Jewish festivals revolve around food, including the traditional delicacies with symbolic associations. Today even Independence Day has become synonymous with the yearly mangal, an outdoor barbecue in gardens, parks, the countryside, or wherever space is available.
Over the years, tastes and habits have changed. Traditional Jewish foods are still enjoyed at festival meals, but are less often prepared at home by the average housewife, who lacks both the time and the inclination to spend long hours in the kitchen. Dishes such as gefilte fish, chopped liver, cholent, kube, hummus, tahina, and stuffed vegetables are picked up from the deli or enjoyed at a grandparent’s home. Climate and health have also played their role, and Mediterranean cuisine, using olive oil and fresh herbs, is everywhere.
Israel is awash with restaurants. Just as the Jewish homeland needed Jewish farmers to become a normal country, it also needed Jewish chefs. In the early years of the state virtually the only restaurants to be found were family owned and operated, offering the traditional fare of the many countries from which Israelis had emigrated. Sons and daughters helped to serve and wash the dishes in these “hole in the wall” eateries, and many have carried on running them, bringing them up-to-date with contemporary décor and modern equipment to cater to a more sophisticated clientele. The “boat people,” refugees taken in by Israel after the war in Vietnam, and their progeny, were the first to offer, and continue to provide, a taste of the Far East.
In recent years a culinary revolution has taken place. A new generation of talented young Israeli chefs, many of whom were apprenticed to Italian and French chefs in Michelin-starred restaurants, others of whom traveled abroad and absorbed the culinary traditions of East and West, has emerged in Israel, and together with local entrepreneurs, they have opened restaurants that compete on all levels with their counterparts in Rome, Paris, London, and New York. A contributing influence to this culinary renaissance is an insatiable thirst for travel. The hundreds of thousands of Israelis who travel abroad for business and pleasure each year return with a sharpened awareness of quality, including an appreciation of fine cuisine that was nonexistent in the early years. Today the ever-growing number of food magazines, columns, reviews, and restaurant articles in the daily and weekend press and the popular TV food shows testify to the new interest in cuisine.
There are hundreds of kosher restaurants and cafés in Israel, including in Tel Aviv, which used to have just a handful. Now people who eat only kosher food have the opportunity to enjoy all types of gastronomic fare.
Most restaurants offer breakfast menus including fresh orange juice, smoked fish, salads, cheeses, eggs, coffee, and teas, and fixed-price business-lunch menus offering good meals that are less expensive than dinners. Generally, both local and imported wines are available, as well as local and imported spirits, and a choice of beers and soft drinks. Upmarket establishments also offer a range of cocktails.
There are restaurants on the beaches, in malls, in the main shopping streets, alongside fishing harbors and marinas, and in picturesque spots in the countryside. A current popular location is the old Tel Aviv harbor at the northwestern end of downtown Tel Aviv. Mediterranean fish and vegetable dishes are plentiful, with good cuts of meat a more expensive option. One specialty is the delicious St. Peter’s fish from the Sea of Galilee.
Arab restaurants are to be found mostly in Jerusalem, Jaffa, in and around Haifa, and in the Galilee, where some of the restaurants are Druze, serving traditional Arab, or so-called “Oriental,” cuisine. In this the mezze, consisting of a dizzying selection of spicy salads and dips, including tahina and hummus, plays a prominent role.
Other than in hotels, in Arab and Druze restaurants, and in Far Eastern restaurants, there are few career waiters in Israeli establishments. Service is provided mainly by students, who rely on tips to help them through university or college.
Smoking is banned in all restaurants and bars, and only permitted in specially marked areas outside the premises.
In restaurants, a tip of 12 to15 percent of the bill is usual. A service charge may already be included. Exceptional service may deserve a little more.
In hotels, bellboys are usually tipped the equivalent of US $1 per suitcase. Room service waiters always expect a tip. It is usual to leave an envelope enclosing a tip for the housekeeping staff and front office personnel at the desk on departure.
Taxi drivers appreciate tips, but do not expect them. Tourist guides and drivers do expect them.
Gas station attendants appreciate a small tip for good service.
In Israel shopping is a national hobby. Israelis shop in the malls, in the main streets, in the markets, at outlets in industrial areas, in airport duty-free shops when traveling, or in the airport mall before meeting or greeting friends—even at hospitals, where retail therapy takes on a different meaning for shoppers in the malls that have sprung up in the hospital grounds or adjacent to them. There are rustic arts and crafts studios and boutiques in country villages, and fashionable boutiques in seaside port developments. Israelis are price conscious and will shop around for the best buy. Prices are fixed, and there is little opportunity for bargaining in shops.
Until fairly recently malls were unknown in Israel. Today, both in the cities and on their outskirts, malls are attracting customers who prefer to do their shopping in air-conditioned comfort, with parking and all the shops they need. Some are more sophisticated than others, but most have entertainment for children, cinema complexes, cafés, fast-food emporiums, branches of fashion chains for adults and children, electronic goods suppliers, supermarkets, DVD shops for sales and rentals, bookshops, toy shops, shoe shops, and cell phone suppliers. A few have bowling alleys and some open on Saturdays. Many feature prepared food fairs on Friday mornings.
Shukim (singular, shuk) are open-air markets. With their abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables they attract not only frugal shoppers but anyone seeking the best produce. It is hard to resist trays of strawberries and ripe tomatoes, crisp green lettuces and herbs, pungent pickles, piles of spices, endless varieties of olives, salads, breads, meat, and fish, and colorful bunches of flowers. Faithful customers enjoy bargaining with the vendors and buy groceries, household products, clothing, accessories, and toys here. These are much cheaper, but are not always the best quality. The Carmel in Tel Aviv and Mahaneh Yehudah in Jerusalem are two of the largest markets. In Tel Aviv on Tuesdays and Fridays there is an arts and crafts market in Nachalat Benyamin Street, which is near the Carmel Market, so you can visit both places in one outing.
Israeli women keep up-to-date with the latest fashion trends in Israel, Milan, Paris, London, and New York. Those who can buy the labels in expensive boutiques or outlets, and those who can’t buy good-quality copies in the popular chains, or shoddy versions in the cheaper shops, markets, and bazaars.
Israelis tend to exaggerate, and fashion is no exception. When the look calls for belly-baring, or body-hugging T-shirts, the youthful, slim, and shapely wear them with flair, and the older, fatter, and less shapely wear them proudly, too.
Today young Israeli designers are at the cutting edge of fashion and many have made it to the top, with boutiques in Paris, London, and New York. Dorin Frankfurt, Ronen Chen, and Sigal Dekel are as well known in international fashion circles today as those of the fashion and swimwear houses Gottex and Gideon Oberson.
Well-dressed Israeli men follow the latest trends in the cut of their trousers, jeans, jackets, shirts, and style of shoe, and aspire to buy the right labels, real or imitation.
Israeli jewelry is distinctive. Handcrafted pieces are made with gold, silver, and precious and semiprecious stones, and sometimes incorporate ancient Roman glass, Jewish coins, and exotic woods. Designs are modern or based on ethnic design, and some use beads and polymer clay.
Hairdressing, beauty salons, and other such services are good, well priced by international standards, and used by most of the population. Like fashion boutiques, they can be found at every price level, providing manicures, pedicures, and facial and body treatments for men and women. Whereas in colder climes a tan is often a status symbol, in today’s Israel the opposite is true; basking in the hot sun is out and hats, sunshades, and protective sun lotions are in.
In any given week there are as many as eighty theatrical productions showing in about forty theaters or other venues in Israel. Of these, nearly sixty are playing at twenty theaters in Tel Aviv. The Habimah National Theater (founded in Moscow by Nachum Zemach in 1917 and moved to Israel in 1931) and the New Cameri Theater are both repertory companies that change plays several times a week. Productions range from translations of overseas hits, including major musicals, and classics, to plays and musicals by Israeli playwrights dealing with local and universal themes. The Cameri stages a weekly production with simultaneous English translation. Generally the curtain rises at 8:30 p.m.
Israel’s thriving cinema culture has come a long way since the first Hebrew-language films were produced in the 1950s. For three consecutive years Israeli films have been nominated for Academy Awards. Two of its most famous exports to Hollywood are the actors Chaim Topol and Gal Gadot. The country has two international film festivals, screening local and foreign films, in Jerusalem and Haifa.
More than twenty classical music concerts can be heard in any week. Venues include churches and the two main concert halls, the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, home of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Jerusalem’s International Convention Center, Heichal Hatarbut. Renowned guest musicians and famous Israeli soloists—Pinchas Zuckerman, Shlomo Mintz, Daniel Barenboim, and Itzhak Perlman—are part of the country’s music scene. Operas are performed at the Tel Aviv Center of Performing Arts at different times throughout the year, and in summer at the restored Roman amphitheater in Caesarea.
Israel has a rich heritage of folk and popular music. Past and present songwriters, singers, and composers include Naomi Shemer, Shoshana Damari, Yafa Yarkoni, Ofra Haza, Arik Einstein, Shalom Chanoch, Ehud Banai, David Broza, Shlomo Artzi, Achinoam Nini, and Idan Raichel, among many others. Israeli popular song embraces nostalgia for the early days of the country, its wars, triumphs, and losses; songs of heroism, dreams of peace, songs of simple pleasures, and of the frustrations of everyday life, and love songs that pull at the heart.
The vibrant local music scene can be enjoyed live in many of Tel Aviv’s and Jerusalem’s bars and clubs throughout the week. As a rule, club nights generally get going around 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. and continue into the early hours of the morning.
Local and foreign dance companies perform classical ballet and modern dance at venues throughout Israel, including the Suzanne Dellal Center in Neveh Tzedek, Tel Aviv, home of the Bat Sheva Ballet Company. Ballet is also performed at the Roman amphitheater in Caesarea.
Israelis are enthusiastic folk dancers, and there are folk dance groups throughout the country.
All kinds of performances take place throughout the country. Shows include dance, poetry, drama, jazz, progressive rock, operetta, satire, stand-up comedy, cabaret, Israeli popular music, and Russian and Gospel singers. There are also circuses, puppet shows, and children’s programs of all kinds. Most adult performances start at 9:00 p.m. and take place in small theaters, café-bars, clubs, centers, and auditoriums. There are many performances in English and other languages.
In addition to the three main museums with their permanent and special exhibitions—the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv—there are more than eighty museums and art galleries scattered throughout Israel. These have individual and group exhibits of sculpture, painting, and works of all kinds by known and unknown artists. Worth a detour is the charming artists’ village of Ein Hod in the Carmel foothills near Haifa, the Artists’ Quarter in Old Jaffa, and Safed in the Galilee. Gordon Street in Tel Aviv has a concentration of galleries offering a wide variety of Israeli art. Three of the most well-attended museums are listed below; details of others can easily be found on the Internet and elsewhere.
An exciting museum with interactive exhibits.
Situated on the campus of Tel Aviv University, this unique institution shows the history of the different Jewish communities around the world through scale models, architecture, drawings and sketches, multimedia, and artifacts.
The Yad Vashem Museum of the Holocaust is situated on Har ha-Zikaron (The Mount of Remembrance) in Jerusalem. It documents the history of the Jewish people during the Holocaust period, preserving the memory and story of the six million victims, and imparting the legacy of the Holocaust for generations to come through its archives, library, school, museums, and recognition of the Righteous Among the Nations.
More than seventy cultural festivals are held annually throughout the country. The following is a small selection.
The Jerusalem Festival features international and Israeli theater, dance, and music, with the participation of internationally renowned artists.
Classical and Jazz music festivals take place on kibbutzim (including Kfar Blum, and the Keshet Eilon Violin Mastercourse), at the Red Sea (Jazz festival), the Dead Sea, and the Sea of Galilee.
Several festivals are devoted to choral music, including Jerusalem’s Liturgica, vocal music in the churches of Abu Ghosh, set high in the hills west of Jerusalem, and the Zimriya festival.
The annual summer Akko Festival of Alternative Israeli Theater is held within the walls of the old Crusader city of Acre.
The Safed Klezmer Festival (traditional Ashkenazi Jewish Soul Music) attracts both religious and secular young people.
Other events include annual film festivals in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem; the Karmi’el Dance Festival; Jaffa Nights, outdoor theater and music; the International Poetry Festival in Jerusalem’s Yemin Moshe quarter; the International Jerusalem Book Fair; the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition; and the International Festival of Puppet Theater in Jerusalem.
Bars and clubs proliferate, mainly in Tel Aviv. The choice ranges from rock music for a young hip crowd, through a small, intimate bar or wine bar with a regular clientele, to a place where “pickup” is the object. You can enjoy an evening of Irish ambience; indulge yourself with a sunset drink after a soothing massage; or choose the places with the best DJs. Some pubs and clubs offer live music and entertainment, others, more sedate, quiet corners and low lighting. There is something for every taste.
From Ashkelon in the south to beyond Nahariya in the north, Israel’s coastline consists of a succession of beaches. Most are broad, white, and sandy, some narrow and rocky, and a few are simply sheltered coves. Those falling under local authority or kibbutz supervision are well maintained and clean, have lifeguards, and post safety signs. White flags signify a calm sea, red flags caution against strong waves and currents, and black flags warn that swimming is dangerous and prohibited. Swimming areas are often roped off, creating a corridor in the sea, so that the lifeguards can better keep an eye on their charges.
Officially, bathing is forbidden at any beach without lifeguards in attendance. There can be undertows, strong currents, and uneven ground, and swimming can be dangerous, particularly after dark.
There are shaded areas, and deck chairs and umbrellas for rent. Beachside restaurants, cafés, and kiosks serve meals, drinks, and snacks, and on weekends and holidays vendors ply their wares along the sands, selling ice cream, cool drinks, and snacks. Toilets are generally clean and sanitary. There are open-air showers. Tended beaches are crowded in the late summer afternoons and evenings, over weekends, public holidays, and from morning to night in July and August.
Some beaches are bordered by promenades or landscaped gardens, others simply by parking lots, sand dunes, and scrub. Some are free, others charge everyone entrance fees, and others charge only those who are nonresidents of the authority in question. Some charge parking fees only.
Those beaches that are unattended, often the most wild and beautiful, may be littered by debris, washed ashore or left behind by messy picnickers. Volunteers clear them from time to time.
In addition to the long, wide, sandy beach and promenade that borders Tel Aviv’s main hotel and tourist district, North Tel Aviv has beaches with separate appeal, including a segregated beach for the ultra-Orthodox and one for dog owners. (Pets are not allowed onto most attended beaches.) There are unsupervised nudist beaches both north and south of Tel Aviv.
Most tended beaches are dedicated to the peaceful enjoyment of bathers and sunseekers, and do not allow the noisy jet and water-skiing activities offered at other Mediterranean resorts, but many have areas set aside for volleyball and other beach games. Topless bathing on Israel’s beaches is generally permitted, but in fact is rarely done except in Eilat.
There are no privately owned beaches; however on the Sea of Galilee many developers of lakeside beach clubs, hotels, and holiday villages have unlawfully fenced in their properties right down to the waters’ edge, leaving little beach space available to the public. Many clubs, hotels, and holiday villages offer water sports facilities, and over weekends and holidays the calm blue waters of the Sea of Galilee teem with Jet Skis and other propeller-driven craft, including large, double-decker cruisers ferrying tourists and pilgrims to the holy sites. Sailing boats and wooden fishing boats dot the horizon.
Eilat, too, has its beaches, the main one being on the North Shore. Further south the beaches are wider, the sand is whiter, and snorkeling in the coral reef, for which the Red Sea is famous, is the main sport. Snorkeling lessons are available, and glass-bottomed boats and a submarine glide the less adventurous above and through the magical underwater coral world.
