I just returned from a month in Tel Aviv. I didn’t write much on this blog about Tel Aviv while I was there. I learned my lesson this Spring when I wrote a byline from Tokyo and lost 2/3rds of my readers. About 2/3rds of them have returned and the numbers are growing steadily. I assume they never personally expect to go to Tokyo and dropped my blog. I wish I could explain that I don’t write tourist accounts, I report sociology and business.
There are several elements about Tel Aviv that are similar to Tokyo and make it appealing to me. It is very safe. The immediate feeling of safety that I get when I step off the plane in Tokyo is felt in Tel Aviv too. The transportation is clean and excellent. The Japanese rarely say good morning or hello to strangers when they pass on the street (I am not a stranger in our Tokyo neighborhood)… Israelis are the same.
The differences are noticeable......
The differences are noticeable. In Israel, everyone looks you deeply in the eyes when talking to you, including women to men. It is striking and intense.
Tokyo is the cleanest place possible outside of Switzerland. Tel Aviv
tries to be clean, but their dog poop problem is the same as San
Francisco in the 1980s. Too many of the buildings and storefronts are
in disrepair. Israel is well on the way to being one of the five
richest countries in the world, so the disrepair problem will
disappear. Public bathrooms are clean in Tel Aviv and readily
available. Tokyo is high energy and moving fast. Tel Aviv is high
energy, but it is dance energy…people are busy but not moving fast.
Then there is the Sabbath that begins at 4pm on Friday and ends at
sunset Saturday. Everyone stops and most people turn off their cell
phones. Many stores are closed all day Friday and Saturday. Tokyo
never closes except at New Years (for nine days.)
Of course I had the beach in Tel Aviv for 26 sun shining days, which was immaculately clean, warm water and highly refined facilities with clubs, bars, restaurants, chairs, shelters, bathrooms, changing rooms….etc.
The new Israeli has emerged. He/she is well educated, honest beyond the point of candor, highly disciplined, very socialized, hard working, knows torah intimately, identifies with religious holidays in Israel, is good with languages, comfortable in very diverse populations and environments and lives many places in the world much of the time. The new Israeli is satisfied with the current Israeli political status, strong walls make good neighbors, and doesn’t expect a functioning Palestinian society for several generations.
The new Israeli has left the old labor/Zionism behind and wants a highly competitive business market; he/she will be very rich in less than a decade, and is interested and involved in literature and the arts. He/she realizes the fragile nature of the world’s smallest vibrant immigrant democracy … and will give his/her life for the country (unlike citizens in most democracies).
The most impressive business I saw were the fashion designers. Some
will be the world’s greatest in less than a decade. (Michal Tyk, Dorin
Frankfurt, Anat Reed, Rina Zim, Kedem Sasson, Efrat Kalig, Raziela….)
Israelis are fortunate to know there is no real market in Israel, that
the world must be the market for any new product, pharmaceutical,
software, security system or fashion.
The photo on the upper right is a hook-n-ladder with a construction lift. I think there would be a market for a few in San Francisco.
I also saw the great art in photo on the left. There were six DVD images on the wall, each shot with a static camera of a colorful set (people eating) which gave the effect of a wall painting that moves on closer inspection. Good work Mirav Hyman.