Today is the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat, a historically minor Jewish holiday that has gained momentum and become an important day in Israeli history. While we all know that Rosh Hashana is the official new year for the Jewish calendar, today’s holiday of “Tu Bishvat” is celebrated as the “New Year of the Trees.” A symbolic day of revival and rejuvenation, it is often chosen as the inauguration date for Israel’s major institutions. For example, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, celebrates its birthday on Tu Bishvat. The cornerstone-laying of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem took place on Tu Bishvat in 1918, and the Technion in Haifa, which was recently announced to be partnering with Cornell to build New York City’s new high tech campus, was inaugurated on Tu Bishvat in 1925.

In a sense, the entire State of Israel, founded in 1948, embodies the spirit of Tu Bishvat. The sprawling forests in Israel are largely the result of afforestation efforts by organizations like the Jewish National Fund, which, thanks to planting over 240 million new trees, made Israel one of the only country in the world who entered the 21st century with a net increase in trees over the last century. While everyone knows the history of Jerusalem and its amazing history, perhaps it is Israel’s second largest city, Tel Aviv, that tells the story of “new Israel.”

Tel Aviv, famous today for its party scene and restaurants all situated next to gorgeous Mediterranean beaches, would have been unrecognizable a century ago. In the early 20th century, the area which is now Tel Aviv was nothing put sand dunes as far as the eye could see. When the population began to boom in the 1920s, Tel Aviv’s city council began to think about planning the new city to be able to expand by Patrick Geddes, a Scottish botanist. Today, Tel Aviv’s green imprint is evidenced every time you walk down its most famous streets, like Rothschild Boulevard, which features a “green belt.” This Saturday, February 10th, there will even be a special English-language tour of Tel Aviv’s “green” avenues.

Of course, like any good holiday, there needs to be delicious food! Think of it as a passover Seder, substituting matzoh and brisket with Israeli fruit and nuts. Check out this recipe below for an almond and orange braid (makes about 2 7″ braids), courtesy of Haaretz.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb finely almond flour, or finely ground almonds

4 1/2 oz. granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds (optional)

1 egg

2 egg yolks

4 tablespoons chopped candied orange peel (or grated zest of one orange)

2 sheets of puff pastry, 1.1 lb., thawed in the fridge over night.

1 tablespoon coarse sugar

Directions:

1. Put the almond flour, granulated sugar, fennel seeds, egg and one of the yolks in the food processor and run until it forms a dough.

2. Transfer into a bowl and knead the orange peel in.

3. Turn the oven to 375 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

4. Spoon the almond filling lengthwise down the center of the pastry. Cut slits 1 inch apart from the 2 sides of the pastry rectangle to within 1/2 inch of the almond filling. Starting at one end, fold the pastry strips over the almond mixture, alternating sides, to cover the almond filling.

5. Mix the second egg yolk with a tablespoon of water. Brush the pastry with the egg yolk mixture. Sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Place the pastry onto the baking sheet.

6. Bake for 25 to 30 minute, until the braid is puffed and the top is golden. Serve warm with ice cream on the side.

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Earlier this week, Israel’s Ramat-Gan Safari welcomed its newest member to their family. Dikla gave birth to a healthy baby boy thanks to the help of veterinary staff who had to intervene during labor when the calf’s legs had tangled around its neck. All is well for Dikla and her baby. There’s just one problem, he needs a name!

The safari’s staff are asking the public to suggest some names, beginning with the letter “D,” as its customary to name offspring with the same first letter as its mother. Three years ago, the last newborn baby giraffe, whose mother was “Denisa” was named “De Niro.” For the new guy, among our office, staff is divided between Dor, which means “generation” in Hebrew, and Duran Duran, which means “awesome” in the 1980s.

There are two amazing videos below, the first shows the little guy and his mother, while the second shows the incredible action of staff facilitating the giraffe’s birth (it’s about as beautiful and natural as you can get, but not for the squeamish).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpQdvxNZ11Q

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppQU-6Tnfuo

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In the Middle East, finding an inscription in Arabic is usually as exciting as finding ice in Antarctica. But there’s one group of people who, for obvious reasons, never used the Semitic tongue – the European Crusaders. In an exciting first of its kind discovery, However, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem uncovered the only Crusader inscription in the Arabic language in the entire Middle East!

An 800 year old stone slab’s inscription bears the name of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and the date “1229 of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus the Messiah,” leading the Israel Antiquities Authority to proclaim it “a rare archaeological find.”

Eight hundred years ago,  Frederick II led the Sixth Crusades to conquer the Holy Land. What was especially fascinating about this crusade was it was not marked by the sort of violent and bloody imagery that comes to mind when we would normally associate with the Crusades but rather, it was a result of careful diplomacy with Egyptian Sulta Malik al-Kamil. Frederick II, in addition to obtaining Nazareth and Bethelem for the Crusader Kingdom, proclaimed himself “King of Jerusalem.”

Says Professor Moshe Sharon of the Hebrew University, “prior to achieving this agreement, the emperor fortified the castle of  Jaffa  and left in its walls, as it now appears, two inscriptions, one in Latin and the other in Arabic. The Arabic inscription was drafted by Frederick’s officials, or possibly even the emperor himself, and it is the one which has been now deciphered.”

“This was a great find because we don’t have such a ruler who knew Arabic and he was very much interested in Islam and his court was full of Muslim scientists and ambassadors, so he is a very special character,” Sharon said.

Like many great finds in history, many did not know how important the text actually was at first. Years ago, when it was first discovered, it was dated to several centuries later, during the Ottoman Period.

Israel’s history is like a mosaic,  composed of hundreds of thousands of pieces of archaeological evidence uncovered throughout the years. Perhaps more exciting than finding new treasures is to have another look at what we already have, and maybe discovering we’ve had the pieces to complete the puzzle all along.

Photo courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

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Half-man. Half-god. But only half a meter tall? An extremely rare statue of the Greco-Roman legend Hercules was recently uncovered during a dig at Horvat Tarbenet in the Jezreel Valley.

According to Dr. Walid Atrash of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “This is a rare discovery. The statue, which probably stood in a niche, was part of the decoration of a bathhouse pool that was exposed during the course of the excavations. It is c. 0.5 m tall, is made of smoothed white marble and is of exceptional artistic quality. Hercules is depicted in three dimension, as a naked figure standing on a base. His bulging muscles stand out prominently, he is leaning on a club to his left, on the upper part of which hangs the skin of the Nemean lion, which according to Greek mythology Hercules slew as the first of his twelve labors”.

The statue is just shy of two thousand years old, having been sculpted in the 2nd century C.E. The site in which it was found, Horvat Tarbenet, was actually a Jewish settlement in the third century C.E. Along with the Roman bathhouse that was discovered included some residential dwellings, and a large pool that was probably used to funnel water into the area where the statue was adorned. All of these goodies were found during a renovation of Israel’s Valley Railway by the Israel National Roads Company.

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Think you’re good at angry birds? Do you consider a level “not finished” if you complete it with only one or two stars? Then you may have what it takes to compete for a national title of “Angry Birds Champion.” An epic 6 round tournament has just started in malls all over Israel, including Haifa and Rishon Leizon. The big winner will be crowned following the finals on August 3rd and flown to Barcelona (presumably via slingshot) for an all inclusive vacation! Runner up prizes include a Nokia N8 and Nokia C7.

To say Angry Birds is a huge phenomenon is an understatement. Having been downloaded across various platforms over 300 million times, its generated a mammoth empire for something which started as a 99 cent budget game.

If you’re in Israel, head on over to angrybirds.nokia.co.il to sign up, and track the leaderboards. If you’re not in Israel, don’t worry, here’s a very special video to tide you over:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwv6bxS-oNs

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Photo: Remains of four-room house dating back to the period of the Kingdom of Israel. (Shay Bar/University of Haifa)

Just south of the bustling seaside metropolis of Haifa lies Tel Shikmona, a small mound that is quickly becoming a goldmine for Israeli archaeologists. The site, first excavated 40 years ago, contains settlements from the late Bronze Age (16th century B.C.E.) through the Arab conquests of the 7th century C.E. Amazingly, the first archaeologists at the site managed to find a 3,000 year old four-room house, and lose it all over again. Over the past few decades, its location was lost, having been covered by debris and left buried for what could have been another 3,000 years. Relying on old photographs of the site, , researchers from the University of Haifa found where the X marks the spot, and were elated to find it extremely well preserved, perhaps the most complete specimen from the Kingdom of Israel.

“We had seen the structure in the old photographs and were sorry that such a rarely preserved finding had disappeared due to neglect. We were not even sure that we would be able to find it again. It was practically a miracle that we managed to locate and uncover it and that it is still so well-preserved,” said the leaders of the excavation team, Shay Bar and Michael Eisenberg of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa.

Interest in Tel Shikmona has been renewed in recent months, with the impetus behind the new excavations being the Municipality of Haifa’s project to transform the area into a public archaeological park. The last few months have made the tell (small mound) a national treasure, and beautifully show the diverse history of Israel, with settlements from the Israelites, Persians, and Byzantines all being uncovered. The sheer amount of work has been so vast, the local community has been invited to participate in the dig, and the excavating team arranged a special tour and hands-on experience at the site for a group of special
needs children.

Other findings from that period give evidence of expansive trade with Israel’s neighbors. These include relics imported from Cyprus and Lebanon, which arrived in fine, delicate vessels of high-quality ceramic.

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While “The White City” might sound like something out of Lord of the Rings, that is actually Tel Aviv’s nickname, having been named that by UNESCO in 2003 when it awarded Israel’s hottest city the status of an international site of cultural heritage. Unlike the “Big Apple,” Tel Aviv’s nickname makes a bit more sense considering the architecture, and its residents don’t cringe when they hear tourists refer to it as such.

Dubbed “White Night Tel Aviv” (Layla Lavan Tel Aviv) to honor the anniversary of the UNESCO award, tonight’s mega event is more than just club and bars, but recognizing the wide array of culture that Tel Aviv has to offer. Artists will be performing open-air concerts all night long until the sun rises, museums will be open past your bedtime, and even opera will be going well past midnight.

From “Indie City” featuring the White City’s hottest underground bands to a yoga workshop at dawn, tonight is all about celebrating every facet of Tel Aviv.

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Thanks to a great study recently released by the Agriculture Ministry’s National Dog Register, we now have an even better look at the furry friends of every Israeli. In a small country the size of New Jersey, there are 387,289 currently registered. Can you guess what the most popular breed is in Israel? That would be the Labrador Retriever, which also takes the top spot in the United States. The Pinscher and German Shepard round out the top three most popular purebred dogs. The majority of dogs in Israel are purebreds (250,000 compared to 180,000 adorable mutts), but the Agricultural Ministry encourages adoption in addition to spading and neutering to avoid strays.

The average dog in Israel is an adopted male purebred, with the most common name for male dogs being “Lucky,” and this is the fourth year in a row in which “Lady” is the most chosen name for female dogs.

And which city is home to the most lovable dogs? That would be Tel-Aviv, who in 2010 surpassed Jerusalem and every other city in Israel as the new Israeli kingdom of man’s best friend. But residents of Ariel might argue that they are the biggest dog lovers in Israel, with 20% of dog owners owning more than one pooch.

Thanks to Ynet for sharing this great story!

Photo courtesy of smerikal on Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

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By Adina Laufer

Ceramic pots, beaded jewelry, boiled wool slippers, stuffed animals, tree-trunk platters, handmade paper notebooks, silver rings, gold earrings, leather bracelets, papier mâché animals, fimo figurines, textured textiles, clever trinkets, blown glass, street performers, outdoor cafés, reams of fabric — it’s all at the Nachlat Binyamin street fair in Tel Aviv, every Tuesday and Friday.

Since 1987, first dozens, and now more than 200 artists gather each week to show and sell their wares to the myriad of customers who stroll the aisles of the three-pronged pedestrian streets of the Nachlat Binyamin neighborhood. Depending on the time of year, many of the shoppers can be tourists and the surrounding conversations are a cacophony of languages and accents. The artists, by and large, are native Israelis from all over the country. For many, the fair serves as their primary storefront.

Nachlat Binyamin is “half a store for me, but not a whole store, which is what I had in mind,” says Amnon Lipkin of Pashut Tofer (Simply Sewer), a studio for hand-sewn crafts. “I have my studio where I sit and sew quietly, and Nachlat Binyamin is just a short walk away, making this my neighborhood for work and life. I like that it all happens right here.”

A history of craftsmanship

The Nachlat Binyamin neighborhood, “the estate of Benjamin,” was named after the father of modern Zionism, Benjamin Ze’ev (Theodor) Herzl. This is one of Tel Aviv’s oldest neighborhoods, created by an association of upper-class tradesmen, clerks and shopkeepers who wanted to create a zone similar in character and adjacent to the city’s very first district, Ahuzat Bayit.

In the early days of Tel Aviv, its central Nachlat Binyamin Street was the longest road in the city and has always housed small shops.

Like the artists selling their wares in today’s Nachlat Binyamin arts-and-crafts fair, many of the first dwellers were craftsmen working in metals, alongside shopkeepers and booksellers. They were all seeking comfortable, affordable homes, and managed to purchase five acres, or 20 dunams, which was divided into 35 plots.

Starting in 1911, they built mostly one-story Arab-style homes, with two rooms, a kitchen and balcony. By 1912 there were 23 houses, and at that point the neighborhood consolidated with the city of Tel Aviv in order to pay for the necessary infrastructure to develop Nachlat Binyamin.

Just a decade later, Nachlat Binyamin Street became the growing city’s main commercial thoroughfare as Jews left Jaffa and migrated to Tel Aviv. Additional stories were added to the houses, with storefronts located on the bottom floor. Given the street’s length, it was also the perfect spot for city ceremonies and events.
Thanks to its proximity to the busy but more rundown Allenby Street, as well as Kerem HaTeimanim (Vineyard of the Yemenites), a poor Yemenite neighborhood with architecture based on the Jewish ghettos of Yemen, Nachlat Binyamin eventually became fully commercial.

When the city made Nachlat Binyamin into a pedestrian mall in 1987, closing off the street and two adjacent ones to vehicles, it also established the arts-and-crafts fair — the first of its kind in Israel, and the largest.

Original, handmade wares only

Each of the artists has a regular stall and can pay to store their wares from week to week. A public committee approves the artists as well as the items exhibited and sold. According to fair guidelines, all work must be original and handmade, although it can be a replica of another artist’s work. Each artist must be present at the stall, and can’t send a representative to sell his or her work.

On Tuesdays and Fridays, the street bustles with artists and customers, as well as those sitting in the many cafés and making their way to local fabric stores, since the neighborhood has become Tel Aviv’s garment district.

“It’s always a fruitful two days,” says Michal Ben Yosef, a ceramicist whose salt-and-pepper shakers, trays, hamsas and pomegranates are always in great demand at the fair and at local galleries. “I love getting to talk to my customers, and hearing what they’re looking for,” she says. “Then I go back to my studio, brainstorm a little and come up with new designs.”

Neomi Zelman, an artist who designs items from gourds, has been participating in the fair for 19 years. She was a graphic designer when she began working with a bag of gourds brought to her by her brother, and for many years grew her own gourds as well, storing them in a former chicken coop. Now she uses a supply from nearby farmers, and she sells her wares primarily at Nachlat Binyamin, where she loves her community of customers and fellow artists.

“We’re like our own, small neighborhood,” she says of her fellow artists. “We treat each other very well, we inspire one another, we share techniques and materials. And the exposure to the great audience has been wonderful.”

As Nachlat Binyamin has grown, the neighborhood has slowly shifted as well, with a number of young Israeli clothing and accessories designers setting up their shops and studios near the textile stores they frequent, and benefiting from the arts-and-crafts fair traffic two days a week.

When the Nachlat Binyamin fair closes down, the street returns to normal — nowhere near as busy as on the days of the fair. It’s easier then to get a sense of the buildings’ Eclectic architectural style, so-called for the mix of the Arabesque, Turkish and British influences evident in the early 1900s-era structures.

The neighborhood also offers easy access to other famous Tel Aviv areas, from the Carmel food and vegetable market next door, to Kerem HaTeimanim with its plethora of hole-in-the-wall and more established restaurants and on into Neve Tzedek, the city’s first Jewish neighborhood outside of Jaffa.

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