A letter from Israel

What do you do in Israel on a nice sunny winter's day? You go to the beach of course! The water may be too cold to swim in. (Except for a few brave souls whom I suspect of being former Russian immigrants :)) And the lifeguards' huts are all boarded up. No umbrellas cover the beach cheek by jowl. And the smell of coconut suntan lotion is absent...

Baby bagels are known as bagele It may not come as a surprise to you that we eat a lot of bagels here in Israel. Jewish communities from Poland brought them to Israel, just as they brought bagels to the States, Canada and England. And from there the bagel basically conquered the world. The astronaut Greg Chamitoff  even took a few bagels with him abroad the space shuttle Discovery.

Bat Galim's architectural landmark - white arches. And yes, of course kids and grown-ups climb on top of them. A few weeks ago, the municipality of Bat Galim, a neighborhood in Haifa, Israel held an "Open house" for artists. Some of the art was amazing, others less so. Quite less... But the neighborhood of Bat Galim totally charmed me. "Bat Galim" means 'daughter of the waves" and yes, it is right next to the sea.

A rose for Ricki "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is  vanity."  Kohelet 1  (Ecclesiates)  Yup, it is my turn again to host  Haveil Havalim  - a carnival of Jewish and Israeli blogs.The Haveil Havalim blog carnival was founded by  Soccer Dad  and every week a different blogger takes a turn to host a weekly collection of blog posts. The name "Haveil Havalim" means "Vanity of the Vanities" and is taken from the book Ecclesiates in the Tanach (the Jewish Bible).  If you blog about Israel or Jewish-related subjects, please feel free to join the  Haveil Havalim   Facebook group   or go and have a look at the  Haveil Havalim website . I enjoy hosting this carnival. All the different bloggers who participate in  Haveil Havalim   seems to represent the wonderful diversity of people who lives in Israel. There hardworking bloggers who write nearly every day (I am not of them !) bloggers who like to write about politics, an

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronalmog/ When you look for images on the Internet for Yom Kippur in Israel - you will either see photos of empty highways, cycling children or masses of praying religious Jews dressed in white. And yes, I guess that what a lot of people experience during Yom Kippur. But it so much more than that. Yom Kippur is the day of Atonement and one can say that the entire previous year leads up to this single day. In the days following up to Yom Kippur, Jews are supposed  to reflect over the previous year, look at what they have done wrong and set it right. Family and friends are asked for forgiveness for any hurts that you may have caused them, grudges are finally put away and everyone tries to enter to new year with a clean a slate as possible. According to Jewish tradition, God's writes down each person's destiny for the new year during Rosh haShanah . At Yom Kippur the verdict is finally closed and sealed. Just before and after Yom Kippur people wi

Pomegranates are eaten at Rosh haShana to symbolize the wish that people's good deeds will be as plentiful as the  seeds of a pomegranate. In Israel the new year is celebrated twice. On the eve of December 31st, like the rest of the world, and on Rosh haShana - the Jewish "Head of the Year". But actually only secular Jews go and party on the 31st of December. And usually it is the kind of people who needs only half a reason for a party! The 1st of January is not a holiday, so the most of us just see the new calender year in by watching a few news reports from around the world. The real Israeli new year takes place on Rosh HaShana. Usually in September, a few weeks after the children have gone back to school. The entire country takes a break for two days and one spends a LOT of your time eating food! Many of the food stuffs that are eaten are sweet. To symbolize the hope that the coming year will be a sweet year. My favourite Rosh haShana dish is apples dipped i

Hummus plays a large role in the Israeli diet. Wherever you may find yourself eating something, from a picnic at the beach, an end-of-year party or a conference in a smart hotel - there you are sure to find a plate of hummus. There are even restaurants in Israel that ONLY serve hummus and no other kind of food. These restaurants, known as a "hummusia" in Hebrew are very popular and Israelis often argue about which hummusia serves the best hummus. Some people like their hummus with cooked fava beans and/ or boiled chickpea kernels, others insist on a boiled egg in their plate (not me!) and others just want a sprinkling of paprika and a dash of  olive oil. Which ever way you like to eat it, hummus is very healthy, very filling and a great vegetarian dish. It is made out mashed chickpeas (garbanzo beans), olive oil and seasoning. A good plate of hummus MUST be accompanied by a few decent pitot (plural for pita bread). One eats the hummus by breaking of a piece of the p