Temple Israel March bulletin article
Over the past month I have had two friends from the United States come to visit. It has been wonderful to chat and catch up, but even more than that, it has been an unexpected blessing to see Israel through their eyes. My friends have pointed out things that I, as one who is now intimately familiar with the country, have been prone to overlook.
For example, take economics. My father lives in a 7th –floor penthouse apartment. Comparing to Israeli standards, the place is huge and he is quite well-off. But I forget; according to American standards, the apartment is small and he is merely middle-class. The economic situation in this country seems, at least to me, to be a bit more lopsided than it is in the States. The country is still growing, barely 60 years old, and white-collar office jobs are scarce as compared to home. The majority of people work blue-collar jobs, as taxi drivers, construction workers, truckers, etc. Offices do exist, of course, in the downtown areas of all cities, but the gap between rich and poor is higher, and the middle class as a whole is a smaller entity than in California. Many of the ultra-religious fall into the poor category (if they don’t work and have many children), and the upper classes tend to be comprised of jobs like media and “hi-tech.”
Religion – it’s everywhere. Now don’t laugh – I honestly had forgotten it. My friends were amazed that on their way back to my apartment, they passed an Orthodox man davening afternoon prayers in his shop, laying tefillin and swaying. They then stepped aside to let the Greek Orthodox priest dressed all in black to pass them on the street, and as they entered my building, they could hear the Islamic muezzin call Muslims to worship from a tower in the nearby Old City. Instead of being separated by class, neighborhoods are divided by religion. It’s not a fenced segregation like the West Bank versus Israel, but more of an unofficial grouping of the religious Jewish area, the secular neighborhood, the European Christian section, and the Muslim neighborhood. It’s true that with enough time one becomes inured to almost anything. I have lived almost eight months at the center of a religious maelstrom, and now I don’t even notice it.
Food – my LA college roommate was honestly confused when she went into the grocery store. Where are the soup cans? There are only packets made for a serving of six. Where are the soda cans? There are only 1-liter bottles. Where are the microwave meals? There are none. Israel is based on a culture of home-cooked meals. Fast food restaurants are few and far between, and much more expensive than their American counterparts. What is sold in stores is conducive to preparing and serving food at home, not quick put-them-together-in-five-minutes type microwave meals. Lunch is the main entree here, like in Europe, and people linger over a repast of bread, pasta, rice, or meat. Dinner is usually a short, quick affair involving a vegetable salad and pita, instead of the usual American grand banquet. I have become acclimated to not being able to buy a single can of coke for the way, or make myself a single serving of soup. The system is healthier, for the majority of a day’s food in ingested in the daylight hours when one is active, and eating at home also brings families closer together. Plus, for a single person or even a couple, it provides a lot of leftovers!
Shopping - The attitude of customer service is different as well; customers will be served, but only at the convenience of the shopkeeper. Getting ice cream one afternoon last week, the man behind the counter told us to “hold on a minute” and turned away, continuing to talk on the phone to his girlfriend before finally coming over to help us. Later on at a nice restaurant, we waited over 20 minutes for the waitress to bring the check, not because she didn’t see us, but because she was talking with another waiter.
Chutzpah - Calling the internet company to fix my IP address got me nowhere until I brought my problem to HUC. The head of student services called the company for me, and got results only after threatening to cancel my account and using language such as “Do you not understand me?!” and “This is either incompetence or criminal; which is it?!”
Crowds - Traveling to Tel Aviv last week proved a problem. Usually I hop a sheirut, or 10-person cab. That day, however, we had to quickly change our plans, as the one sheirut that arrived at the station was literally bombarded by 24 people hoping to board. I thought I was going to be run over, and the driver said absolutely nothing, just waited patiently as people jostled and yelled at each other.
I’m very grateful that I’ve gotten this opportunity to look at my adopted country in new ways. Life here is so different, yet at the same time so similar to California, that it constantly amazes me. Of all the things my two friends have said about this country, perhaps the most poignant is this: “Obviously I’m halfway across the world, but it doesn’t feel like it. I was expecting something more… foreign.” And it’s true, Israel may not be entirely foreign – but it does provide enough caveats and sideways twists to make life just a little bit more exciting than at home.
For example, take economics. My father lives in a 7th –floor penthouse apartment. Comparing to Israeli standards, the place is huge and he is quite well-off. But I forget; according to American standards, the apartment is small and he is merely middle-class. The economic situation in this country seems, at least to me, to be a bit more lopsided than it is in the States. The country is still growing, barely 60 years old, and white-collar office jobs are scarce as compared to home. The majority of people work blue-collar jobs, as taxi drivers, construction workers, truckers, etc. Offices do exist, of course, in the downtown areas of all cities, but the gap between rich and poor is higher, and the middle class as a whole is a smaller entity than in California. Many of the ultra-religious fall into the poor category (if they don’t work and have many children), and the upper classes tend to be comprised of jobs like media and “hi-tech.”
Religion – it’s everywhere. Now don’t laugh – I honestly had forgotten it. My friends were amazed that on their way back to my apartment, they passed an Orthodox man davening afternoon prayers in his shop, laying tefillin and swaying. They then stepped aside to let the Greek Orthodox priest dressed all in black to pass them on the street, and as they entered my building, they could hear the Islamic muezzin call Muslims to worship from a tower in the nearby Old City. Instead of being separated by class, neighborhoods are divided by religion. It’s not a fenced segregation like the West Bank versus Israel, but more of an unofficial grouping of the religious Jewish area, the secular neighborhood, the European Christian section, and the Muslim neighborhood. It’s true that with enough time one becomes inured to almost anything. I have lived almost eight months at the center of a religious maelstrom, and now I don’t even notice it.
Food – my LA college roommate was honestly confused when she went into the grocery store. Where are the soup cans? There are only packets made for a serving of six. Where are the soda cans? There are only 1-liter bottles. Where are the microwave meals? There are none. Israel is based on a culture of home-cooked meals. Fast food restaurants are few and far between, and much more expensive than their American counterparts. What is sold in stores is conducive to preparing and serving food at home, not quick put-them-together-in-five-minutes type microwave meals. Lunch is the main entree here, like in Europe, and people linger over a repast of bread, pasta, rice, or meat. Dinner is usually a short, quick affair involving a vegetable salad and pita, instead of the usual American grand banquet. I have become acclimated to not being able to buy a single can of coke for the way, or make myself a single serving of soup. The system is healthier, for the majority of a day’s food in ingested in the daylight hours when one is active, and eating at home also brings families closer together. Plus, for a single person or even a couple, it provides a lot of leftovers!
Shopping - The attitude of customer service is different as well; customers will be served, but only at the convenience of the shopkeeper. Getting ice cream one afternoon last week, the man behind the counter told us to “hold on a minute” and turned away, continuing to talk on the phone to his girlfriend before finally coming over to help us. Later on at a nice restaurant, we waited over 20 minutes for the waitress to bring the check, not because she didn’t see us, but because she was talking with another waiter.
Chutzpah - Calling the internet company to fix my IP address got me nowhere until I brought my problem to HUC. The head of student services called the company for me, and got results only after threatening to cancel my account and using language such as “Do you not understand me?!” and “This is either incompetence or criminal; which is it?!”
Crowds - Traveling to Tel Aviv last week proved a problem. Usually I hop a sheirut, or 10-person cab. That day, however, we had to quickly change our plans, as the one sheirut that arrived at the station was literally bombarded by 24 people hoping to board. I thought I was going to be run over, and the driver said absolutely nothing, just waited patiently as people jostled and yelled at each other.
I’m very grateful that I’ve gotten this opportunity to look at my adopted country in new ways. Life here is so different, yet at the same time so similar to California, that it constantly amazes me. Of all the things my two friends have said about this country, perhaps the most poignant is this: “Obviously I’m halfway across the world, but it doesn’t feel like it. I was expecting something more… foreign.” And it’s true, Israel may not be entirely foreign – but it does provide enough caveats and sideways twists to make life just a little bit more exciting than at home.
posted by Michal at 10:27 AM
2 Comments:
Interesting observations! I didn't have the opportunity to live there as you are. I do remember thinking when I was there how reasonable most of the prises seemed (to my American eyes), until I realized that people were making so much less.
That's a good point - whenever anyone visits, I always say "bring less money than you think you'll need," for that exact same reason.
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