Jerusalem

Train Construction Ahead

November 8, 2011

When our kids were young, we had a videotape they used to love called “Road Construction Ahead” which was all about, well, road construction. It featured hard hats, tractors and lots of concrete. The truth is, I loved it too – I’m a nut when it comes to anything in the stages of being built [...]

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Time Running Out for “The Clock”

October 19, 2011

It’s hard to know exactly how to describe “The Clock,” Christian Marclay’s award winning art installation, which is currently on display, if that’s even the right word, at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Tour de Force? Spellbinding? Unbelievable? They all come to mind. The piece, at its most simplistic, consists of thousands of short film [...]

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Yes, That Bacon is Kosher

October 12, 2011

Growing up, I didn’t have a very strong Jewish background. I never had a bar mitzvah, Yom Kippur was just another school day and Shavuot, well, what’s that? But Shabbat, now that was special – that was the day we had bacon for breakfast! Now, I don’t want to insult anyone who’s never tried it, [...]

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From Rothschild Boulevard to a Jerusalem Living Room

September 22, 2011

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

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Dueling Eicha’s…with Wheels

August 9, 2011

The holiday of Tisha B’av has befallen us (yes, pun intended) and Jews all over the world are spending the day reflecting, fasting or otherwise using the holiday’s restrictions to avoid shaving and bathing for a day. On the evening of Tisha B’av, it is traditional to hear the book of Lamentations (Eicha) being read [...]

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Modern Minimalist Train Brings Steve Reich’s Music to Jerusalem

July 11, 2011

Steve Reich’s Different Trains rumbled into town this past week and the results were stunning – one of the must-see concerts of an already overflowing Jerusalem summer. Reich is the godfather of the modern minimalist music scene, patron saint to more art/pop-oriented artists like Phillip Glass and Brian Eno. His compositions are highly repetitive: the [...]

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The Latest Holyland Monstrosity in Jerusalem?

June 28, 2011

When the city of Jerusalem canceled the “Safdie Plan” in 2006, urban planners said there would be no choice but to build inside the city itself. The Safdie Plan, a project conceived by world-famous architect Moshe Safdie, would have put upwards of 20,000 housing units in the hills to the west of Jerusalem. Environmentalists fought [...]

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Old City Treasure Hunt

March 30, 2011

Dr. Clue is the world’s leading team-building company specializing in treasure hunt activities. Dr. Clue is also my brother, Dave. He was just here in Israel for our youngest son Aviv’s bar mitzvah and, as his gift, he planned a special treasure hunt in the Old City of Jerusalem. Dave normally organizes hunts for companies [...]

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A Walk on the Wild Side

December 22, 2010

It has been years since I’ve been to downtown Jerusalem at night, but it’s the “in” spot for the teenagers in our house. After our sushi dinner last week, my wife and I decided to take a walk around. Frankly, we were blown away. I expected to find a run-down city center, its main artery [...]

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Covering Pamela Anderson

November 10, 2010

It took a visit to Israel to finally get Pamela Anderson to cover up. The famously immodest former Baywatch star, in Israel to appear on the local version of “Dancing with the Stars,” visited the Western Wall Sunday evening, eliciting a snarky comment in Ynet which reported that “the visit evoked great interest among many [...]

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