Archive for September, 2009
On yer bike – it’s Yom Kippur!
The holiest day of the year in the Jewish Calendar and all you can see is packs of kids on their bikes teeming through city streets (vehicles, except for emergency vehicles, are rarely seen on the roads during Yom Kippur). The whole country might shut down for 25 hours but for the youngsters (and the bike shops that are crazily busy in the run up to Yom Kippur) it’s paradise.
Some might argue that riding a bike on Yom Kippur takes away from the solemness of the day, but generally kids under 13 (Bar or Bat Mitzvah age) aren’t obligated to fast and pray, so it’s become accepted practice for the kids to take to the streets with whatever wheels they can get their hands on.
Some might also argue that if you want to get a glimpse of the future nation of Israeli drivers, take a look at how these kids are driving on the streets. It makes for some scary viewing…
Of course, it’s also become picture opportunity time as empty roads and motorways (except for the packs of kids) make for an eerie setting – check out our Yom Kippur pictures for a taste of what the roads are like in Israel during these holy 25 hours.
Leonard Cohen live in Israel
The big man Leonard Cohen performed in Israel last night, at the Ramat Gan stadium. 50,000 fans left apparently very happy and content. I just want to know how the heck they got 50,000 Israelis (well, almost all Israelis) to sit in chairs for 3 hours…
Here’s a clip from the show, with perhaps the most popular song from his repertoire, Hallelujah. Nice shots of the enormous crowd…
Picture of the Week XX
As those sunny September evenings get shorter (even shorter from next week as Israel moves its clocks back…), I thought this picture just grabbed the moment of an approaching winter…
Taken by NatashaP, who has some stunning shots in her collection, you really must check her out, she should really have an exhibition running for some of those shots!
Peter Murphy to hit the Holy Land!
Just in time for my birthday: Peter Murphy (hands up who knew he converted to Islam in the 90s?), one of my heroes from my days as an 80s lovechild, is coming to Israel. The ex-Bauhaus singer (follow him on Twitter) will be performing at Tel Aviv’s Barby Club on November 10. Tickets are priced at 199 shekels and the show starts at 9pm. I really hope to be there.
In case you were wondering, Bauhaus are responsible for the greatest ever cover of a David Bowie song, see below…
Although this song is his biggest hit, when he went solo…odds on he’ll perform this at some point in the show.
Israeli Girls + Mud = Ratings!
You’ve probably already realized that Israeli women are beautiful. You might not even have made it to Israel yet, but you’ve probably seen Bar Refaeli, Israel’s star bikini girl, in an advert here or a newspaper gossip section there, she’s almost everywhere these days. But you’ll just have to take our word for it that there are many, many (yes, many!) more beautiful women in the Holy Land…
And if you don’t get a chance to confirm this with your own eyes while in Israel, we suggest switching on the local series of Survivor (Wednesday and Saturday evenings, Channel 10) where, if the director is still on a desperate pulling-out-all-the-stops mission for ratings, you will probably get to see some fine bikini clad ladies. Rolling in mud. Again.
And if you can’t make it to Israel anytime soon, just Thank God for YouTube…
Picture of the Week XIX
Only one possible winner this week – the juicy and very seasonal pomegranate. It’s the big Rosh HaShana meal tonight and you’re likely to see a lot of pomegranates, or at least the seeds from one. Pomegranates are important in the Jewish New Year meal because they represent the first new fruit of the New Year, and because there are apparently 613 seeds in one, which ties up with God’s 613 Torah commandments.
This picture was taken by Muhammed Ali from Pakistan, a young guy apparently just getting into photography. He has some great nature shots in his collection, but, not surprisingly, none of Israel.
Happy New Year to all my Jewish readers!
Hapoel Tel Aviv in Lala-land!
Sorry, couldn’t resist that one.
It’s been a fairly bleak couple of weeks on the Israeli football scene, what with the national team throwing away any chance of qualifying for next year’s World Cup and Maccabi Haifa getting stuffed by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
But tonight, Hapoel Tel Aviv played Celtic in their first round of Europa League matches. And pulled off a nice little result that’ll keep their chances alive of progressing to the next round. The Scots went ahead after 25 minutes, but hats off to Tel Aviv, they fought back to equalize and then claimed a late, late winner through Maaran Lala.
OK, Celtic aren’t the force they were a couple of years back, but still carry with them a big European reputation. And with the Celtic management putting the blame on the Tel Aviv heat, Celtic fans have already voiced their thoughts on the match on football forums, including this disgruntled fan on the BBC:
I cannot believe that one of the poorest teams I have ever seen at this level only had to put in a half decent 45 minutes to put us away…
Maccabi Haifa play German giants Bayern Munich tonight!
After last week’s dismal performance from the Israeli national team (they got beaten at home by Latvia which effectively killed off the slim chances they had of qualifying for next years’ World Cup in South Africa), it’s now down to Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League to restore some pride.
The Israeli national team has never looked good at the best of times, with only the odd game bringing some much needed pride and, yes, even points. Unfortunately, every two years it’s the same story: Israelis are left dreaming of what might have been as another qualifying campaign comes to a grinding halt…
Now it’s down to club level and perhaps just that little more suspense (because, come on, you know what’s going to happen with the national team…). I even tried to get tickets for this game but you have to be a “real” fan (and suffer like the rest of them ALL season) to get your hands on a ticket. My wife’s nephews are going thanks to some “connections”, me, I’ll catch some of the game on TV…
Can Maccabi get something from this game? Maybe.
Will the trickery of Ribery be too much for them? Probably.
Will the renowned organizational skills of a German team be a deciding factor? Almost certainly.
Will falafel poisoning leave the German team feeling manky? Let’s hope so.
Is there just a teeny weeny chance that Israeli footie fans might be smiling after the game? I really hope so…
But, my prediction: Haifa 1 Bayern 2 (sorry guys…)
