23 QUESTIONS TO AN ISRAELI IN NEW YORK

1. Name: Yael Hartmann
2. Born in Montreal, Canada.
3. Moved to New York on March 20, 2006. Thought it would be a change from conservative, suburban DC and hectic, tense Israel
4. I live in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. I love it because of the home cooked meals they serve at the delis, the butcher shops, the tiny bars filled with oddly dressed musicians and marketing directors in sneakers and high heels, and the mix of Carribean, Jewish, French and every other nationality and ethnicity in my hood.
5. For a living, I am a publicist and a freelance journalist.
6. In my spare time, I am dreaming up new Web 2.0 ideas, capoeira, eating, and trapeze school.
7. Favorite book: “The Moor’s Last Sigh” by Salman Rushdie
8. Favorite quote: “Walk tall, kick ass, learn to speak Arabic, love music and never forget you come from a long line of truth seekers, lovers and warriors”. – Hunter S. Thompson

9. Last CD I bought: Hadorbanim (Israeli band, “The Porcupines”), “Levi”
10. Favorite film: The Network
11. Favorite hang out place in New York: Chumley’s in the West Village on Bedford and Barrow – the book covers on the walls in this former speakeasy make you feel like Hemingway and Thomas Dylan are still sitting beside you, warming themselves by the fire, drinking themselves to death. The bar is cozy and warm, and the secret entrance makes you feel hidden from the world.
12. Favorite restaurant and favorite dish : Grimaldi’s near the Brooklyn Bridge — any of the pizzas of course
13. Favorite memory from Israel: My goodbye party when I left the army as a captain – my soldiers each read a story about me that affected their lives, and I realized how much I loved them.
14. I wish I could live in Israel and in the US near my family simultaneously.
15. I smile when I hear Israeli music playing in a New York deli
16. I get angry when I hear people talk about Israel when they don’t know all of the facts.
17. I do not forgive those who cannot forgive.
18. Once in a life time experience: Being responsible for the American media during the Disengagement from Gaza and going through Trapeze school would be neck and neck. The heartbreaking snapshots etched in my mind after 8,000 people were removed from their homes in front of the media circus are still impossible to describe to those who were not there. However, flying through the air when one is afraid of heights and then letting go so that someone can grab your arms is another experience that no one can take from you. I would highly recommend the latter.
19. Favorite travel destination: India was incredible with its extreme poverty and decadent wealth and its incredible food and colors. Mexico is a magnificent country – you need never leave in order to experience contrasting cultures, landscapes, fragrances and peoples.
20. What I miss about Israel: The music, the smell of earth and home when you get off the plane, and the view of the sea from my apartment.
21. Two Israelis I admire and why: Golda Meir for giving up everything for a country in tatters, and Hayehudim for staying together after all these years and for still being rockers and crazy on stage after all these years. And Mosh Ben Ari – for a spectacular, haunting voice that will always triggers images of Israel’s desert for me.
22. What I love in New York: its proximity to my family, I love that it now houses most of my friends from every stage of my life, and I love the sheer number of options when it comes to food and both active and lazy activities.
23. Israel for me is……….sleeplessness, desert, lonely cluttered beaches, haunting music and family.

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