The Road to Nazarus
On the last day of my business trip to Israel I was introduced to Arie. He needed to make a trip to one of our company’s suppliers and offered to take me along. From Tel Aviv our actual destination was Migdal Haemek which is nearby Nazarus.
We boarded the elevator then walked across the parking lot. During the walk Arie said he was sorry that he couldn’t speak better English. I smiled and told him that it was just his perception. In fact, he spoke English very well. We found the car and began heading North in the general direction of Haifa. Along the way he mentioned that at work they pronounced his name “Arik” to avoid confusion with another coworker who also had the name Arie.
On our left there were a couple of views of the Mediterranean, but soon the road cut inland. We could see that there was heavy stop and go traffic coming approaching Tel Aviv - much like Boston’s traffic. Arie said that he generally took the train to work because of the high cost of driving. In Israel cars are very expensive due to an extremely high sales tax. A car will cost twice as much as the same car in the United States. The gas price is eight dollars a gallon! (If that’s not enough, the income tax is sixty percent!) Almost on queue we both noticed that the car needed gas.
Arie had never been to the United States and this was my first trip to Israel. This gave us a lot to talk about. His parents moved to Israel when Russia’s emigration policy was relaxed. His parents were in their thirties and learning Hebrew was difficult for them. Arie, however, now speaks Russian in addition to Hebrew and English. His parents settled in the southern area of Israel. Arie was brought up there. He said the problem with the Israel’s southern area is that it’s hard to make a living there. You’re basically in the desert. I then asked him about the mandatory military service.
Most citizens of Israel serve in the military. Females serve two years, males serve three. Arab Muslims are not required to serve. Arie spent his first three years out of high school in the military. He said it was dangerous service and he saw front line action in the Gaza Strip. He was stationed at a number of bases all through Israel and mentioned that one of the most scenic areas was the Golan Heights on the border of Syria. After serving his three years, he went to college to study Electrical Engineering.
Arie told me that all Israelis speak some English. He said that during college, all of the technical books are in English and many courses are taught in English. He said that Israel has many high tech and bio-tech companies. The English language is used communicate out of Israel. Then I asked if there was a good market in Israel for the high tech and bio-tech products. He said that there was almost no market. He said that those companies are there because of Israels strong engineering talent. (I later read that about thirty percent of the companies on the Nasdaq Exchange outsource engineering projects to Israel because of this talent.) Next I asked if the job market was good there. He said that is was - there was plenty of work for everyone. Arie went on to say that when he first started working he still lived in the south and had a two hour drive. He now lives in Tel Aviv with his wife and son. He’ stayed with the same company. We pulled up to an intersection and started up another road.
Before long we could see the wall to the West Bank on our right. From the road you can see quite a few Palestinian developments. The wall went on for quite a while. We could also see many Arab settlements to our left (inside the wall). Arie said that Israel was roughly 80% Jewish and 20% Muslim. (There are a small number of Christians, etc. - but not a significant amount.)
Another intersection approached and we could see that we were getting close to our destination - and Nazarus. We pulled into the town of Migdal Haemek and in another five minutes we were at out destination and walking across the parking lot. I thanked Arie for doing the driving and for the conversation. It was now time to go to work. I looked forward to the return trip.
Filed under: Israel on September 30th, 2007 | No Comments »
My business trip took me to the Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv. The company I work for occupies three floors in one of the three sky scrapers shaping this complex. There’s a circular, quare, and a triangular tower - I was in the triangle. At the base is a shopping mall with many of the stores you would find in the United States. And, there were just as many which I had never never heard of.
You enter the mall by being stopped by security guard and in some cased having your ID may checked. It’s not much different that going to a concert or a major sports event. (Woman will have their pocket books checked.) The mall was well decorated and seemed to offer a great selection for eating places. One restaurant had tables filling the area between the stores. But unlike a typical food court, each table had a menu, silverware, and the wait staff came to the tables. The mall takes up several floors and from various points you could see down, or up, to the other levels. By the way, the food in Israel is good - and if you like it spicy, it’s great!
When standing in line to make a purchase you can hear the Hebrew being used by the other customers. But we were assured over and over that everyone speaks enough English to allow us to communicate. They were right. The best part was that we did not have to speak first. One glance at us and the knew to speak English. I was told later that Israelis instinctively know the nationality of those around them.
The walk started at the sidewalk in front of our hotel, then North. We crossed from the sidewalk to the boardwalk and in a minute the Mediterranean was in view. Since there were no shops or stores on the beach side, we were never without a beach view. On the right there are coffee shops, discos, souvenir shops, and restaurants. And, we would see that the walking area was being put to good use - we were far from alone.
Walking along any beach area is always a good walk. This walk was as good as any. Many of the beach areas had volley ball nets in use. Some of the restaurants had tables set up for dinner on the beach. And when you looked out at the water there were swimmers in spite of the darkness. (Are there no sharks in Israel?) The shape of the boardwalk was different - it wasn’t flat. Rather, it was purposely constructed such that it resembled small waves. As an added attraction there are mammal shaped ornaments here and there. Then when the walkway dropped down to the beach level, the wide sidewalk was well decorated.
Another observation was the colors. You could see many lit up eating joints, bars, towers, etc. A look in any direction would tell you that you were in a special place. But this is fun in the daytime too. By the time the week was over we also walked along this area in the afternoon and in the morning. All great walks!
On Friday our business trip started with a flight from Boston to Newark and then to Tel Aviv. We were in the air all night and and the discomfort factor was such I wasn’t able to sleep. My coworkers had the same experience. But our plan was to spend most of Saturday seeing Jerusalem. So, without sleep, we drove East for about an hour and went sight seeing. The road signs were clearly marked in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.
Like most cities with historic interest, Jerusalem has modern section and an old city. We parked just outside the old city and started walking. The weather was hot and dry. We were wearing shorts which helped. But the first sight we saw was was a few Orthodox Jews dressed all in black. Not only that, they wore overcoats and many had fur hats. To their credit, the heat seemed to bother us more than them.
Just up the street to the left we saw a camel, a real full size camel. In a second a had a digital image of it and a second later I had a man asking me for a few shackles for the picture I took. He kept following me and getting more aggressive. I continued to ignore him. Finally one of my coworkers, the Israel one, said a few word of Hebrew to him and he went away. He never did tell me what he said.
To get into the Western Wall section you have to pass through what looks like an airport security system with a personal search. Once in, we were free to see the wall. In order to get close to the wall we were require to wear a hat. I was OK with my baseball hat, but not to fear - they had plenty of cardboard yamakas available. No problem. Next we saw some Roman columns. The next thing we knew a man was discussing the Roman empire connection to Jerusalem. He asked if he could show us around. We agreed and paid him in advance.
We wanted to go to the Christian sector. To get there we would have to pass through the Muslim sector and our Israeli coworker was nervous about that area. Basically, he refused to go through there. There were plenty of tour groups passing through and it seemed as though the fear was without merit. To get us moving our new found guide agreed to take us through a less traveled way - over the roofs. We went up a set of stairs and onto a roof which served as a back door, storage area, playground, etc. While walking along the roof, we suddenly heard a loud noise - a bit scratchy at first but it then took on a distinct sound. Our guess was that it was a call for prayers. Our guide confirmed this as did our Israeli coworker. The sound continued and we expected to see people come out the the roof tops, but there was no change. I have to admit that none of us were comfortable being in this environment - it was just so different that we didn’t no what to expect. We just kept walking until we were out of roof. We then went down into the Christian sector.
From this point we took a side few streets through the Jewish area. The architecture of the streets and buildings in this area as the most interesting. The only problem was that it was getting hotter and the stone buildings were doing a good job storing heat. We found an air conditioned restaurant, ordered some food, then sat down for a while. After lunch we bought a couple of extra water bottles and continued the walk. Because of the irregular contour, the number of stairs, and the high temperature, the walk was strenuous. Before long we decided to get to the car and return to Tel Aviv.
As it turned out, this was the first of two walks we took on Saturday. The next walk was along the Tel Aviv waterfront. However, the Jerusalem walk put us in touch with history which we would never have a chance to see if it wasn’t for this trip.
Tel Aviv is a rapidly growing city in the midst of an exciting transition from medium-sized urban center to bustling international metropolis. It’s the city that many Israelis think of as their New York. While the comparison was once a stretch - and indeed Tel Aviv is still a fraction of New York’s size - Tel Aviv’s booming population, energy, edginess and 24-hour life give the city a cosmopolitan flair comparable to few other cities in this part of the world.The heart of Tel Aviv is the financial and cultural center of Israel. This part of the city is bordered by the Yarqon river to the north; the Central Bus Station area to the South; the Ayalon Highway to the east, and the sea to the west. You’ll find everything in walking distance, and most of the districts below too close to tell.
Tel Aviv-Yafo represents the heart of a thriving, small-scale Israeli metropolis - the greater metropolitan area comprises a number of separate municipalities with approximately 1.1 million people living in a 15 km long sprawl along the Mediterranean coast - with around 360,400 in Tel Aviv-Yafo itself making it the second largest city in Israel.Whilst Jerusalem is Israel’s capital city where most government departments are located, Tel Aviv and its satellite cities form the economic and cultural center. It is known as “the city that doesn’t stop” and indeed you will find that the nightlife and culture are on around the clock. In summer it is not unusual to see the beach boardwalk bustling with people at 4am and the clubs and bars usually pick up around midnight until morning, giving Tel Aviv a well deserved reputation of being a party town. It is the pinnacle of secular life in Israel.
