A (not so) funny thing happened at the USA embassy today as we were updating one of our kid’s USA passport. On the form it asks for your child’s place of birth. We wrote Jerusalem, Israel.

The (very friendly) employee at the embassy must process hundreds of these passport requests every week. He asked us a few questions, in Hebrew since the local processing staff at the embassy are Israelis. He reviewed the form in our presence to make sure everything was filled out correctly. He then  asked what city was our child born, and we responded “Jerusalem”, he very quickly and matter-of-factly crossed off “Israel” from the form, so that it was plain to see.

I wonder if there are other cities of birth in the world for which the country is left blank on the passport application of our beloved USA?

Remember to take a hat and bottle of water with you!

There’s a great Wiki article that discusses in detail the origins of Bresolver Hasidism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachman_of_Breslov

(Tens of) Thousands of Breslevers and Rebbe Nachman lovers travel yearly to Ukraine to Uman, the burial place of this Tzaddik.  The Breselov Hasidim believe that there’s some magic in saying three times “Na, Nach, Nachma, Nachman M’Uman” as a verbal amulet for good luck.  They also make sure to spread the landscape with painted graffiti, bumper stickers, and posters with this saying.

I remember one day I was driving in Tel Aviv and saw a hillarious bumper sticker “Na, Nach, Nachma, Nachman Bialik”, who was the secular poet and author of the early to mid 1900′s, and is considered one of the founding “literary” founders of the State of Israel.

Here’s one of the often-seen Nachman M’Uman signs in South Tel Aviv, not too far from the beach.

Nachman M'Uman

Rebbe Nachman in Jerusalem

The atmosphere was electric.  The runnners were requested to wear the Nike red race shirts (with the number heat transfered), and North Tel Aviv looked like a sea of red shirts.  The organization of the race was fantastic, although the water distribution along the route was a bit messed up.  (Most intermediate to advanced runners wouldn’t necessarily drink at a 10k distance, especially at night).

The only spoiler was the incredible Tel Aviv humidity.  Although the course was flat, this runner was about a minute or two off pace due to the high humidity.  Likewise, the shear amount of bodies moving within the marked paths was nearly impossible to run your own pace without having to move latterally or to fly over the masses in front of you.

Here’s a photo of your’s truly crossing the finish line.

Nike Tel Aviv 10K Run 2008

All in all, a big Kudos to Nike, the race organizers, Tel Aviv, and to my fellow 10,000 runners, for a wonderful evening.

Here’s the Nike Running website in Israel where you can get more information about this event.

In the summer, the site is nearly impossible to traverse without protection from the sun. Be sure to come prepared with sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, and plenty of water. The park overs free sun umbrellas that you return when you leave.  There are also water mists in several locations in the park, so you can cool off before going to the next venue.

Here are some photos of the sites at mini-israel:

Here’s a street scene from Rothschild:

On Sderot Ben Ziyon you can almost see down to the Sea via Bogroshov:

On Bogroshov, there are nice shops and restaurants leading down to Ocean, with an occasional sex shop mixed in…

I sometimes wonder if the dichotomies found in Tel Aviv are lost on its residents.

The company was founded in 1918 by Russian immigrants to Palestine. Today, the theater is undergoing a major renovation.

http://www.habima.co.il/

Here’s a photo of the Habima from 2004 before the renovations began.

Click on image for larger size photo.

In the spirit of Spring’s arrival, with Summer fast-approaching, I’ll be posting some photos of various locations in Tel Aviv.

Here’s some shots of Tel Aviv’s beautiful white-sand beaches. Cool-off!

Click on images for super-size photos. All images on this website are (c) Holyexposures.com, however, you may use them under the terms of this site described in our about page.

There is a parking lot that separates the plaza and the municipality building. On the night of his murder in November 1995, Rabin was standing in the entrance to the parking lot after appearing before a Pro-Oslo-Peace rally.

Yitzhak Rabin was the only Prime Minister of Israel to be assassinated.

In 2001, Israeli Cabinet member and Minister of Tourism, Rehavam Ze’evi (Zeevi) was gunned down in front of his hotel room in Jerusalem by an Arab terrorist.

Here is the location of Rabin’s assassination.  It remains a silent memory of a place where history was changed.

The Spray painted slogan at the top says “Slicha” (Forgive Us”)