Israel - In the beginning.....

Netanya—Week one

The pace must change as we approach Israel, we thought. The nature of this part of the trip is different although our aim is to hike in areas identified as interesting. However, before we get to the hiking activities, there is serious spiritual work to do. We hope we are up to the task. We arrived in Israel and decided to take a taxi to Netanya. Our options weren’t that extensive. Hitch-hike, train or selected option. We have used the train a few times before but it was too late to be assured of a reasonable arrival time. We expected the rush-hour traffic to be over by 7pm so we sat back to enjoy the change of scenery. From the airport, through Tel Aviv to Netanya, the land was flat. The high points, we noticed, were the skyscrapers of that city; no naturally high terrain was visible. As for traffic, we felt that we could be in any large city—bumper to bumper until the last while of the journey. Added to this, the temperature was in the nineties although we did not realize the full impact until we reached our apartment. Nothing wrong with our commencement in Israel but then, there was also nothing special either. We forget. We did receive quite a few pointers while observing our taxi driver at work. We didn’t realize how much fun it is ‘cutting across’ traffic, dashing between lanes and ignoring fellow motorists. We don’t think we will ever get used to the horn sounding whenever we allow a mere split second to elapse before accelerating as the green light appears.

I think a lot of us make the mistake of comparing Israel with our countries of birth or residence. This is not fair in our opinion. Israel is unique. Shopping in Israel for food, or at least in Netanya was as tough as any hike we experienced recently. Admittedly, we only hired a car on the day we left to travel north. In the meantime, it did mean that we would be ‘schlepping’ parcels and packets up and down. We did our Rosh Hashana shopping over two days as we had limited carrying capability. Our editor is not as strong as she thinks and her spouse must be careful not to strain his back. Effectively, it meant only one carrying while the other directed and encouraged over the 1 mile walk each way. To be fair, on the way to the store she was without a load; so we think our editor was quite fortunate and of course, there are no hills. Over all, it was a great deal for her.

We would like to suggest to the Ministry of Tourism that they become more accommodating towards the visitors, especially the dummies who can’t understand Hebrew. Merchandise should be sold in packaging marked in many languages or at least in Anglit—see how we make the effort. Have they tried to buy salad dressing that contains few calories? We spent much time trying to understand the labels, the foods and drinks. Our experience in all things Coke certainly paid off; we were able to use our extensive knowledge in this field to identify and lay in a large inventory. In a deft move, we also bought diet Fanta, which has proved to be a tasty drink. We find we are developing more depth in our drinking habits, which should position us for an exciting future. Back to the shelves. We would also request that the printing be larger because we never think of taking reading glasses with us—something else for our editor to have to carry. We always worry that we should never have chutzpah, especially in Israel but we feel we are being helpful to both the Ministry and visitors to this great country.

Everyone talks about the weather no matter which country. It was hot. Humid. Did we say hot? We sweated profusely for seven days. Our apartment was without air-conditioning so we felt the heat from all sides and at all times. It encouraged us to keep the windows open, which was nice, especially when the wind blew. Once in the afternoon and at least twice in the evenings. However, we had a view of the Mediterranean, colored turquoise and a darker shade of blue. It is a very charming color nicely offset against white beaches. It is easy to understand that with the warm water, clean white sand and striking blues that many people enjoy being on the beach during Shabbos and Rosh Hashana. We were rather taken aback by this but we don’t sunbathe so perhaps it’s jealousy on our part. Actually, we were quite shocked. We really have to understand this concept of a day on the beach for New Year—clearly, we are confused.

We realized that we forgot to bring our radio/CD to listen to music. We felt a little down-hearted as we like to enjoy soft music, at times. We had nothing to fear. People in Netanya like to share. At least every five minutes, a car would pass our apartment, windows wide open, boom box blaring at a high volume with sounds we guessed were music. However, we are not sure. On one occasion, we thought the car would enter our room through the window. Fortunately, we were on the second floor so we were being far too critical. Between midnight and 3am, we did think the choice of music was inappropriate but then again, who is to say our tastes are ideal. We calculated by about the third night, most people are in bed by 4am.
The building has a washing machine and dryer for the permanent residents. We were excited about this because we are learning to travel economically these days. In fact, we are traveling very lightly. Frankly, we find it difficult to bring a washing machine with us—of course, a dryer is a non-starter. We arranged to use the machines on the Tuesday before Rosh Hashana. We wanted to impress our hosts at shul with our neatly pressed garments. However, we forgot about the heat following a 1.25 miles walk. At least we did not smell too badly, especially after the night walks. After emptying the washing machine, the receptionist, Idit, who doubles as whatever is needed, suggested it was not a good idea to use the dryer. We were a little put off but we need not have worried. By the time we got up to second floor, the washing had all but dried; we were soaked. Unfortunately, there were more than a few wrinkles. We decided that we would not let mere details bother us. Our editor, we think, looked beautiful over the period. In fact, the wrinkles on the clothes de-emphasized those on her face. We think it worked out very well in the end. However, we are concerned again because our editor has turned very cool towards us. Must be the terrible heat in Netanya.

We spent a wonderful few days in shul. The service was meaningful and brisk. The Israelis seem quite proficient in Hebrew, too. The Rabbi spoke poignantly about T’shuva, which of course, was appropriate for this time of the year. In fact, we sat at the Rabbi and Rebbetzin’s table for second night dinner. It was a memorable occasion. We feared that the language barrier would hinder us. However, this proved to be unfounded. We remembered that Rabbi Katz, a Yiddishe guy, is also South African.

Moving onto the Upper Galil..... be in touch from there.