Boyo” yoyo that works with gravity) and Pythagoras (a wheel that kids can climb on and rotate with their legs to move water around three sides of a triangle). A courtyard with Galileo’s inventions is scheduled to open in the future.

In addition to the outdoor science park, MadaTech (madatech.org.il), built on the site of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology’s historic home, offers 600 hands-on exhibits and seven 3-D Cinematrix movies—“Odyssey into the Universe,” on the evolution of the solar system; “The Road to Safety” (a “4-D” film that has the added dimension of sensory effects in the theater seats) accompanying an interactive exhibition on safe driving; and “Hocus Science Pocus,” on the science of magic, among others.

The latter title dovetails with an exhibit called Magical Science, which reveals how magicians pull off classic tricks, such as sawing someone in half (it’s all mirrors) or making a ball appear to hover weightless (a hidden airjet does the job). When the exhibit first appeared, the Israel Magicians Society worried that it gave away too many of its members’ reform judaism

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secrets. Actually, MadaTech’s exhibit seems to have fed the public’s appetite for magic. Last year, Israeli television stations debuted several new shows on magic and mentalism, and membership in the society’s club for young magicians is skyrocketing.

An entire room of the science museum is devoted to a native Nobel Prize winner—Technion Institute Professor Dan Shechtman, head of MadaTech’s academic committee. You can see the diary in which he recorded his discovery of quasicrystals—microscopic asymmetrical particles that can be used to

PLACEBO NECKLACE, DESIGN MUSEUM, HOLON.

strengthen metals and other materials.

Crystals were thought to always be symmetrical, and it took years for the scientific community to acknowledge the validity—let alone the usefulness—of Shechtman’s finding.

Palmach Museum

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el Aviv’s Palmach Museum (info. palmach.org.il) tells the story of the pre-state volunteer fighting force through the eyes of seven young recruits as they train and then fight in the 1948 War of Independence. But instead of seeing static displays or glass-covered documents, you enter a three-dimensional, multimedia environment that brings documentary materials to life.

Your 90-minute tour, which must be booked in advance and is available in English, begins in a memorial hall for the 1,162 Palmach soldiers who died fighting to establish the State of Israel.

The final hour takes place in a revolving room, where you watch what happened to each of the brave souls you’ve met at the start and for whom

Photographs by Yael Pincus

IN THE WORKS from p.34

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Other Innovative Museums

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srael is a tiny country the size of New Jersey, but it has more than 230 museums—the greatest number of museums per capita in the world.

Many are innovative and one-ofa-kind, either for the subject matter or for how it is presented—a mixture of ingenuity and homegrown cutting-edge technology personalizing and transforming the visitor’s experience. These are also not to be missed:

The Tel Aviv Museum of Art (tamuseum.com)

Tel Aviv Museum of A rt: Israel 21c.; F lour Mill: David Touito; Museum on the Seam: Reuven Swartz/ Israel 21c

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ne of Israel’s leading artistic and cultural institutions, this threebuilding complex houses Israel’s largest collection of Israeli art in addition to works of world masters such as Van Gogh.

Its angular, TEL AVIV MUSEUM OF ART sleek, 200,000-square-foot wing, which opened in November 2011, features “Lightfall,” an innovative 88.5-foothigh spiraling atrium.

Museum of the Jewish People (Beit Hatefutsot), Tel Aviv (bh.org.il)

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ounded in 1978 with the ambitious goal of telling the 4,000-year-old history of the Jews—and keeping the story going into the future—Beit Hatefutsot pioneered the use of visitor-accessible databases of information about Jewish genealogy, communities, and family names, as well as visual documentation, films, and music. In 2007, an upgraded database system was installed, allowing for better search capabilities. In 2013, exhibitions include “Threads of Silk,” exploring the Bukharan Jewish community, and “This Great Sight,” four never before publicly displayed paintings in which Moshe Rosenthalis (1922-2008) depicts a visual narrative of Jewish history from the Exodus to modern Jerusalem. Each canvas is about 20 feet wide and five feet high.

Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv (eretzmuseum.org.il/e)

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ithin the sprawling complex of this often overlooked gem are several large pavilions, each devoted to a different Olympic Experience, theme, such as Tel Aviv (www. ancient ceramics, glass, coins, stamps, FLOUR MILL, ERETZ ISRAEL MUSEUM, TEL AVIV olympic.one. co.il/General/ and metallurgy.

Page.aspx?id=86&siteid=2) You’ll see working reconstructions of ancient olive presses and flour mills, his interactive museum’s five rooms and experience the cosmos at the statecorrespond to the five interlocking of-the-art planetarium.

Olympic rings. In the Israeli Ring, you meet Israel’s seven Olympic medalists in Museum on the Seam, hologram form. The Winners Ring features Jerusalem (mots.org.il/ a 360-degree video of exciting moments Eng/) in Olympic history. The Ring of History his institution is innovative brings you to ancient Greece, where the not for its technology but Olympic Games started, and then to Paris, for its genre. Opened in 1999 where the modern Games were founded. in a former military building The International Ring screens footage of that literally straddles the seam the world’s best athletes on an enormous between East and West Jerusalem, it globe, while the Ring of Experience lets focuses on socio-political contemporary you compete on sprinting blocks, mind art with the stated goal of raising controgames, and endurance. versial social issues for public discussion.

Works by local and foreign Arab artists Israel Museum, Jerusalem are often (english.imjnet.org.il) featured; he country’s largest past exhibits museum and most have comprehensive collection of included art in the Middle East sits on “Right to 20 scenic acres. In summer Protest,” 2010, a $100 million renewal “Dead End,” project was unveiled: a major and “Equal restoration of the Shrine of and Less the Book housing the Dead MUSEUM ON THE SEAM, JERUSALEM Equal.”

Sea Scrolls, a $6 million expansion to encompass the 50:1 scale Otzar HaStam (Letters of model of Jerusalem in the Second Adventure), Safed (hastam.org) Temple period, and a new Dead Sea ho would have thought that a Scrolls Study Center. Now fully museum devoted to ancient accessible to wheelchairs, the museum scribal arts could be so cutting-edge? Here takes visitors intuitively through you’ll not only learn how to write with a its archaeology holdings, the first quill on parchment—which, by the way, permanent galleries for Israeli art; and is projected on a large plasma screen— a newly configured Synagogue Route, you’ll also climb aboard a multisensory, incorporating four reconstructed syna3D ride into the mystical world of Hebrew gogue interiors from Italy, Germany, letters built by the same people who make India, and Suriname.

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educational adventure rides for Disney’s Epcot Center. On your journey you’ll meet a holographic scribe living in ancient Egypt and learn some of the subtleties of scribal arts.

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you now feel a kinship.

For me, the kinship felt especially intense. My daughter and I had come to Palmach with Efraim, an old pal of my father’s. As we walked into the museum, he looked at the mural of Palmachnik photos on the entryway wall and exclaimed, “Hey, that’s Motti!”

He’d spotted a photo of one of his closest friends, a Palmachnik who’d served with distinction. Efraim immediately phoned Motti, who lived nearby, asking if he could join us. Unfortunately, the elderly Motti was not feeling well and could not come. This brought home the fact that the surviving Palmachniks were not going to be around much longer to tell their stories. As the day progressed, I felt grateful that a museum could so effectively keep alive the legacy of these heroes of the Jewish people.

I kept a hand on Efraim’s elbow as we navigated a darkened series of rooms with uneven flooring, which simulated outdoor conditions. The first room transports you to Tel Aviv’s Herzl Street in 1941 as people watch a newsreel reporting on the war in Europe— one of the events that prompted the formation of the Palmach. The second room simulates a eucalyptus grove at night, where you meet the recruits and their commander. In the next room they are training for difficult assignments, such as blowing up bridges and helping clandestine immigrants evade the British. When they hear the UN vote in favor of a Jewish state, and subsequently go into battle, you are drawn into the War of Independence, and when two of the recruits you’ve gotten to know fall in the line of duty, you’ll be reaching for tissues. ♦♦♦ The number of museums in Israel— currently 231—is ever increasing. This past year the Architecture Museum opened in Haifa; next year the Women’s Museum will open in that same northern city. For information about them in English, I recommend ilmuseums.com.

And this I guarantee: No matter how many times you visit Israel, you will always be able to find inventive museums waiting for you to explore and experience.

summer 2013

4/16/13 10:59 PM

RJ INSIDER’S GUIDE TO ISRAEL TRAVEL

Nation of Innovation: Cuisine

By Rolene Marks

U

nique and innovative, Israeli cuisine draws from the culinary traditions of Jewish immigrants from 80+ countries, and spices them with Middle Eastern and Asian accents. Here’s just a sampling of the inventive venues and menus.

pastry traditionally served on Shabbat morning), sweetening it with date syrup instead of sugar. “You could say we are going back to basics,” Max says, “but finding new spins to make it modern.”

Yakimono—9 Rothschild Street, Tel Aviv; Hilton Hotel, Tel Aviv; 7 King David Street, Jerusalem

(drshaksuka.rest-e.co.il)

Dr. Shakshuka—3 Beit Eshel Street, Jaffa

(yakimono.co.il)

If you’re a sushi lover, you’re not alone in Tel Aviv. With 1,000 sushi restaurants, the city has the world’s third highest sushi consumption rate per capita. One of the city’s most innovative sushi spots is Yakimono, where you can order such original dishes as Inari, a sweet tofu pocket filled with spicy raw fish: salmon/tuna/yellowtail.

In the past, Tel Aviv sushi restaurants tended to employ Asian chefs with highly trained skills, but there are growing restrictions on the number of foreign workers allowed to work in the country.

And so an innovative way has arisen to meet market demands for perfectly prepared sushi: the Israeli government has allocated funds to teach demobilized soldiers Asian cooking skills.

At Yakimono, however, the awardwinning sushi masters remain Japanese.

Mul Yam—Tel Aviv Port

Chef Ronen: Nowitz Photography

(mulyam.com)

In 1995, owner Shalom Maharovsky opened Mul Yam (Across the Sea) in what was then a largely neglected area of the city. Today it is one of Israel’s most trendy restaurants, recognized for its award-winning chefs who have studRolene Marks, a frequent commentator on Israel radio, is part of Media Team Israel, an advocacy body that fights for balanced coverage of Israel.

YEMENITE JEWISH CHEF RONEN AT WORK AT MR. LACHUCH, SAFED.

ied the world over.

Executive Chef Yoram Nitzan says he is “constantly looking for new and innovative ways to combine cutting edge cooking techniques with the freshest ingredients—the ingredients being the true star.” Israelis, he says, are open-minded about avant garde cuisines, and therefore happy to try out his ravioli made with squid ink or sea urchins.

Max’s—Tel Aviv Shouk (no website)

Bouza— Corner of HaShuk Street and Ma’aleh Ha Misgad, Ma’alotTarshiha

You’ll find Max’s on Tikvah Street in Tel Aviv’s (no website) oldest outdoor food marSince Adam ket—Shouk Hatikvah.

Ziv, a Jewish Food and hospitality are the kibbutznik, and passions of Max’s ebullient Alaa Sawitat, CREAM AT THE JEWISH-ARAB OWNED owner, Max Bar Lev, who’s ICE an Arab MusPARLOR, BOUZA, OUTSIDE NAHARIYA. trained some of Israel’s top lim, opened chefs and culinary students. He offers Bouza (Arabic for ice cream) last July in original takes on traditional ethnic dish- northern Israel near the city of Nahariya, es, such as jachnun (a Jewish Yemenite they’ve attracted a steady stream of cusreform judaism

IsraelGuide_su13_F.indd 41

In Jaffa, a multicultural seaside suburb of Tel Aviv, one of the most popular eateries is renowned for innovative twists on Libyan cuisine, which fuses North African flavors peppered with Italian and Arabic influences. The restaurant’s specialty is shakshuka, a traditional North African dish consisting of eggs baked in a sauce of peppers, tomatoes, and chilies that Dr. Shakshuka has distinctively modified by adding mushrooms, eggplant, chicken, and/or merguez sausage. The small, quaint space is reminiscent of Aladdin’s cave; copper pots and pans intermingle with photographs of customers, including Israel’s glitterati and IDF warriors.

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tomers who came out of curiosity and then returned for the innovative ice cream made from fresh ingredients grown by local farmers. The menu includes some uniquely Middle Eastern flavors—pomegranate, pine nuts, even hummus. Yes, hummus. Hey, this is Israel and hummus is a staple!

As an added bonus, Ziv and Sawitat serve up conversation along with their

Ronen explains. “I want them to feel pride in their heritage, and the connection that a Jew has to Israel.”

Mukhtar—Usafiya Village in the Galilee (no website) Not much is generally known about the customs and beliefs of the Druze people, except that they are fiercely loyal to their host countries. Here, in the

fare,” introducing the citizens of her new nation to such specialties as wat, a spicy meat stew served on injera (a traditional Ethiopian flatbread made with fermented teff flour).

One of Shegar’s specialties is lamb cooked in onion and green peppers. Elem points out that “Every extra second it is kept on the heat makes it come out completely different. Always, I have to choose

LEFT TO RIGHT: FIRING UP A SIGNATURE NORTH AFRICAN DISH AT DR. SHAKSHUKA, JAFFA; A HAFLA (BEDOUIN-STYLE GATHERING) IN KFAR HANOKDIM, ARAD; ENTRANCE TO ARCADIA, JERUSALEM.

Mr. Lachuch Alkabetz Street, Safed (safed.co.il/Lachuch.html)

Here in the ancient city of Safed, the birthplace of the Kabbalah movement, visitors from all over the world flock to Mr. Lachuch (also called Ronen at Azamra) for a taste of lachuch—thick, richly textured Yemenite-style pancakes made from semolina and white flour—which the chef/owner, whom everyone knows as Ronen, flavors with strips of fresh peppers, eggplants, zucchini, chilies, and secret spices from the old country.

Ronen immigrated to Israel with his parents in 1949 during “Operation Magic Carpet,” when the majority of Yemenite Jews were airlifted to the newly established Jewish state, and later started the kosher restaurant as a homage to his heritage. Now the quintessentially Yemenilooking man, sporting a bearded smile that meets dark, twinkling eyes, is instantly recognizable as a fixture in Safed, dispensing Jewish wisdom along with lachuch.

“I want every Jew who walks in here to see that God is walking with them,”

village of Usafiya in the beautiful, mountainous Carmel region, visitors can catch a glimpse of their culture through the sharing of food.

A Druze guide meets arriving visitors and leads them on the “El Carmel” culinary tour. As you walk along the alleys of the village, passing the prayer house, the deserted church, and the ancient olive press, you’ll hear stories about Druze beliefs and customs. The tour ends in a Druze home, where you’ll converse with family members around the taboon (traditional oven) and relax in the madpa (guest room) while tasting authentic Druze food prepared by village women. Be sure to try the knafeh (also known as kunafeh), the Middle Eastern answer to cheesecake, combining goat milk cheese, shredded philo pastry soaked in sweet syrup, and rose water.

Shegar Ethiopian Restaurant—10 Agrippas Street, Jerusalem (ethiopianrestaurant. com/israel/shegar.html)

After immigrating to Israel from Ethiopia, Chef Elem Akuba was inspired to “lift the lid off of Ethiopian reform judaism

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when to take the food off the fire.”

Dining here, you’ll enjoy a feast fit for the Queen of Sheba.

Kfar Hanokdim—Arad (hanokdim.com)

Israel also offers the adventurous traveler an opportunity to partake in a “hafla,” a Bedouin-style gathering. At Kfar Hanokdim in the Negev Desert town of Arad guests can enjoy spiced Bedouin tea and Turkish coffee while relaxing on soft, colorful sofas in a carpeted goat’s hair tent. Tribal elders regale visitors with tales of their tea/ coffee ceremony, including how every cup of tea or coffee tells a story. The first cup is the welcoming cup; the second is the cup of fun.

Traditional Bedouin dinner fare— lamb garnished with parsley, skewered tender chicken, and homemade allkosher kebabs—is placed atop a giant homemade pita bread that serves both as a platter and utensils (cutlery is available upon request). Seasoned Bedouin rice, stuffed vegetables, and sweet corn round out the offerings. Here a traveler can truly dine like a chic sheikh! continued on page 46

K far Hanokdim photo by Merav Maroody, courtesy of K far Hanokdim; A rcadia photo by Daniel Layla

scoops, believing that delicious ice cream can smooth the way to talking peace.

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RJ INSIDER’S GUIDE TO ISRAEL TRAVEL

Nation of Innovation: Fashion

By Ori J. Lenkinski

T

el Aviv dazzles in many ways—its beaches, nightlife, restaurants. Less known but just as vital to this boisterous metropolis is its young, daring, innovative fashion industry.

Operating out of improvised studio spaces, sprawling urban factories, homes—and just about anywhere that will fit a drawing table and a sewing machine—are many of the artistic—and elusive—trendsetters of modern Israel.

The smart traveler can meet TLVSTYLE FOUNDER GALIT REISMAN. the artists—and potentially walk away with arms full of designer group tours of the studios of fashion booty—by taking an insider’s fashion industry innovators. tour with Galit Reisman. ♦♦♦ A tried and true Tel Avivian, Reismann, 37, got her first taste of Israel’s For our tour, Reismann chose fashion industry in 2006 as a distributor designers she identifies as true envelope for a local shoe brand, then moved to pushers. “They’re particularly innovaAmerica and began selling Israeli tive,” Reismann says, “because they designer goods (“Couple Of” shoes and lack materials such as textiles, leathers, accessories) to high-end boutiques in and metals and because of the disapthe States. Soon, though, Reismann pearance of traditional craftsmanship started feeling she’d lost touch with her from the market. They have to make up home base—the streets of Tel Aviv. for the missing pieces, and this propels “I really missed my city,” she says. them to create something new.”

“And then one day, around 2:00 AM, Most Israeli designers lament the scarcity of raw materials. Because of it hit me: I could use my experience Israel’s geographic isolation, much abroad to provide a service in the city sought-after merchandise does not I love.” reach local shelves. Another added difReturning home, Reismann ficulty is the fashion industry’s progresimmersed herself in the Tel Aviv world sion from handcrafting to digitalized of fashion designers. Soon the artists production. These days, fashion stubecame like “my extended family,” she dents rarely come into contact with the says. And now, TLVStyle (tlvstyle. intricate ways of old-world sewing and com), a company Reismann founded tailoring. Thus, current designers in last year, introduces visitors to behindthe-scenes Tel Aviv through tailor-made Israel hold onto their seamstresses and craftsmen for dear life.

Ori J. Lenkinski is a freelance journalist and professional dancer who serves as a cultural correspondent for The Jerusalem Post specializing in dance, fashion, and design.

Chen Fuchs

O

ur first stop was the northern Tel Aviv neighborhood known as Basel.

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There, 29-year-old jewelry designer Chen Fuchs (boticca.com) rents a tiny studio space among trendy coffee shops and upscale boutiques.

It was a chilly day for Tel Aviv, around 60 degrees, and Fuchs, bundled up in a thick grey sweater and brown riding boots, was hunched over a small worktable sorting through and polishing rings, necklaces, and brooches.

In 2005, Fuchs says, she was driven by a longtime interest in jewelry-making to enroll at the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in Ramat Gan, a small city adjacent to Tel Aviv. In one course, students were instructed to craft an exact replica of an ancient piece of jewelry using any technique they wanted. She chose an old Middle Eastern method called repoussé (literally meaning to grow back) and chasing—otherwise known as embossing—in which the artist forms shapes such as orbs and flowers by hammering the reverse side of metal sheets.

Using this technique, Fuchs was able to construct large, hollow objects out of paper-thin metal sheets. For her final project, she fashioned a collection of large, intricately detailed silver pieces, each one lighter in weight than the next.

They caught on—many Israelis buying them as sculptures for the home rather than as jewelry. “People couldn’t believe they were made of metal,” she says.

Upon graduation, Fuchs went straight to work on a collection interweaving ancient Greek aesthetics with an under-the-sea, coral reef essence, the pieces “looking like fossils or some kind of unpolished matter you’d find at the bottom of the ocean,” she says.

Three years later, she’s using repoussé and chasing to transform sheets of gold and silver leaf into delicate earrings and

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B

A MARIA BERMAN DESIGN.

Maria Berman

O

of 15 pieces—all handmade in her stuwith asymdio—each season, in order to produce metrical them in a tip-top way. Trusting very few hems, people to execute her designs, she works collars and with a team of one or two colleagues to trousers pump out the collections. Her steadily with oversized pockgrowing clientele includes fashion-savvy ets, and teens and young women as well as chic, slightly adventurous professionals. fancier sun Berman is also a firm believer in and party washing all of her clothes before they’re dresses. sold. “Laundry gives clothes a strong, Berman unified look,” she says. “There’s some solves the sort of magic in the washing machine.” problem of scarcity of Muslin Brothers raw materiack out on Allenby Street, Reismann als by juxtaturned us south towards Tel Aviv’s posing Florentine neighborhood. Once home unusual fabrics within her designs. “One to a large community of working-class of my first collections was all dresses Greek Jews, and now inhabited by a mix wearing sweaters,” she says. “I designed of immigrants and hipsters, Florentine dresses out of regular fabrics and then is a hodgepodge of construction sites created the same silhouettes using knit adjacent to dilapidated buildings awaitmaterials.” That first collection officially ing their own inevitable renovation. placed Berman on the Tel Aviv fashion On the third floor of an old building map, attracting the sporting a classic attention of the city’s Tel Aviv wrapquirkier fashionistas. around balcony and In 2010, to try painted tile floors, out new ideas, Berwe met the three man spent three designers of the sparkling new months working Muslin Brothers alongside fashion fashion company icon Vika Gazinska(muslin.brothers@ ya on the grand avenues of Moscow. gmail.com)—who, contrary to what “Moscow made me the name implies, want to do eveningare not all men and wear,” she says, are not related. holding up two The woman in shimmery black cocktail dresses. the group—28The designs are year-old Tamar reminiscent of EastLevit—wore jeans, ern European frocks a deep blue jacket, of the 1940s, but vintage glasses, and A MUSLIN BROTHERS DESIGN. she has chosen cona flowery scarf. Her temporary Japanese fabrics—a decipartners—Nadav Svetlov, also 28, and sion reached after many seasons of Yaen Levi, 35—are both thin, dapper, fruitlessly scouring local textile disbearded men. Svetlof wore navy blue tributors for fabrics she desired to use. chinos, brown lace-up boots, and a tan Eventually she elected to absorb the jacket. Levi sported a snug-fitting vincost of importing from the Far East tage sweatshirt and jeans. rather than settle.

In almost perfect contrast to the A staunch advocate for what she calls intricate detailing of Berman’s clothing, “quality,” Berman now fashions a total the Muslin Brothers designers chal-

ur second destination was in the heart of the traffic-heavy, chaotic garment district center. Once the shopping center of the city, Allenby Street is now home to fabric stores, discount outlets, countless independent bakeries, and a handful of restaurants tucked away in side streets and alleyways.

It was hard to believe that anything fashionable could be found at the end of the grubby staircase Reismann led us down. But what looked like steps to a subway tunnel opened to an underground, concrete courtyard lined with miniscule storefronts. Set back in one corner was a white door with the handwritten sign: “Maria Berman Clothing Co.” A peppy, slender woman with a warm smile and a touch of a Russian accent, the 33-year-old Berman is a well-known figure in Tel Aviv, having competed as a contestant in the sole season of the Israeli Project Runway. From one corner of the chock-a-block space, she procured teacups, from another half a lemon, and from yet another a small bowl of sugar.

She then sat down on a small sofa facing racks of her most recent collection and, sipping tea, described its fiery look as “crumpled structure.”

Also a graduate of Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Berman began selling one-of-a-kind pieces to local boutiques in 2005. She then brandished her label, Dress Up (mariaberman.com), comprised of reimagined basics: tees

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Maria Berman design: Photographer—Michael Fisch, Jewelr y—Paula Bianko, St yling—Maayan Goldman, Hair & Make-Up—Patrick Oved for SOLO, Model—Irina Roshik—MC2 Management; Muslin Brothers dress: Courtesy of Muslin Brothers

other wearable pieces, which she sells at local boutiques as well as on Etsy and other websites. Many of Fuchs’ clients notice how comfortable the pieces feel on the body.

Because of their light weight, they can be worn comfortably all day without pain. As far as she knows, she is the only person using this technique in Israel.

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lenge themselves with simple silhouettes such as seamless, draping tees and drawstring trousers. “Making simple things is actually more difficult,” Levi says. “What looks simple is actually not simple at all.”

“We are also always trying to break boundaries,” Levi notes, pointing, as an example, to an oversized jacket made of upholstery fabric. “Sometimes we like to create interesting pieces out of fabrics that are gross or unappealing.”

“Amazingly, our craziest pieces are always the first to go,” Svetlof adds.

In addition, the Muslin Brothers are known for an almost humoristic play on volume. Yards of fabric are interwoven into unisex, geometric tops and trousers, while maintaining the effortless, spontaneous vibe of their label.

And, Svetlof says, “We like to play with the boundary between masculine and feminine.” Their new label has a few dresses which they maintain can be worn by men. Levi pointed out a long, sheath dress in a vibrant green and orange safari print as an example of one look men could sport.

All of their fabrics are manufactured in Israel, because of the partners’ deep commitment to localism—which sets them apart from many of their peers and presents an added challenge they are happy to take on. “In Israel, the fabric search is really tough,” Levi says.

“It’s very difficult to find color fabrics, because in the 90s, at the beginning of the local fashion boom, everyone wanted grey, so the fabric stores brought in tons of greys and blacks. We really have to dig.” Judging by the vibrant oranges and soft teals of the summer 2013 collection, the Muslins are good diggers.

“In today’s Tel Aviv,” Svetlof says, “if you wear bright colors, you’re a hipster, and you’re usually dressed in vintage clothes because the vintage markets are the only place to find colorful outfits. If you are a serious person, you wear blacks and greys.” The Muslins hope to change this stigma, introducing current, edgy, and vibrant garments into the first-hand market.

Florentine’s Kastiel district, a fiveblock radius that takes its name from a local design house whose presence brought foot traffic back to this rundown part of town after most locals had long abandoned it.

Opening the door to her second floor apartment, Sivan Moshkovitz welcomed us into the living room, where she laid out homemade granola cookies and mugs of hot coffee. (Her workspace had been recently overtaken by her boyfriend’s business venture, bicycle bags that fit the baskets

of the city’s Tel O-Fun municipal bike rentals.)

Now in its eighth month, Complet (completboutique.com), Moshkovitz’s boutique accessories label, features her own unique fabric printing process.

In 2004, as a fashion design student at Shenkar, Moshkovitz, 29, was just as disappointed as her peers with the fabrics available in Israel. Her solution: Develop her own method of generating materials. She begins with photographs, often of a crumbling wall or moldy tiles. “I love old maps and rust,”

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Innovation: Cuisine continued from page 42

Arcadia—10 Agrippas Street, Jerusalem (arcadiarest.com) “Mediterranean food is smiling food,” says Ezra Kedem, executive chef and owner of this high-end French-Mediterranean eatery hailed by Frommer’s as “the finest restaurant in Jerusalem.” He believes that “the fresh flavors of our sun-grown produce make Israel the world’s next kitchen to explore. We combine our wonderful produce in ways that give a modern twist to traditional foods.” Israelis, he adds, “are open to culinary innovations; they’re well traveled and have adventurous palates.” For example, after he pioneered eggplant carpaccio—eggplant with tahini and spices—it became such a hit, it is now served in other fine restaurants. ♦♦♦ The culinary innovations one finds throughout Israel say a lot about the society itself—culturally diverse, passionate, spicy, inventive, and fearless.

Photo by Tal Terr y

leather, which sings alongside the rustic she says softly. Using Photoshop, she texture of the straps and closures. At then distorts the images, and prints once relaxed yet edgy, Complet’s backthem onto a special durable and waterpack can spruce up jeans or accompany proof material.

On the opposite wall hang two of the a cocktail dress.

A truly ambitious photos that inspired spirit, Moshkovitz is some of Complet’s now planning to try first bags. To me, the her technique on images looked someclothing, shoes, and what like Rorschach stationery. blots. “It’s funny,” Moshkovitz says, ♦♦♦ “because I know where each print “Edgy. Indepenbegan, but everyone dent. Brave,” Reissees something differmann says as we ent in these pictures.” head home.

A SIVAN MOSHKOVITZ DESIGN. Her inaugural colAfter browsing lection blended 10 the workrooms of Tel different prints—everything from Aviv’s fashion pioneers, these words deconstructed florals to abstract, linear seemed to take on a different meaning. designs—with a variety of leathers to Each of the designers we met offers a create bags, wallets, and laptop cases. unique aesthetic philosophy and prodThe bestseller—purchased by young uct. Whether that is thanks to or in women as well as the office-going spite of the Israeli environment, these crowd—was a black leather backpack artists offer a glimpse into the heart and with a black and white printed body, its soul of a city that is blossoming, every pattern creating the illusion of stone second, with life, energy, and spirit.

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Innovation: EcoTourism

Photo by Galit Lifshits Melamed

continued from page 32 November—as well as buzzards, falcons, egrets, kingfishers, kite, and other bird species that stop to rest on their migration path between Africa, Europe, and Asia?

About 75 miles north of Kibbutz Ein Shemer you’ll find the Agamon Hula Lake Ornithological and Nature Park, a bird and animal sanctuary encompassing a 247-acre lake bordered by papyrus bushes and various species of indigenous flowers and trees. You can rent electric golf carts (for two, four, or six passengers) or bikes or hop on the tractor-drawn “Safari Wagon” to travel the 5.28-mile waterside path around the lake. All along the banks, you’ll see coypu (nutria), large beaver-like animals feasting on aquatic plants, roots, and waterside vegetation. Alternatively, you can hire a private guide to take you on an educational tour around the lake and show you the Crane Feeding Project and “Bird Island” bird-ringing station.

Our guide explained that, until the mid-20th century, much of the Hula Valley was covered by a lake and seasonal wetlands that served as a resting and foraging station for some 500 million migratory birds. In 1951 the Israeli government decided to drain the “malariainfested swamps” for habitation and agriculture—and 30 years later the damaging consequences of that decision became evident.

First, the land was no longer usable for agriculture. The soil lacked natural nutrients (because of soil oxidization); sinkholes were forming and underground fires spontaneously erupting, sometimes lasting for months (both due to loss of water content and wind-erosion) and causing injury to farmers.

Moreover, varieties of plants, fish, and other animals that had depended on the wetlands became extinct; migratory birds could no longer nest in the valley; and nitrogen compounds that had washed into the drainage channels were polluting the Sea of Galilee.

Finally, in 1994, the JNF initiated the Hula Valley Peat Soil Restoration Project to rehabilitate the soil and prevent further damage to the sea. Part of the project included creating a public park to foster and conserve Israel’s natural landscape.

of healing on the very spot. He bought the land from Baron Rothschild, but it took until 1968, when he was in his early 70s, for the first 12 rooms to open. At age 91, he sold the Mitzpe Hayaproperty to Sammy mim Hotel, Chazan, an agriculSpa, and tural school graduOrganic Farm ate with a similar, (mizpe-hayamim. but grander vision com) for the facility: a softly lit garden luxurious health welcomed us and beauty hotel CHEF GATHERING PRODUCE FROM THE to Mitzpe Hayamim ORGANIC GARDENS, MITZPE HAYAMIM. featuring two fineHotel, Spa, and dining restaurants that would serve organic vegetables and Organic Farm, about 15 miles south of Agamon Hula past Rosh Pina on the road fruits harvested from their own gardens and orchards (now 30+ acres), cheeses to Safed. In the old-fashioned lobby and tea corner, people wrapped in fluffy white and milk products from its own dairy bathrobes relaxed on wingback chairs and cows (now 30 different products), and fresh breads and pastries baked on site. sofas drinking herbal teas crafted from Guests can take water aerobics, tai fresh organic herbs. Other guests were chi, yoga, and walks, and work out at the swimming, taking saunas, enjoying masfitness center. The hotel spa offers relaxsages, relaxing in the Jacuzzi, or reading in the library—a vast selection of books is ation and beauty treatments. available in many languages. ♦♦♦ The hotel got its start in a moment of serendipity, Mitzpe Hayamim tour guide These are just a few of the unique, Adi Taubenhouse explained. In 1923, innovative experiences Israel offers the Berlin émigré Dr. Eric Yaros, a physieco-traveler. For additional ideas, contact cian, homeopath and naturopath, was local tourism associations (science.co.il/ traveling from Safed to Rosh Pina when municipal/Regional-Councils.asp), visit suddenly he asked his driver to stop the the Israel Ministry of Tourism’s official car. Jumping out, he climbed to the top of website (goisrael.com), and/or engage the hill and took in the vista from the an Israel tour company. I believe you’ll Golan Heights to the Sea of Galilee. At be in awe, as I was, at the Israeli ingenuthat moment he decided to build a place ity behind your eco-adventure.

Today, indigenous fauna and flora are once again flourishing, and 500 million birds representing 400 different species stop here on their migration journeys.

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