By Esther Korson
One of the main contributors to the sense of well being and happiness in Israel is our love of communication. People here love to be together, talk together, eat together, sit in cafes and restaurants together, hike together travel together, visit together—the key word, as you can plainly see, is TOGETHER! It’s probably one of the main reasons that Israel invented the cell phone, and so many other communications devises—so that people can be reached anytime, anywhere! The streets of Israel and the restaurants and the malls are full of life and full of noise. Once, McDonald’s opened its first (and last) drive-through branch in Jerusalem. It only lasted for two weeks and I don’t think a single car ever ‘drove through’. No one here could ever imagine why people would want to eat in their cars—since the purpose of eating out was to be TOGETHER!
some years ago, during the communist days, I travelled to Poland and while there visited the city of Krakow. Polish friends showed me the old Jewish neighbourhood. They explained that due to anti-Semitism in Poland, almost all of the Jewish symbols had been removed from the buildings. But many of the streets still bore Jewish names. Our footsteps echoed through the empty streets, and finally all I could do was to sit down on a curb and cry my eyes out. It was the quiet that made me cry. Before the Jewish population in Poland had been killed, that old Jewish neighbourhood in Krakow would have been filled with life and noise and interactions. Polish people now live in the buildings there, but the streets are empty and quiet—and the contrast broke my heart.
Read more at News from Jerusalem
One of the main contributors to the sense of well being and happiness in Israel is our love of communication. People here love to be together, talk together, eat together, sit in cafes and restaurants together, hike together travel together, visit together—the key word, as you can plainly see, is TOGETHER! It’s probably one of the main reasons that Israel invented the cell phone, and so many other communications devises—so that people can be reached anytime, anywhere! The streets of Israel and the restaurants and the malls are full of life and full of noise. Once, McDonald’s opened its first (and last) drive-through branch in Jerusalem. It only lasted for two weeks and I don’t think a single car ever ‘drove through’. No one here could ever imagine why people would want to eat in their cars—since the purpose of eating out was to be TOGETHER!
some years ago, during the communist days, I travelled to Poland and while there visited the city of Krakow. Polish friends showed me the old Jewish neighbourhood. They explained that due to anti-Semitism in Poland, almost all of the Jewish symbols had been removed from the buildings. But many of the streets still bore Jewish names. Our footsteps echoed through the empty streets, and finally all I could do was to sit down on a curb and cry my eyes out. It was the quiet that made me cry. Before the Jewish population in Poland had been killed, that old Jewish neighbourhood in Krakow would have been filled with life and noise and interactions. Polish people now live in the buildings there, but the streets are empty and quiet—and the contrast broke my heart.
Read more at News from Jerusalem
