While I traveled around the world you may have noticed my slight obsession with food. Not only did I delight in sampling local specialties and fresh locally grown produce, I was fortunate enough to have home cooked meals prepared with love and pride by my many hospitable hosts from coast to coast…to coast. So now for your own cooking and consuming pleasure I will begin a series of posts from time to time sharing these fun, simple and definitely delicious recipes from around the world.

Bon appétit! Buon appetito! Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub!

Robert’s Israeli Tahini Sauce/Dip

• Ground Sesame seeds/Concentrated Tahina
• 1 Lemon
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• Chopped Parsley
• Water
• Olive Oil
• S&P

Put all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. Eat with pita or crudite.  Super easy, fresh, and yummy! Enjoy!

During my visit to Israel there just happened to be a war going on.  I was not near Gaza.  Israel has been hit by Hamas rockets for years now but, the aggressive approach Israel recently took was very condemned in much of the world.  A total of 1,200 Palestinians died with a recent report from Israel saying that 300 of these were civilians.

The report said 580 of those killed have been identified as fighters of the Hamas Palestinian militant group. Another 320 victims have yet to be classified but they have been described as all men, two-thirds of whom were deemed likely by Israel to be terror operatives.

Of course, these results differ greatly from those of Hamas reports. Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration chief Col. Moshe Levi told the newspaper the Hamas figures are the result of “false reporting” that have given the international community a “vastly distorted impression” of the Gaza death toll.

According to some reports, Israel’s Minister of Welfare and Social Services Isaac Herzog, who is coordinating Israel’s humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza, has said that “[The IDF] made 250,000 phone calls], it sent text messages and delivered leaflets by air. It [made] broadcasts on television and on radio and asked people to move away. It did whatever it could to prevent human suffering.”

Some say that Hamas deliberately forced its “own” Gazan civilians to serve as hostages and “human shields,” behind which the terrorists conducted their assault. Hamas regularly sent its troops to occupy schools, hospitals, mosques and office buildings, their grounds and adjacent streets, as well as many private Palestinian houses and business, and used them to fire at Israeli soldiers and to launch rockets against Israeli civilians. The Hamas men used mosques as weapons and ammunition storage facilities, and fired anti-aircraft guns from them. The Israelis have even filmed videos, now broadcast on YouTube, of Hamas fighters launching rockets and mortars from the courtyards of schools, or streets directly adjoining them.

In Israel, military service is mandatory and nearly all citizens – men and women – are drafted at age 18.

Because Israel is such a small country, and everyone serves in the army, entire communities are affected by everything that happens along the border.

All active military personnel, whether on duty or not, must carry their weapons with them at all times. Which means, I sat next to a nice young boy sleeping with his assault rifle propped between his legs on the bus on my way to Jerusalem from the south of Israel.  But I should also make a side note that all these young military men are quite hot. Does that help my safety? Well, no, but they sure are nice to look at.

I was at a Sabbath dinner (the first one in my life) in Jerusalem one night and met a mother who has something in common with nearly all Israeli mothers: her children served in the military and due to Israel’s common conflicts, it is not all that rare that their children have to fight. This particular mom’s son had just returned from Gaza City. But what I heard from her wasn’t about the war itself, but what it meant to be a soldier for Israel. Since everyone does it here…it’s something of a rite of passage. What struck me as amazing were all the phone calls this mother received from random strangers telling her that her son was alright. In other words, there is an unwritten chain of command that soldiers give their mothers’ phone numbers to random people they come in contact with during the conflict…like truck drivers or other officers, who make calls for the soldiers…or even hand the numbers on to someone else who then makes the calls.

When her son returned home, she then learned that he had really been at the front lines, something he kept from her so she would not be overcome with worry. He brought back with him a stack of letters he’d received written by school children and teachers wishing him a safe return. Without being asked, this young man sat down and called every child who had written him and left a telephone number to tell them he read their letter and to thank them. The kids on the other end of the phone line were ecstatic to hear from him.

Here is another letter that is circulating on the internet. I can not say for sure it is real, but have not found the contrary.

An Open Letter to A citizen Of Gaza: I Am the Soldier Who Slept In Your Home

I Am the Soldier Who Slept In Your Home
By: Yishai G (reserve soldier)
ygoldflam@gmail.com
[Originally published in Hebrew in Maariv]

Hello,

While the world watches the ruins in Gaza, you return to your home which remains standing. However, I am sure that it is clear to you that someone was in your home while you were away.

I am that someone.

I spent long hours imagining how you would react when you walked into your home. How you would feel when you understood that IDF soldiers had slept on your mattresses and used your blankets to keep warm.

I knew that it would make you angry and sad and that you would feel this violation of the most intimate areas of your life by those defined as your enemies, with stinging humiliation. I am convinced that you hate me with unbridled hatred, and you do not have even the tiniest desire to hear what I have to say. At the same time, it is important for me to say the following in the hope that there is even the minutest chance that you will hear me.

I spent many days in your home. You and your family’s presence was felt in every corner. I saw your family portraits on the wall, and I thought of my family. I saw your wife’s perfume bottles on the bureau, and I thought of my wife. I saw your children’s toys and their English language schoolbooks. I saw your personal computer and how you set up the modem and wireless phone next to the screen, just as I do.

I wanted you to know that despite the immense disorder you found in your house that was created during a search for explosives and tunnels (which were indeed found in other homes), we did our best to treat your possessions with respect. When I moved the computer table, I disconnected the cables and lay them down neatly on the floor, as I would do with my own computer. I even covered the computer from dust with a piece of cloth. I tried to put back the clothes that fell when we moved the closet although not the same as you would have done, but at least in such a way that nothing would get lost.

I know that the devastation, the bullet holes in your walls and the destruction of those homes near you place my descriptions in a ridiculous light. Still, I need you to understand me, us, and hope that you will channel your anger and criticism to the right places.

I decided to write you this letter specifically because I stayed in your home.

I can surmise that you are intelligent and educated and there are those in your household that are university students. Your children learn English, and you are connected to the Internet. You are not ignorant; you know what is going on around you.

Therefore, I am sure you know that Quassam rockets were launched from your neighborhood into Israeli towns and cities.

How could you see these weekly launches and not think that one day we would say “enough”?! Did you ever consider that it is perhaps wrong to launch rockets at innocent civilians trying to lead a normal life, much like you? How long did you think we would sit back without reacting?

I can hear you saying “it’s not me, it’s Hamas”. My intuition tells me you are not their most avid supporter. If you look closely at the sad reality in which your people live, and you do not try to deceive yourself or make excuses about “occupation”, you must certainly reach the conclusion that the Hamas is your real enemy.

The reality is so simple, even a seven year old can understand: Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip, removing military bases and its citizens from Gush Katif. Nonetheless, we continued to provide you with electricity, water, and goods (and this I know very well as during my reserve duty I guarded the border crossings more than once, and witnessed hundreds of trucks full of goods entering a blockade-free Gaza every day).

Despite all this, for reasons that cannot be understood and with a lack of any rational logic, Hamas launched missiles on Israeli towns. For three years we clenched our teeth and restrained ourselves. In the end, we could not take it anymore and entered the Gaza strip, into your neighborhood, in order to remove those who want to kill us. A reality that is painful but very easy to explain.

As soon as you agree with me that Hamas is your enemy and because of them, your people are miserable, you will also understand that the change must come from within. I am acutely aware of the fact that what I say is easier to write than to do, but I do not see any other way. You, who are connected to the world and concerned about your children’s education, must lead, together with your friends, a civil uprising against Hamas.

I swear to you, that if the citizens of Gaza were busy paving roads, building schools, opening factories and cultural institutions instead of dwelling in self pity, arms smuggling and nurturing a hatred to your Israeli neighbors, your homes would not be in ruins right now. If your leaders were not corrupt and motivated by hatred, your home would not have been harmed. If someone would have stood up and shouted that there is no point in launching missiles on innocent civilians, I would not have to stand in your kitchen as a soldier.

You don’t have money, you tell me? You have more than you can imagine.

Even before Hamas took control of Gaza, during the time of Yasser Arafat, millions if not billions of dollars donated by the world community to the Palestinians was used for purchasing arms or taken directly to your leaders bank accounts. Gulf States, the emirates – your brothers, your flesh and blood, are some of the richest nations in the world. If there was even a small feeling of solidarity between Arab nations, if these nations had but the smallest interest in reconstructing the Palestinian people – your situation would be very different.

You must be familiar with Singapore. The land mass there is not much larger than the Gaza strip, it is considered the second most populated country in the world. Yet, Singapore is a successful, prospering, and well managed country. Why not the same for you?

My friend, I would like to call you by name, but I will not do so publicly. I want you to know that I am 100% at peace with what my country did, what my army did, and what I did. However, I feel your pain. I am sorry for the destruction you are finding in your neighborhood at this moment. On a personal level, I did what I could to minimize the damage to your home as much as possible.

In my opinion, we have a lot more in common than you might imagine. I am a civilian, not a soldier, and in my private life I have nothing to do with the military. However, I have an obligation to leave my home, put on a uniform, and protect my family every time we are attacked. I have no desire to be in your home wearing a uniform again and I would be more than happy to sit with you as a guest on your beautiful balcony, drinking sweet tea seasoned with the sage growing in your garden.

The only person who could make that dream a reality is you. Take responsibility for yourself, your family, your people, and start to take control of your destiny. How? I do not know. Maybe there is something to be learned from the Jewish people who rose up from the most destructive human tragedy of the 20th century, and instead of sinking into self-pity, built a flourishing and prospering country. It is possible, and it is in your hands. I am ready to be there to provide a shoulder of support and help to you.

But only you can move the wheels of history.

Regards,

Yishai (Reserve Soldier)

Here is a direct quote from the official Israel Travel Warning put out by the United States Department of State.  Keep in mind these warnings are very conservative and always air on the side of caution. They can seem scarier than they need to be (Mom).

American citizens are cautioned that a greater danger may exist around restaurants, businesses, and other places associated with U.S. interests and/or located near U.S. official buildings, such as the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem. American citizens are also urged to exercise a high degree of caution and to use common sense when patronizing restaurants, nightclubs, cafes, malls, places of worship, and theaters, especially during peak hours. Large crowds and public gatherings have been targeted by terrorists in the past and should be avoided to the extent practicable. American citizens should take into consideration that public buses, trains, and their respective terminals are “off-limits” to U.S. Government personnel…The State Department urges American citizens to remain vigilant while traveling throughout Jerusalem, especially within the commercial and downtown areas of West Jerusalem and the city center. Spontaneous or planned protests within the Old City are possible, especially after Friday prayers. Some of these protests have led to violent clashes.

Even though they are quite serious, I always find these warnings a bit humorous. I am a tourist here, but I am supposed to avoid “restaurants, cafes, buses, or any large, crowded places.” In other words, anywhere popular or cool  – I should not go there. So you may be thinking, ‘what places does that leave?’ I guess I can hang out in the suburbs or just stay holed up in my hotel room watching bad Israeli Television – that would be fun.

Even though Israel and its neighbors are often gracing dailies’ front pages  and CNN top of the hour video clips, you would never know it by being here.  The sun is shining, people are walking about doing people things. There is security everywhere – especially in Jerusalem. Whenever you enter a big restaurant or bus station or mall your bag is searched and you walk through a metal detector. Plus, since Israel has erected its very controversial and much-discussed ‘security wall’ there has been a major decrease in suicide bombings.  In fact with all the security here, sometimes I feel like there could be no safer place. It’s so safe in fact, that I personally was detained by security guards at the house of the Prime Minister for more than one hour.

I was walking around one of Jerusalem’s nicer, more posh neighborhoods where the President’s and Prime Minister’s mansions are located. I was actually following a walking tour in a book a friend had given me. I walked past the guards in front of the PM’s pad and was asked to show my passport. They handed it back and I went on my way. The tour actually took me past the house and then had me retrace my steps and come back in front of it again. Perhaps this made me look suspicious? Or perhaps it was my shifty gaze or dodgy attire??  Either way, I was questioned by a second guard and then basically a whole gaggle of guards – young, good looking, and barely twenty-years-old – guards.  I thought perhaps they were just bored and it would be fun to question the ‘obvious foreign girl’ as she walked by. But after the first hour, I figured they now had to follow a complete protocol all the way through.

They kept my passport, looked through all the pictures I had taken on my digital camera, and asked me a litany of normal, and slightly strange, questions including some of the following:

• Were you in any Arab countries?
• Is this your first time in Israel?
• How long are you staying in Israel?
• Are you Jewish?
• Where are you staying? What address? Phone number?
• Are you married?
• What is your job?
• Where are you going next?
• Do you have your plane ticket with you?
• Do you like Israel?
• Why don’t you move here?
• Do you know what house this is?

While I stood outside on the sidewalk, they went back and forth with my passport into their little security booth to look things up and check me out. Who knows what fun nuggets they were digging up on me? It seems the biggest problem was they couldn’t reach my friend with whom I was staying. I found out later she had turned off her cell phone to take a nap and had received 9 missed calls from a ‘private number.’ So I think I was there so long…just because they couldn’t reach her to confirm my ‘suspicious’ story.

They chatted with me a little and occassionaly a grin would creep across the face of one of the guards, but they all tried very hard to keep straight faces and stay in ‘character.’  I mean of course this was actually serious business. But, you know me, and at first I thought it was kind of funny, but after being held for so long I grew weary and cold as the sun set over Jerusalem and wondered what they were possibly keeping me for, knowing I have absolutely nothing to hide (well, almost nothing).  After a cup of tea and a pee break, they handed me my passport, apologized for any inconvenience and with no more information I was on my way.

• Israel is the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world’s population.
• Roughly 15% of Israel’s population is Muslim.
• Tiny Israel maintains the 4th largest air force in the world after the United States, Russia, and China.
• Israel actually has TWO official languages – Hebrew and Arabic. Other non-official languages highly spoken: Russian (16% of Israelis speak Russian), Romanian (at least 500,000 speakers), Amharic (spoken by 100,000 Ethiopian Jews).
• Hebrew is read right to left just like Arabic. Even when Googling in the Middle East the searches come back flush right.
• In case it’s not obvious, Israel is the only country in the world where a majority of citizens are Jewish.
• There are 14-18 million Jews (practicing or just by birth) around the world (just 0.22% of the world’s population). There are 2.1 billion Christians (33%).
• The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.
• Israel’s $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate Arabic neighbors combined.
• Israel has the largest number of start-up companies; more than any other country in the world, except the US (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).
• Twenty-four per cent of Israel’s workforce holds university degrees ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and The Netherlands – and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.
• Did you know these celebrities are Jewish? Kate Hudson, Zac Efron, Gweneth Paltrow, Rachel Bilson, Jake Gyllenhal, Harrison Ford, Natalie Portman, Elizabeth Banks, Scarlett Johansson, Amanda Peet, Alicia Silverstone, Sarah Jessica Parker, Keri Russell, Zach Braff, Adrien Brody, Neve Campbell, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mila Kunis, James Franco, Leah Remini, Seth Meyers, Jack Black, Lisa Bonet, Phoebe Cates, Gina Gershon, David Duchovny, Sean Penn, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kyra Sedgwick, Ben Stiller, Katie Couric…
• Askenazi (Eastern European) Jews today only make up 0.25% of the world’s population, yet they have won 28% of Nobel prizes for economics, physics, chemistry, and medicine.
• In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews at risk in Ethiopia, to safety in Israel.
• Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth.
• Israel has mandatory Military service right after high school – 2 years for girls and 3 years for boys. That is why college age students in Israel are usually in their early to mid twenties.
• When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world’s second elected female leader in modern times.
• The word “Jerusalem” appears 645 times in the Hebrew Bible, 392 times in the New Testament, and 0 times in the Koran.
• Jerusalem has been sacred to the Jews since the 10th Century BC
• Christianity reveres Jerusalem as the place Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected.
• Jerusalem is the 3rd holiest city to Muslims. It is here that they believe Mohammed was miraculously transported from Mecca to the Temple Mount, where he then ascended to heaven.
• The only research and development for Microsoft outside of the USA is in Israel.
• Which internationally well-known shoe received its name from the Hebrew word for nature?   Answer: Teva

Want more info? Try these sites:

• Jew FAQ
  
• Heebz
• Jewgle

I’ve always heard about the Kibbutzim (plural of Kibbutz) in Israel, but honestly knew virtually nothing about them or exactly what they were except some kind of collective farming communities. I recently spent a few days on the Ketura Kibbutz in the Arava desert of Southern Israel and it was so much more than I realized or expected.

Kibbutzim started in Israel around 1910.  In the most general sense, a kibbutz is an Israeli commune or intentional community. They are communal farms or projects staffed by volunteers who are compensated with food, housing, and a small stipend. The essence of work on a kibbutz is that it is voluntary. Everyone receives the same amount of money, regardless of the type of work or amount of hours spent at work. The members are thus motivated by conscience, responsibility, and a sense of bettering their own community, rather than personal economic gain. Though kibbutzim have undergone many transformations over the years and have never accounted for more than seven percent of the Israeli population, the kibbutz has immense cultural significance and remains a viable Israeli institution today.

In the early days, kibbutzim held fast to socialist ideals. There was no private property, not even tools or clothing, all work was shared, and land was owned communally. The bulk of the work was agricultural. Kibbutzim attempted to build a self-sufficient economy, but this proved unfeasible. Instead, they were supported by subsidies from charities and later from the Israeli government. Today, most kibbutzim are no longer strictly socialist, though they do retain many communal aspects. All kibbutzim, for example, are democratic.

Over time, it became clear that agricultural work was not enough to sustain the institution of the kibbutz. They began to industrialize. Today, some kibbutzim have even turned to the tourism industry. The kibbutz has a long history of political and cultural contributions to Israel as well. A disproportionate amount of Israeli government and military leaders, artists, and intellectuals have come from kibbutzim.

The kibbutz system has met with controversy over the years. Some groups have been criticized for elitism, while others have been accused of straying from their ideals. Nevertheless, Israeli culture would not be the same without the kibbutz. It is a specifically Israeli institution that has made invaluable contributions to the nation’s political, economic, and intellectual life.

Today there are roughly 260 Kibbutz communities around Israel (a country with a population of about 6 million people – less than the population of New York City).

At first glance, it seemed almost like a gated suburban community where everyone knows your name.  For two days, I couchsurfed with Roy, Tiki, their daughters Rotem and Shani, and their super friendly dog, Bamia (Okra in English), and their vocal cat, Pizza (Italian for pizza). Roy actually grew up in New Jersey, but came here after college and has lived here now for thirty years. Tiki’s family is originally from Turkey, but she has lived here all her life. This is their home and they are proud of their community. Roy is the business manager for the kibbutz and Tiki is a teacher and also recently took the initiative to build a petting zoo of mainly rabbits for the local kids to enjoy.

The Ketura Kibbutz has a few hundred people living on it. There are actually about 150 members, but when you add in the children and various volunteers that come during the year, the size nearly doubles.  Unlike many other kibbutzim, Ketura has not strayed far from its original ideals and has not privatized. To bring in money to the community and members, Ketura has one of the country’s largest date orchards and a dairy farm with hundreds of cows that are milked every day.  Now this looked like a nice humane place for a cow to live its life with a decent amount of room to roam. We even saw a baby calf during his first few hours of life and he was already walking around.

To sustain the kibbutz, Ketura has branched out into other fields. They have built an algae factory or processing plant – literally the only one of its kind in the world processing Astaxanthin, which is a natural ingredient used in cosmetics and some natural remedies. There is also a library, a hotel, a pool, and recreation facilities.

Residents here do not even own their own cars – there are shared cars that you can sign up to use. Those who live here share all of the work and in turn share equally all of the pay. Three meals a day are served seven days a week – all free as part of living and working here. You get a house with money for furniture, clothing, all your utilities are covered, your laundry done for you, a stipend for vacation, use of a store where many things you do not pay for and if your teenage child works for about a year on the Kibbutz, even his college tuition is covered.

But, wait, there is one more amazing thing here on the Ketura Kibbutz – Methuselah. It’s the nickname of a young Judean date tree, long thought to be extinct, which sprouted from a 2000-year-old seed, the oldest ever to produce a tree. And here it sits.  The ancient seeds were found 30 years ago during archeological digs on Mount Masada, the mountaintop fortress on the shore of the Dead Sea where King Herod built a spectacular palace. When the Romans conquered Palestine and laid waste to the Temple in Jerusalem, Masada was the last stand of a small band of Jewish rebels who held out against three Roman legions for several years before committing mass suicide in A.D. 73.  The seeds’ ancient age was confirmed by radiocarbon dating to be somewhere in the range of 60 B.C. to A.D. 95. If the tree is a female, it will hopefully bear fruit, the fruit of 2,000 years labor.

It’s interesting on this journey around the world as I bounce between countries that are clean and dirty; places where cars stop for people and places where people stop for cars; and countries where you can drink the water or others where you can not…unless you want to spend a lot of time in the toilet.

In the middle of the Middle East lies a country that is much more Western than most of its neighbors. There are palm trees, big cars, newly laid clean sidewalks, and a lot of people shopping and sauntering around in flip flops by the beach. Am I in Florida? Nope, it’s just Israel.

I have to admit, it is a unique place. I am Jewish, but I am not Israeli. Do I have much in common with these people? Some look like me. Some look like friends I grew up with in New Jersey. Many are secular and not religious just like me. While many also speak English, the official language is Hebrew and everything is in Hebrew…an ancient language that I only relate to the Torah and prayers.  I certainly never thought of Hebrew as an every day ‘want to meet for a cup of coffee’ kind of tongue.   But I guess that’s because Hebrew as a ‘common language’ is quite new.  Biblical Hebrew was not used for a couple thousand years and then was recently resurrected by one Ben Yehuda, a Zionist who returned to Israel, like many other Jews spread around Europe in the 19th century.  He started the movement of making the previously biblical language a secular common-day tongue that would enable Jews from all over the Diaspora to speak in one unified language.

An observation: this is a unique place. Nowhere in the modern world (except maybe some neighborhoods in Brooklyn) is there a place where the majority is Jewish. And there are Jews here from all over the world: Arab countries, the United States, South America, Ethiopia, Russia, Europe, etc.  I guess it’s the flip side of the United States, another country built by immigrants, but where the majority is Christian.   Some American Jewish friends of mine said I would just ‘instantly feel at home here’ and perhaps I did. But I didn’t know if it was because I was walking the streets with so many other Jews or if it was because, in so many ways, Israel felt like a town in southern Florida or a neighborhood in New York City. Hip, good looking, young people walked around in the latest fashions, chatting up a storm on their mobiles, and eating at outdoor cafes. It was life like I knew it…well, except for the machine guns.