Glow is a brilliant live production that is showing at the Sydney Opera House over the next few days.  Glow is truly remarkable,  and a testament to wonderful Israeli creativity.

The show was created and developed by Lior Kalfo; a promo is here. 

As the promo says, “it is a combination of theater and cinema, a performance of animation on stage, a show that combines the language of comics with the language of Matrix…. The show is an interactive experience introducing funny characters, a rich world of imagination and of fun, rhythmic music and many spectacular costumes.  80 minutes of well timed and accurate bits with effects, music and acting – a product of months of rehearsal and great skill among the participants. The show presents a magical world filled with effects.  It is presenting new viewing angles, contradicting all of the traditional rules of theater gravity.”    

Go to Glow.

While Jews in Australia and elsewhere outside Israel celebrate an eighth day of Passover on Monday night and Tuesday, many Jews in Israel - especially those of Moroccan descent – are celebrating the Mimouna.  

As described in this article by Hillel Fendel,  “Mimouna is a Jewish post-Passover celebratory tradition brought to Israel by immigrants from North Africa. It begins with a festive meal, with families gathering together and opening their doors to neighbors to enjoy singing, traditional foods and spiritual nourishment for the coming months.”   One of the main centers of the commemorations takes place in Sacher Park in Jerusalem, where President Shimon Peres was again a guest of honor.

According to Fendel, two explanations for the word “Mimouna” are firstly, that it marks the hope and belief [emunah in Hebrew,  that just as the Jewish People were redeemed on Passover, so too they will merit the Final Redemption “speedily in our days.” Secondly, some scholars believe that the source of the name Mimouna is Maimon, father of the Rambam (Maimonides). 

Here is a brief video from Sacher Park in Jerusalem where Mimouna is celebrated.

You may have followed the great politico-culinary drama last October when 300 Lebanese chefs claimed the title of the largest serving of hummus (2 tons) in the Guinness Book of Records. 

Mazaltov! The more they focus on cooking and eating the better.  Petulantly, the Lebanese Chefs combined the festivities with a broadside against Israel for supposedly usurping their original and spiritual claim to Hummus.  But as the Hummus Blog stated “This alleged ‘hummus war’ is certainly one of the nicest wars we have in the region. Let’s hope all our future wars will be of the same kind.”

Well! (said in a breathless voice), Arutz Sheva has revealed that Arab Israelis have moved to the front lines in the “hummus” war.  They are planning to prepare as ammunition a four-ton dish of the chick pea dip in a battle to wrest from Lebanon the title of the World’s Largest Serving of Hummus.  Arabs from Abu Ghosh, a town famous for its hummus located several miles from Jerusalem off the main highway to Tel Aviv, are planning to dish out the hummus weapon shortly.

The Abu Ghosh Restaurant (pictured) is one of the restaurants well known for its high standard Hummus, as is Abu Shukri.   

Abu Ghosh is a great place to visit in Israel, and is well known for its excellent restaurants and places to wander. 

The history of Abu Ghosh is worth reading about. During the 1948 war, of the 36 Arab villages nestled in these hills close to Jerusalem, Abu Ghosh alone remained neutral, and in many cases provided friendly to Israel and helped keep the supply road to Jerusalem open (more on Abu Ghosh, in particular music and football on the next blog item).

Time for a Hummus Rap courtesy of the Hummus Blog!

Here in Sydney, I personally recommend Pita Mix but you may have your favourite on Cleveland Street or elsewhere.

A recent Jewish bloggers convention was held in Israel. Unfortunately, Ozi Zion didn’t get a free guernsy, but we have added a couple of recommended blogs to our burgeoning list on the side.

First, there’s Midnight East which explains that it “is an online magazine dedicated to obsessive involvement with the Israeli cultural scene.  Just like Israeli culture — our opinions are many, varied, often contradictory, and we are still under construction…so hang in there with us.”

Then there’s Estramag.com, the English Language Community Magazine in Israel - again with a variety of fun and informative articles from Israel.

and as a 3rd offering Whatwarzone.com featuring Israeli (formerly from Texas) stand up comedian Benji Lovitt.  Watch some fun videos as Benji tries to get a date on Tu Bishvat,  and explains his take on Israel.  Then his 61 more things I love about Israel.  Here are 3 of my favourites: 

8:  I love the magical phrase “yiyeh b’seder”, the Economica of the Hebrew language. What can’t it handle? Flat tire? Failed test? Take two “yiyeh b’seder”s and call me in the morning. 

32. I love the Israelis who take such pride in their country that they ask tourists, “You like Israel? Why you not live here???” When you’ve got Zionism, who needs linking verbs?

39. I love how the fruit shakes here contain the most obscure fruits in the history of the world. “Watch this….hey, can I get a shake with Abraham’s desert star citrus fruit, but the one without the seeds that only grows in the Western Negev? (pause) YOU HAVE IT???”

With the Jewish film festival happening in Sydney, here is a clip of dueling Klezmer and Gypsy music  and another musical interlude 1 from the 1998 film Train de Vie.

Then a Yemenite tune.

The recent international negative reaction to building in Gilo was Theatre of the Absurd.  

Maurice Ostroff provides a welcome perspective of Gilo as well as a map of its location.   For instance, “It is not in East Jerusalem as widely reported.  It is a Jerusalem neighbourhood with a population of around 40,000.  The ground was bought by Jews before WW2 and settled in 1971 in south west Jerusalem opposite Mount Gilo within the municipal boundaries”

Additional input is provided here and here.

Albert Camus would be impressed at the absurdity.

A friend recently told me how impressed he had been by his recent visit to Ashdod - the art gallery, the restaurants and the overall feel of the city.  Although it’s obviously not the same as the real thing, here is a virtual trip to savour some of the features of Ashdod. 

 
Firstly, the Museum of Art - the MonArt, (see picture) with its current exhibition including links to the participating artists. Ashdod is an important contributing to the creative Israel art scene - as highlighted in Artis.  And for something different, have a look at Heeb Magazine 

 Then on to the fascinating Green submarine project which is described as “the fruit of cooperation between the Port Company and the Ashdod Art Museum at the Monart Center. This is a green section, integrating ecological teaching with diversified artistic activity.  A special emphasis in the section is placed on the relationship men – sea – environment, and the development of comprehension thru artistic doing, with regard to the connection of each one of us with the protection of the environment.”.. They write “The section is designed like a green submarine – moored at the Ashdod Port – enabling a deepening, double meaning, of the commitment to the environment. In the submarine is a variety of art activities that make use of various materials and all types of wasted, movies that deal with the connection between art and the environment, men and the sea (the short movies are projected in unique “periscopes”) as well as a gallery showing alternating exhibits all related to art, the use of materials, and protection of the environment.”   Ashdod’s efforts to marry the economic with respect for the environment is impressive ..  For more on Ashdod port, see here.

The allure of Ashdod is reflected by the variety of its immigrants.  Those from the former Soviet Union have contributed to the ACADMA conservatory, a professional educational institute for music and performance studies.   It serves as a home for 600 young musicians in different fields.  ACADMA is described in this site of music from Israel’s South. Ashdod is also home to the Israel prize winning Israeli Andalusian Orchestra, a musical offering of which is heard here.  Also the Orchestra provides a great version of Yedid Nefesh and a lyrical piece for mandolin and orchestra.

Wikipedia has a good overall review of Ashdod, with a historical overview reaching from the biblical days, including the “plague of Ashdod” to more recent times.

And for a dynamic promo video of Ashdod, see here.

While Exodus by Leon Uris was an important book for many of us, the true story of the Exodus is less well known, but dramatic. 

Last year saw the death of Yossi Harel, the mastermind of the operation to bring boatloads of refugees through the British blockade after WW2.   

 One first-hand account that sheds a fascinating insight into the Exodus was provided by an article from Jerry Klinger, entitled Reverend John Stanley Grauel, the man who helped make Israel possible. 

The article traces the steps of Grauel, a Christian Minister who boarded the Exodus and played an important role in bringing the plight of the Jewish refugees to the attention of the UN representatives who were in Israel in 1947 deciding on recommendations.   Most of the Exodus passengers were treated terribly by the British, being eventually forcibly sent from Haifa (first picture at the Haifa dock) back to Germany (second picture arriving back at the German displaced persons camp).

Pictures of the Exodus and its passengers at different stages are shown  here and here.  A 50 year symposium was also held in Haifa several years ago. 

Just as the real Exodus played a significant role in shaping world opinion in 1947-8 in favour of partition and the establishment of Israel,  Leon Uris’s book (the name Uris is derived from Yerushalayim) (pictured) played a major role in creating a positive image of Israel. 

Here is one opinion piece.  Rachel Weissbrod published a scholarly work about the literary aspects of the book - which she termed in the genre of “melodrama.” 

The film Exodus, produced by Otto Preminger in 1960, and starring Paul Newman as Ari Ben Canaan, changed some aspects of Uris’s story to create more universal themes.   

Referring to the length of the film, one critic noted that it reminded him of the expression - let my people go. But the film was indeed a blockbuster with memorable scenes, even if the characters were more richly developed in the book.

So sit back and enjoy the film

And if you wondered what happened to the actual boat, the Exodus,  it was towed out of Haifa harbour and sunk in deeper water off the nearby Shemen beach.  Several years later in 1964, there was an attempt to salvage the boat (see image), but the effort was unsuccessful. 

Gabriel Allon has probably done as much as anyone in recent years to put a sympathetic face to Israel’s struggles in an often inhospitable, dangerous and unfair world.  Allon’s world includes Islamic jihadists, manipulating Swiss billionaires and Russian oligarchs.   

In The Defector, Daniel Silva’s latest page turner, reluctant Mossad hero/ master art Restorer Gabriel Allon has to confront the revenge of the Russian oligarch from the best-seller Moscow Rules.

Daniel Silva, who lives in Washington, captures much of the essence of our turbulent times. His authenticity is helped by his initial career as a United Press International (UPI) journalist, where his reporting from the Middle East included some fairly scary personal experiences. 

Here is a Washington Book Festival interview from 2007 shortly after the release of his thriller The Secret Servant.  Those of you who are already fans will chuckle at Silva’s response to the question “what does Israeli intelligence think of his depiction of the Mossad” - short answer - “they like it”, and will be interested in his scornful dismissal of the film “Munich”.   

Daniel Silva brings us a multidimensional Mossad hero - Gabriel Allon.  In real life, the Mossad and other arms of Israeli intelligence undoubtably play a major though shadowy and  danger-filled role in protecting Israel.  

This weeks Parashah, Ki Tisa,  describes how Bezalel, the master craftsman, was chosen to construct the Mishkan (Sanctuary), the dwelling place of G-d during the children of Israel’s wandering in the desert. 

The name Bezalel very appropriately arose in 1903, when Professor Boris Schatz, one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Art in Sofia, Bulgaria, interested Theodor Herzl in a proposal to establish a school of arts and crafts in the Land of Israel.  In 1905, the Seventh Zionist Congress in Basel supported the formation of the Bezalel School of Art, and in the following year, Professor Schatz establishes the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts on Ethiopia Street in Jerusalem. Its stated goals were “To train people in Jerusalem in crafts, consolidate original Jewish art and support Jewish artists, and to find visual expression for the much yearned national and spiritual independence that seeks to create a synthesis between European artistic traditions and the Jewish design tradition of Eastern Europe, and to integrate it with the local culture of the Land of Israel.”

Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design currently enjoys an international reputation, both for the courses it provides, and the pre-eminence of its teachers, students and graduates.