Beats Blogging

Posted on: July 10th, 2012

His name is Sylvester, he’s 12, lives in Netanya with his sister Lightening and their three humans. His favorite nap corner during the winter months is this Toshiba Laptop, which, if you check it online, has serious issues with dumping its accumulating heat during normal operation. But what’s a problem for most users is a [...]

Let’s Do Lunch

Posted on: July 9th, 2012

A homeless man feeds a cat on the streets of Nachlaot, Jerusalem. We were looking for a cheerful image this morning, but one that won’t belie the assortment of bad news out there. Something that would look good but won’t give the reader the sense that we’re just escaping reality. So we thought this image [...]

A Helping Hand

Posted on: July 8th, 2012

Soldiers from the Home Front Command Search and Rescue Unit practice saving civilians trapped under a collapsed building in Zikim, the Home Front Command’s training base. The Israeli Home Front Command (Hebrew: Pikud Ha’Oref) is an IDF regional command, created in February 1992 following the Gulf War, in which civilian population centers faced significant enemy [...]

Turning the Public into Private

Posted on: July 6th, 2012

A Haredi man stands on a ladder to hang the Eruv wire, near the Gilo neighborhood in south Jerusalem, on a Friday. An Eruv Techumim (mixing of boundaries) is a legal fiction that transforms areas from public into private, depending on some prerequisite conditions. Once the Eruv is up, it is permissible for Jews to [...]

Picnic at Mar Saba, 1902

Posted on: July 5th, 2012

These are members of the American Colony, a Christian community in Jerusalem founded by immigrants from the United States and Sweden. The image is part of a Library of Congress online presentation titled “The American Colony in Jerusalem, 1870-2006.” This presentation features selected documents from the American Colony in Jerusalem Collection. The full collection in [...]

Sunbathing by the Sea of Galilee

Posted on: July 4th, 2012

It’s summertime and anyone who stays by his desk typing urgently while the gorgeous Kineret is just sitting there, blue and warm and sweet and quiet, is plain nuts. Everybody else seems to be having the time of their lives. If you’re on your laptop or iPad at this moment, worshipping the big fireball in [...]

Mourner in the Crowd

Posted on: July 3rd, 2012

A member of the Ethiopian community in Israel attended late Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s funeral on Monday. In May 1991, as the Ethiopian government of Mengistu Haile Mariam was collapsing, Shamir ordered the airlifting of fourteen thousand Ethiopian Jews, known as Operation Solomon.

Hands Behind Our Backs

Posted on: July 2nd, 2012

A reader sent us this image. We don’t know who shot it, we don’t know the exact circumstances, but we do recognize the scene: a Palestinian is attempting to provoke a reaction out of an Israeli Border Guard policeman, while his friends are taking pictures. Kinda’ makes your blood boil, doesn’t it. Please sent us [...]

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Occupy Jerusalem?

Posted on: July 1st, 2012

A week after the social protest in Tel Aviv turned violent, some 10,000  Israelis marched in Jerusalem Saturday night, in protest against the soaring cost of living. There were concurrent marches, all of them non-violent, in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Afula.

Talmud Underground

Posted on: June 29th, 2012

An Ultra-Orthodox man reading the Talmud on the subway from Underground NY Public Library. The photo blog is a project of acclaimed street photographer, Ourit Ben-Haim. In an interview, Ben-Haim said that when she takes a photograph of someone reading she sees “people who are contemplating description of new possibilities. In this way, every book [...]

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Haredim Can Do Anything

Posted on: June 28th, 2012

Two Haredi men ride a camel on the Mount of Olives. The Knesset committee tasked with crafting an alternative to the Tal Law for haredi service in Israel is reportedly almost done drafting its proposal. According to the plan, Haredi men would perform two years of national or military service (in contrast to the three [...]

Scorched Mountain

Posted on: June 27th, 2012

Three major blazes, suspected of being the results of arson, raged on Tuesday in the Jerusalem mountain forest near Beit Zayit. According to reports, 30 firefighting teams from across Israel were rushed to the scene within half an hour of the initial report of the blaze. The response appeared well coordinated and effective. Fire and [...]

Is Mr. Softee Kosher?

Posted on: June 26th, 2012

Mr. Softee truck and customer, East Broadway, NYC, Circa 2005. We caught the following online discussion from August through October, 2004 of the question of Mr. Softee’s adherence to kashrut laws, on Chowhound.com: Ari Cohen: OK, does anyone know if these trucks which populate New York city during the summer months are kosher? Beerhound: To [...]

Grease Paint Rally

Posted on: June 25th, 2012

Two mimes joined the protesters against the cost of living on Rothschild Boulevard in downtown Tel-Aviv last Shabbat. The protests ended in clashes with police and mass arrests. Despite Police decision to indict 37 out of the 85 protesters who were arrested, the judge ordered their release as they had no criminal records and the [...]

Shopping with my Dog

Posted on: June 24th, 2012

Young woman and her dog out shopping in the Florentin neighborhood in South Tel-Aviv. The Florentine neighborhood in south Tel-Aviv was established years ago by the newcomers from Greece and Turkey. It was planned as a simple and pretty neighborhood, but it quickly sank into poverty and neglect. Today the neighborhood attracts many foreign workers, [...]

Shul Party

Posted on: June 22nd, 2012

A celebration circa 1951 at either Emanuel Cohen center or the basement of Tifereth B’nai Jacob for Tifereth congregants. Tifereth B’nai Jacob was an Orthodox Shul that was also referred to as the “Elwood Shul.” The congregation merged with Mikro Kodesh during the migration to the western suburbs, ultimately merging again with members of the [...]

Needs Work

Posted on: June 21st, 2012

An Arab inspects a terrorist’s motorcycle that was hit by an Israeli air strike in Dir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Tuesday. The IAF targeted motorized rocket launching terrorist teams, killing them before they were able to fire even more rockets into civilian areas in Israel.

‘This is the Torah’

Posted on: June 20th, 2012

Hundreds of Jewish men taking part in a mass prayer on a street of the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El. Negotiations over the fate of the neighborhood are in full swing, with the government looking for quiet removal of residents over a dubious High Court order. The final decision on how residents will act rests [...]

Big Men, Little Man

Posted on: June 19th, 2012

The Combat Engineering Corps is greeted by a jubilant little fellow after completing their treacherous trek for their gray berets. The Combat Engineering Corps symbol features a sword on a defensive tower with a blast halo on the background. The Combat Engineering Corps official motto is “Rishonim Tamid” (“Always First”). Its unofficial motto is “We’ll [...]

Mazal Tov, Mama Rhino!

Posted on: June 18th, 2012

After an 18 month pregnancy, Tendra the rhinoceros gave birth to a healthy calf at the Ramat-Gan Safari on Friday, June 15. This was the second successful birth for 20-year-old Tendra. Congratulatory messages have been streaming in from zoos all over the world. White Rhinos are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity and every successful [...]