Sightseeing in the Mindfields
Spring in Wartime Israel, 13: Meeting at the Market, 16 May 2024
September 16, 2024
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Machane Yehuda is the name of a neighborhood in Jerusalem, though today it most often refers to the city’s largest food market. There are over 200 vendors offering Jerusalemites fresh fruits, vegetables, spices, and comestibles in every category. Similarly, the shoppers represent the city’s undeniable diversity. Jews and Arabs, religious and secula...
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Spring in Wartime Israel, 12: Splinters from the Storm, 15 May 2024
September 07, 2024
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The name of Jerusalem’s Bible Lands Museum leaves one in no doubt about the focus of its collection. It presented the art and artifacts of ancient Middle Eastern peoples with corresponding Biblical quotations. In my opinion, some of the correlations of the artifacts with texts were more contrived than others. There was a section for each ancient ci...
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Spring in Wartime Israel, 11: Israel’s Independence Day in Jerusalem, 14 May 2024
August 30, 2024
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The night before we left Karkur was the beginning of Yom ha-Zicharon, a national day of remembrance honoring the soldiers who died in all of the country’s wars as well as all Israelis killed by terrorists. In the morning, HL and I took our leave of Z., not without a pang, and proceeded by train to Jerusalem.
There were few other passengers, even t...
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Spring in Wartime Israel, 10: Mosaics in the Orange Grove, 10 -12 May 2024
August 22, 2024
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Z. was our host in Karkur, where HL and I arrived by train from Tel Aviv on Friday. Primarily a painter, Z. has two studio areas in her sunlit, airy home that is filled with her art. Last year, she created a tiled mural for the community center in neighboring Pardes Hanna, though she had never before made a mosaic. Undaunted, Z. learned the requisi...
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Spring in Wartime Israel, 9: Thursday Afternoon in Tel Aviv, 9 May 2024
August 12, 2024
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If ever the municipality of Tel Aviv requires a publicist, I should recommend Ariela for the position. She was tireless in introducing HL and me to her city in all its variety, from its sedate, renovated Art Deco districts to its frenetic markets redolent of dates and spices. So I was glad when A. suggested that we go to the newly expanded Tel Aviv...
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Spring in Wartime Israel, 8: Where Walls Can Talk, 7 May 2024
August 06, 2024
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During one of my first visits to Israel, I toured a museum at Tel Aviv University that featured scale models of synagogues in many countries where Jews had settled. At the time, the museum’s Hebrew name, Beit ha-Tsefutsot, could be translated as the House of the Dispersion, or Diaspora. Many of the original synagogues had been destroyed, especially...
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Spring in Wartime Israel, 7: Yom ha-Shoah in Tel Aviv, 6 May 2024
July 28, 2024
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It was fair and cool on the morning of Yom ha-Shoah, the national day of remembrance for those murdered in the Holocaust, or Sho'ah. Knowing the significance of the date may have colored my perception, but the city seemed subdued. Workers were repairing the sidewalks, servers were delivering breakfast to patrons seated at outdoor cafés, and dog own...
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Spring in Wartime Israel, 6: The Kaplan Street Chorus, 4 May 2024
July 20, 2024
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Anyone who has been following events in Israel from abroad can be forgiven any ensuing bewilderment. Last year, Israelis began massing in front of government buildings in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Saturday nights, protesting changes to the judiciary that the Netanyahu regime wanted to make. The demonstrations brought people of all ages into the str...
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Spring in Wartime Israel, 5: A Taste of Yafo, 3 May 2024
July 14, 2024
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When one’s bus stop affords a Mediterranean view, using public transportation cannot be said to constitute a hardship.
Tel Aviv’s bus system provides frequent, inexpensive service to most of the city. Public transit is improving here to meet the needs of the metropolis. There is intracity light rail and even a subway. The underground construction...
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Spring in Wartime Israel, 4: Beyond the Limits of Language, 2 May 2024
July 07, 2024
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Months ago, when this visit was in its planning phase, Daniela told me that she wanted to take HL and me to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. It is one of D.’s favorite places in the city. And I am always ready for a cultural excursion. If I were the sole member of my species, I would have to choose museums as my natural habitat. That first sunny Thursda...
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© Star Arts by Tamar