These comments are various observations on things I've seen and experienced on my tour of Israel so far.
In the United States, you'll see lots of critters that are called squirrels. Israel's squirrels are cats apparently. They're every where. I've never seen so many. I suppose they are helpful in that they undoubtedly keep the rodent population down. Still, it is a trip to see so many.
Local country beers can be little better than piss water at times. One country I didn't expect to have a good beer was Israel. It isn't known for making a good brew. So, it was to my great surprise when I tried a large glass of Goldstar at the Kibbutz Lavi Hotel that it is a pretty good lager. I've had it 3 times now and, I wish I could get the stuff in the U.S. It is good beer.
For reasons I don't understand, Israelis won't serve meet with dairy products like cheese (fish is apparently not considered meat and is available in abundance) for breakfast. I've had 5 or 6 breakfasts in Israel and haven't seen hide or hair of a sausage or some bacon for breakfast. It made me wondered if they ate much meat here then, I had dinner at the Dan Carmel hotel in Haifa and, I found out Israelis do eat meat. There was chicken, stuffed eggplant and lamb. So, I guess there's something about breakfast.
In Jerusalem, they put on a great sound and light show at the Tower of David (hope that's the right place). It tells of the history of Jerusalem from David's time to modern times. I went to the show last night and, it was very good. I'd highly recommend it.
That's all for now. Happy travels all!
11 comments:
Hi Ditto,
I came across your blog by chance and here are some answers to your questions:
1. Regarding mixing meat and milk: It is forbidden in Judaism to do so. There's something written about it in the bible. Although there are many secular people in Israel that don't adhere to this religious custom, many places like hotels etc., adhere to it in order to get an official "kashrut" certificate from the state. "kashrut" comes from the word "kosher", or kasher in Hebrew, which is - adheres to the religious customs regarding food. This certificate is important for religious Jews in Israel and these hotels etc., don't want to exclude the religious clientele by not having this certificate.
2. Regarding the pair of ATMs near banks etc. Many times one ATM is for money withdrawal - and that's the one that will receive your card, because it is available for people with accounts in other banks (including tourists), and the other is for other functions that are available only for people with accounts in that bank - like getting information etc. - and that ATM is the one that will not accept your card because it doesn't recognize you an account holder.
Thanks for the info Anonymous. I saw other practices like kasher thing you mentioned for hotels. I stayed at the Leonardo Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem and, they had special Sabbat elevators for Jewish believers. The special elevators would stop at every floor so the Jewish believers wouldn't have to press any elevator buttons. I would guess pressing an elevator button during the Jewish sabbath would violate something or rather.
As a secular Jew I think that many religious Jews in Israel have gone a little crazy, and actually kind of stupid, in the way they interpret the bible. It only says in the bible that one should rest and not work. I don't see how pressing an elevator button or even driving a car to the beach is considered working... :)
there is a wave of religious extremism in Israel which I find dangerous.
Thanks for your last comment Anonymous. I was a bit surprised by the elevator thing though the hotel seemed to get a large Jewish clientele so, I guess they feel it's worth doing that sort of thing for them. I believe I encountered another problem with the religious aspect with my Tel Aviv hotel. Near as I can guess, they have staff problems on Saturdays as far as getting the rooms made up. Check out time at my Tel Aviv hotel was Noon. I arrived at the hotel at 3:40 p.m. My room wasn't ready. It wouldn't be ready for over 2 more hours. Yet, when my tour group returned on Sunday a week later, the rooms keys were waiting for us at 3 p.m. I confess this pissed me off a bit.
Overall, I was really surprised by how religious Israelis are apparently. EVERY hotel I stayed at followed the kosher dictates about not mixing meat and cheese which meant I ate salad for breakfast every morning which I thought a little different. As far as religious extremism, I don't know enough about what is going on in Israel to know if that is an issue. I did enjoy my time there barring coming down with bronchitis and sinusitis at the same time which got progressively worse and forced me to see a Jordanian doctor for treatment.
Sorry to hear you were ill...
Regarding religion, it depends where you are in Israel. Jerusalem is much more religious than Tel Aviv, for instance. But as a whole, Israel became more religious. Up until early 80s even Jerusalem was a city with a secular majority. The are several reasons for the change. One is the higher birthrate of religious people compared to secular. It's quite the norm for an ultra-orthodox family to have 8 children whereas for a secular family 2 children is the average...
Israel started as a secular state. Zionism was a secular movement and the Jews who built the country - before Israel was established, and afterwards until perhaps the late 70s were mainly secular. I was brought up in a much more secular country and so I regret what's happening in Israel.
Interesting comment Anonymous. I wasn't aware of the birth rate situation though I believe your numbers. They would make sense. I saw a number of Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem. One problem my tour ran into was the Jewish religious holiday of Shavout. It created some problems with so many places closed because of the holiday. I did a little personal exploring of Jerusalem and, every thing was closed. I was really amazed.
I'm not sure if the number I gave regarding the ultra-religious birth rate is exact, but that's certainly the trend.
Regarding holidays, There are a few places that are actually open in Jerusalem on holidays/Saturdays but you have to know where they are, On the main streets like Jaffa and Ben Yehuda everything is closed, but there are quite a few eateries and even supermarkets that are open off the main streets. But it's true, the Overall atmosphere is a bit like a ghost town. I actually built a website in the past with info about things that are open on Saturdays. The website is not such a success (no one really visits it :))
Here's a link in case you find yourself again in Jerusalem in the future:
http://westjerusalem-guide.com/shabat.html
By the way, in Tel Aviv there are many places that are open on Saturdays/holidays and there's a much more lively atmosphere.
Thanks for the interesting comment Anonymous. I'll keep the link in mind if I ever return to Jerusalem. Right now, there are other countries I want to visit for the first time. In November, I'll be doing 2 Royal Caribbean cruises that'll take in the Greek Islands. After that, I'm still working on my 2013 travel plans. I want to do South Africa and India but, each one of those will set me back over $6,000. $12,000 is a lot to spend on travel in 1 year. So, we'll see. If nothing else, I'll do a May cruise to the Bahamas or Bermuda and a Globus tour to India in November. Thanks for the info on Israel.
You welcome. You're lucky that you can spend your time traveling. It's so much fun.
All the best.
I don't get to spend as much time traveling as I'd like Anonymous. I have to work to pay for it. My trips tend to be long and, that makes them expensive. My trip to Israel and Jordan was 2 weeks long costing at least $5,000. Because of that, I have to work hard to pay for the trips. Still, the traveling is fun. I'm always looking forward to the next traveling adventure. The Greek Island cruises in November should be awesome. Thanks for posting on my blog. Cya.
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