KISS of hope.

Once an Israeli, always an Israeli – opinionated and compassionate.

According to Fox, Gene Simmons of KISS, born Haim Witz in the heavily hit town of Haifa, sent a video message to wounded soldier and KISS-fan Ron Weinreich.
Ron is one of Hezbollah’s many victims - paralyzed from the chest down.
Due to his injuries, the wedding of Ron’s brother was relocated to his hospital room in order for him to attend.
At the wedding, Ron received the following message from his rock hero:

"Hi Ron, this is Gene Simmons. I'm talking to you from my home. I can't tell you how proud I am of you, and how much the world and Israel owes you a debt of gratitude. From the bottom of my heart, you are a real hero, you are everybody's hero, you are my hero and I wish I could be there with you."

Suddenly switching to confident Hebrew, Simmons added:
"My name is Chaim, I was born in Haifa."

He concluded by saying in English:
"I wish you my best, a happy life and I hope the wedding comes off and everybody should honor you because you are a real hero."

Kol HaKavod, Haim!

The Anti-Semitic Passion of Gibson

Last Friday, Mel Gibson was arrested in the early hours for speeding along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, the famous beach town North of Los Angeles.
Well, happens to best of us, you might think (although most of us don’t drive around in a Lexus).

Although Gibson was under the influence, the arresting officer told the actor that he was supposed to cuff him but would not, as long as Gibson cooperated.
Fair enough, I would think.
But what does our thespian do?
He drunkenly informed the deputy: “I'm not going to get in your car," and promptly bolted.
Our law enforcement officer quickly subdued Gibson, cuffed him and put him inside the patrol car.
Up till now, nothing special.
But instead of keeping his mouth shut, Australia’s import started acting out.
"You mother f****r. I'm going to f*** you," he informed the policeman.
After these crude words, Gibson then launched into a barrage of anti-Semitic statements: "F*****g Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."
Gibson then asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"
(The deputy wisely refrained from answering).

When this Gibson Monologue escalated, the officer called ahead for a sergeant to meet them as soon as they would arrive at the station.
Upon arrival, a sergeant began videotaping Gibson, who noticed the camera and said: "What the f*** do you think you're doing?"
Gibson then noticed a female sergeant and yelled:
"What do you think you're looking at, sugar tits?"
I personnally applaud the police force for their restraint.
(BTW, if you are interested, you can download the report from the entertainment website www.tmz.com).

The next day, after spending the night in a detox cell and posting $5,000 bail, Mel G. apologized for driving while drunk and for his "belligerent behavior" towards the deputy sheriffs who arrested him.
Mmmm, doesn’t sound like a sincere apology to me.
I also miss the reference to his anti-Semitic remarks.
Not that I am surprised, mind you.
For one, Gibson is a staunch Catholic (nothing wrong there), but he shares many beliefs of the Traditionalist Catholic movement, not known for their tolerance.
This sect rejects some or all reforms started by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.
I find it quite funny that he became so successful in Hedonist Hollywood.
But it would explain the private chapel Mel built.
The Holy Family Catholic Church is run out of Gibson's AP Reilly Foundation, a charity he and his wife established for the sole purpose of creating the church.
The Holy Family Catholic Church is run out of Gibson's Icon Production company offices, with an Icon employee responsible for keeping the church's books and Gibson and his wife Robyn as directors. All their donations are - of course - tax free/deductable......pennywise, but definitely not pound-foolish!

And then their is our Mel’s father, Hutton Gibson, who has repeated claimed that the Holocaust was exaggerated.
According to Gibson Père, Jews are out to create "one world religion and one world government" and outlined a conspiracy theory involving Jewish bankers, the US Federal Reserve and the Vatican, among others.
Oy vey!

To come back to the current peccadilloes of M.G. - the media (including the New York Times and Fox) jumped on the story, not in the least due to the current wars raging in the Middle East.
Thanks to the worldwide web, the story spread like wildfire.
As the New York Times correctly pointed out, in a little over 24 hours, Mr. Gibson’s arrest and subsequent behavior in Malibu had already prompted talk of a claimed cover-up, an exposé, worldwide news coverage, an apology and then a full-blown push for alcohol rehabilitation, even as his representatives and executives at the Hope Hartman, a spokeswoman for Disney’s ABC television network, said the company was dropping its plans to produce a Holocaust-themed miniseries in collaboration with Mr. Gibson.
The reason given: “it’s been nearly two years and we have yet to see the first draft of a script, we have decided to no longer pursue this project with Icon.”
Gibson’s production company Icon started developing this four-hour miniseries for ABC, in what was widely seen as an effort to patch up his relations with parts of the Jewish community after his “Passion of Christ” movie.

Needless to say, this is a huge relief - I think all of us want to forfeit this "treat".
To quote Rabbi Marvin Hier, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center:
“I don’t think he should be doing a film on the Holocaust.
It would be like asking someone associated with the K.K.K. to do a movie on the African-American experience.”

There is a famous Latin expression: “in vino veritas” – therefore, one remark our Mel (who promptly checked into rehab) made, hits home: “My life is f****d.”

On a final note, if you look at his photo, you see an uncanny resemblance to another notorious anti-Semite…

Be Sweet with Elite to the IDF

The news today is far from sweet – no disarmament (let alone defeat) of Hezbollah in sight.
As usual, the Forces Outside are ganging up again against us, Israel, once again.
Well, we are used to it – we have been blamed for everything under the sun, including the death of Princess Diana.

I agree, the UN accident was unfortunate, but weren’t they supposed to keep the peace? And not move from their location?
And Mr. Anan, before you trash us again in global media court, could you please wait for the investigation to end?
BTW, aren’t you and your son under investigation for fraud?
Or are you hiding behind “innocent until proven guilty?”
You have a flexible yardstick, don’t you Kofi Dear?

Going back to the sweet issue at hand, Israeli chocolate maker Elite has launched a great campaign.
Together with the Heritage Affinity Services credit card, they created a special webpage where you can click to send a personal message of support and a chocolate bar to an Israeli soldier for free.
It will take 24-hours for your message to appear on the website – Cyberterrorism of our Arab cousins and other anti-Semite ignorani is rampant.

Please be a mensch and send a chocolate bar and your personal message – it’s only a mouse click away!

http://www.websense-media.co.il/has_200706/default.asp?gid=friend

How Isrealis try to claim war damages compensation from Lebanon

The current conflict (as the news channels phrase it - from where I am sitting, it's more like a three-front war) raging in the Middle East, has taken a legal dimension.

Israel blames Lebanon for not complying with the UN resolutions and dismantling Hezbollah, the initiator of all the present violence.
And what is an effective way to make a government pay?
Yep, a lawsuit!

Israeli attorneys Yehudah Talmon, Yoram Danziger, and Nitzah Libai are presenting a symbolic lawsuit to against Lebanese government in a US civil court.
They are suing for compensation to be paid to Israeli businesses and citizens for war damages.
More specifically, the claim states that the Lebanese government is responsible for damages caused to residents of Israel since it didn't prevent Hezbollah from acting from its territory to harm Israeli citizens, thus violating the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism.

The legal team of lawyers and accountants include the former Chief Administrator of the Courts and judge, Dan Arbel, Attorneys Yoram Danziger, Nitzah Libay and the office of Ziv Haft Public Accountants.
The team has been swamped with petitions from tens of citizens, most of them business owners, who want to participate in the lawsuit.
There is no fear that they will forfeit other legal options.
Although by law, a civilian who is suing the state for compensation claims is not allowed to sue other bodies, the current claim is a complementary one, intended to recover money to people that the Israeli government will not recover.
The demand for compensation will be for loss of clientele, damage to sales, and damage to manufacturing capability – the things the government does not compensate for.

What are the chances of winning the lawsuit?
Better then it might look at prima facie, since there is a precedent.
A few years ago, a similar claim was submitted in the United States against the Iranian government for damaging property belonging to American citizens.
The prosecutors won.

Thus, Lebanon, as a sovereign state, was violating international law by permitting Hezbollah to hurt Israelis from its land.
The lawyers are confident that once they win, the Lebanese government will recognize the claim and pay the money.
They base this on the fact that the Lebanese government conducts business with the US and maintains property in the United States.
Therefore, it is possible to collect money from Lebanon without its consent.
For sure, this is a lawsuit to watch – who knows, the pen might be mightier than the sword……

Coming to America – the Israeli coffee chain Aroma

Israel is a coffee loving nation.

There are several chains of cozy and trendy coffee shops (of the caffeine kind, not the leafy ones), where you can sit, chat and enjoy a wide variety of coffees, salads, sandwiches and cakes.

For impatient types like me, there is the coffee-to-go aka Israel’s answer to Starbucks.
Starbucks tried to enter the Israeli market, but left at the same time the US invaded Iraq.
(No, I am not making a political point here – I blame Bush for many things but not for Starbucks pulling out of the Israeli market).

One of the successful chains in Israel is “Aroma”, which I patronize frequently.
The chain opened its first small espresso bar-style café based in Jerusalem in 1994.
It was the brainchild of two young brothers, Yariv and Sahar Shefa, who wanted to offer us coffee lovers inexpensive but top-quality coffee-to-go.

Nowadays, the chain has a national coverage of 72 branches and is going global.
The ambitious Shefa brothers want to add 40 branches in the USA (California and Florida for starters) and Canada (starting with Toronto).

They just opened their first foreign branch in NYC near Houston Street in Manhattan’s posh SoHo district.
The NY flagship branch will have the distinct Aroma branding of red-black-white color scheme and spaceship-like design.
The menu will be an adapted one – both in taste and in names.
To be PC, the famous Iraqi sandwich will be offered as the “Grilled Vegetable Mediterranean Sandwich”, and burekas will be sold as “treat burka”.

Will Aroma make it in the Big Apple?
Quite likely.
The prices are reasonable: USD 3 for a cup of coffee, USD 5-11 per sandwich, USD 4 for a Burekas, and USD 9 for a salad bowl.
Aroma prepares the food in its own kitchen, in contrast to Starbucks.
They are first targeting Israelis living in New York and New Yorkers familiar with Aroma Israel.
Aroma USA is positioning itself as a US brand, so don’t expect menus, newspapers and TV channels in Hebrew.
The ordering system will be different from the Israeli one as well – your name will not be announced over the speaker when your order is ready, and the Israeli “What would you like to order?” will be replaced with “Welcome to Aroma”.

If you are in Manhattan and want a taste of Aroma’s traditional sandwiches or just an Aroma coffee that is warm (not piping hot) served with a complimentary chocolate, visit Aroma's SoHo branch.
It's not kosher, but its made-to-order low fat salads, soups and muesli, can be enjoyed 24/7.

A great Israeli success story is ICQ.
The name is a oronym (wordplay) on the phrase “I seek you”.

In case you are interested, ICQ is an instant messaging computer program that allows allows the sending of text messages with offline support, URLs, multi-user character-by-character chats, resumable file transfers, SMSes, greeting cards and more.
Other features included a searchable user directory and POP3 email support.

In 1996, four young Israelis Arik Vardi, Yair Goldfinger, Sefi Vigiser and Amnon Amir started a company called Mirabilis with ICQ as their flagship product.
Yossi Vardi, the father of founder Arik Vardi funded Mirabilis when no others would touch it.
He travelled frequently promoting Mirabilis and was known for publicly stating the company's revenue goal was zero.
This was intentionally - the company’s CEO often stated that the company did not have a plan for revenue, since large revenues would come later in the form of advertising revenues, upgraded services and back-end selling.

Their marketing concept was unique: viral marketing.
Mirabilis depended on the users to spread the word about the product.
This way, friends would encourage their friends to join so they could communicate to each other. This established a powerful network effect as prospective users strongly preferred the system where their friends were likely to be.

Mirabilis made sure that it was very easy to spread the word.
For example, they used standard e-mail to invite friends to join, but also software instructed to scan address books for sending all recipients invitation letters.
In contrast to competitor MCI, Mirabilis stayed away from telemarketing and never contacted a potential user during dinnertime.
As a result, they were the first mover into the market and gained a large market share rapidly and at a low cost.
This lead to the ultimate dot.com dream – they were bought up by AOL for $200 million.
AOL keeps the viral marketing philosophy going.

To quote Ted Leonsis of AOL in Newsweek:
“The less you do, the more it grows”.

The Hack Attack

Cyberterrorism is not new –therefore none of us should be surprised that more than 750 Israeli websites were recently hacked within a few hours.
The victims were: Soldier’s Treasury Bank, Rambam Hospital, and Globus Group ticket center.
When surfers tried to access these websites, they got the message:
You’re killing Palestinians, we’re killing servers

The hackers are members of the Moroccan “Team Evil” group, responsible for most of the website damage in Israel in the past year.

In April 2006, Team Evil succeeded in hacking into several sites of medium-sized but recognized Israeli companies, including those of the “Shilav” children’s store, “The Blue Square” supermarket and McDonald’s.

The top evillenius happily informed the world that they are
“a group of Moroccan hackers that hack into sites as part of the resistance in the war with Israel. We attack Israeli sites every day. This is our duty…hacking is not a crime.”
Well, obviously this guy didn’t go to law school - hacking is as legal as suicide bombing……

They also don’t seem to understand that hacking a website is not exactly an effective way of putting pressure on a government or army.
That doesn’t stop another group member from remarking:
“we want Israel to stop fighting. Stop killing children and we’ll stop hacking.”
According to their spokesman, the group’s members are all Moroccan youths, under the age of 20, which explains a lot.

The irony is, that they almost for sure use Israeli programs and tools for their cyberattacks.
My suggestion to them: put all that brainpower and energy to good use and start a Moroccan Silicon Valley….

The Case of the Cursing Parrot

We all read stories or watched pirate movies with cursing parrots perched on the shoulder of a mean, one-legged sailor.
Well, such a bird is currently making headlines.
The Bird (name unknown) has the habit of screaming phrases such as “maniac”, “homo” and “son of a bitch” at regular intervals.
The bird belonged to an orthodox Jew, who bought it as a pet for his kids. Needless to say, he was not too happy by the verbal outbursts of the creature.
I am still puzzled that he didn’t find that characteristic out before he purchased the bird, but who am I? Anyway, the pater familias went to the rabbi to find out how to handle the feathery culprit.
The rabbi informed him that the parrot should be slaughtered since he “sins and causes others to sin.”
Personally, I thought that you only sinned if you purposely commit an act that is sinful, but obviously, I am wrong (being a woman and not orthodox probably accounts for that).
The family father is a patient of a holistic doctor who decided to come to the bird’s rescue. No good deed goes unpunished, so the good doctor had to fork over $ 3,000 to save it from death row. The doctor was now stuck with a bird that has quite a mouth on it.
So how did our medical professional handle the situation? Yep, you guessed it – he consulted a rabbi!
The second rabbi recommended that the poor parrot either be put to death or have his tongue severed, which brings back images of mediaeval witch trials, doesn’t it?.

The story hid the headlines and all kinds of organizations and individuals came to the bird’s defense; some of them even protested in front of the doctor’s house.
The “Let Animals Live Foundation” took it a step further and applied to the court to prevent the pending execution (or tongue mutilation). In its petition, the Foundation stated that there is a reasonable basis to assume the parrot will be subjected to suffering and cruelty. Therefore, the court must interfere with a restraining order. The ruling judge agreed and issued an injunction protecting the parrot from being harmed in any way. For now, our feathered friend is safe.
The order will apply until a further decision is made. In the next few days, a deliberation will be held and the court will seal the parrot’s fate. Our good doctor is planning to attend the court session accompanied by the parrot in question.
Let’s hope the bird will not engage in foul language in court – that’s the prerogative of lawyers!

What got into Yehoshua?

Author A.B. Yehoshua is one of the most respected Israeli authors.
Intelligent, articulate, insightful.
It was therefore surprising to hear him at the centennial celebration of theAmerican Jewish Committee in May 2006 in Washington, DC.

As one of the panel members, Yehoshua passionately claimed that only theState of Israel can ensure the survival of the Jewish people.
With wild gestures, he claimed:
"For me, Avraham Yehoshua, there is no alternative...I cannot keep my identity outside Israel. [Being] Israeli is my skin, not my jacket. You are changing jackets... you are changing countries like changing jackets. I have my skin, the territory".
The flabbergasted audience was told that Israeli Jews live a Jewish life in a totality that the American Jews do not know.

Nice way to go, Avraham, especially since Israel exists thanks to the unwavering support of the US and its Jewish population.
Needless to say, not all Israelis agreed.
Efraim Halevy, former head of the Mossad, distanced himself from Yehoshua's statements, emphasizing that Israel goes to great effort to help Jewish communities around the world, proving that that Israel finds the Jewish Diaspora important for its existence.

Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of the New Republic, strongly objected to the bold statements.
He told Yehoshua that he took the concept “Jewish” and narrowed it down to “Israeli”.
He got a point there – Yehoshua failed to take into account that 20% of the Israelis are non-Jews. So where does that leave them?
I agree with Wieseltier that the concept of Judaism existed long before the State of Israel was created.
To quote Wieseltier:
"There is Jewish religion, Jewish culture, Jewish literature, texts that have been with us form 3,000 years. Why do you insist on narrowing it down to Israeliness?”

The panel moderator, charismatic news anchor Ted Koppel kept his cool, although he was obviously offended.
He pointed out to Yehoshua that all the contributions of Diaspora Jews ensured the continuity of the Jews as a people and could therefore not be disregarded.

In the newspaper the Jerusalem Post, Yehoshua voiced his surprise at the uproar over his arguments.
"It seems to me obvious that our Jewish life in Israel is more total than anywhere outside Israel. I think this is common sense.
If they were goyim they would understand it right away."
So does that mean that the goyim understand him better than his fellow Jews?

Yehoshua’s views represent the traditional Zionist one:
Jews who live outside this country and do not play a part in its cultural development will either be destroyed or assimilate.
To some extend, this is correct – more than 6M. (Bar and Bat Mitzvah) Jews have been assimilated and “lost” in the US alone. This is a frightening number, but is making Israel the sole Jewish enclave in the world the answer?
In my opinion, Israel needs the Diaspora Jews as much and the Diaspora Jews need Israel.

With all due respect to Mr. A. B. Yehoshua, I strongly disagree with his viewpoint.
The vitriolic response that he received in and outside of Israel (especially in the blogosphere) had more to do with the way he delivered his message than the content alone.
Let’s face it, it’s extremely poor taste to criticize one’s gracious host in such a public setting.

Next time, the American Jewish Committee might consider inviting Amos Oz when discussing "The Future of the Past: What will become of the Jewish people?"

The biggest surprise of the Israeli elections was not the victory of Kadima or the defeat of Likud, but the 7 seats that the “Gil Pensioners of Israel to the Knesseth” Party snagged.
This party is headed by Rafi Eitan, who is quite a character.

You see, Eytan used to be a former senior Mossad official and head of the branch dealing with technology and science during the Pollard affair.
He recruited Pollard, a navy intelligence analyst. He used Pollard as a spy against the US. Pollard and his than wife Ann were convicted for supplying Israel (via Eitan) with top secret information.
During the Pollards prosecution, Rafi Eitan and Aviem Sela of the IAF were also mentioned, but never indicted.
Sela, who was in the US at the time, fled to Israel and was never prosecuted.
Both of them avoid visiting the US, since they could face question about their role in the Pollard affair.

Eitan took full responsibility for recruiting Pollard:
"It was my decision and mine only. I took complete, absolute responsibility. I decided to take the risk, which was clear to me, although I didn't predict the affair would develop to such an extent. There's risk when using any agent."

He disputed the claim that Pollard's information led to revealing the identity of American spies operating in the Soviet Union.

Now that Eitan's party scored such a election victorty, two questions need to be ansered:

• Will Eitan join the coalition and be appointed minister?
• How will the US react to the new publicity linked to the (still) sensitive case of Pollard?

One thing is for sure: politics in Israel - never boring!

An interesting candidate to watch in the upcoming Israeli elections is Tzvia Greenfield.
She is special in many ways.
She is a 59-year old mother-of-five, has a doctorate in political philosophy, is number 6 on the Meretz list and follows an ultra-Orthodox, American lifestyle.
Especially the last created lots of noise in the ultra-Orthodox community.
Ultra-Orthodox journalists objected to Tzvia calling defining herself as ultra-Orthodox, since (gasp!) she has a dog.
It seems that therefore, she doesn’t answer the social definition of ultra-Orthodox. (Confused? So am I!)
According to ultra-Orthodox journalist Kobi Arieli, you cannot have a dog and not detest the political party Meretz and be ultra-Orthodox.
So much for peaceful coexistence.
Greenfield pointed out that there is many American-type ultra-Orthodox in Har Nof (the stronghold of the Shas Party).
They are highly educated and some even have a television in their homes, but they maintain a strictly ultra-Orthodox lifestyle, including the centrality of Torah study, a certain mode of dress, a certain order to their daily routine and the observance of Shabbat and Jewish Festivals in a particular style.
Sounds kosher to me….
They also hold her field of expertise against her.
Although born in Israel and graduated from a Beis Yaakov ultra-Orthodox girls seminar, she went on to study general history and philosophy at Hebrew University.
What’s wrong with that, you might ask? Well, it seems that the ultra-Orthodox community finds secular history and philosophy unacceptable and dangerous.
I don’t quite understand why; I always thought that broadening your mind is healthy and prevent prejudice, racism, anti-Semitism, and the like.

Greenfield has a sharp, analytical mind combined with (lucky for her) a nice sense of humor. That would be a great asset in the Knesset, I tell you!

So what are her viewpoints on the main issues of life?
First of all, she is a strong advocate of going to work and maintain a life of Torah and productivity.
She points out that the ultra-Orthodox society doesn’t understand that it is impossible to impose their value system on others.
As we non-ultra-Orthodox know, it doesn’t take much to be at the receiving end of their contempt and even wrath by not complying with their lifestyle.

There is another reason Greenfield advocates to join the workforce.
The Halpert Law (which was passed by all the non-Zionist, ultra-Orthodox and Arab Knesset members alike, with the support of the Likud), increases child allowances for the fifth and subsequent child to NIS 850 a month.
The money comes from the taxes paid by the (non-ultra-Orthodox) working population whose children serve in the Israel Defense Forces (ultra-Orthodox are exempt).
The law also reinforces the ultra-Orthodox tendency to turn ultra-Orthodox women, or children, into a source of income.
When the income of an ultra-Orthodox family is dependent on the number of its children, intense pressure is exerted on women, excluding the possibility of having fewer children.

Greenfield is also in favor of civil marriage and divorce for the same reason.
She points out that Israel is the only democracy in the world in which a large group of people cannot marry.
And it gets better. She also wants homosexuals and lesbians to have the same status as any other citizen, which includes the right to marry and the right to realize any desire and any life plan that does not harm others.
In that aspect, she is for sure more liberal and tolerant than many Israelis!

Her view on rabbis in Israel is even more surprising.
She points out that they don’t do the Jewish people much good and are inefficient leaders.
They prevent change in order to preserve their positions of power.
Anyone of us who ever had to deal with the rabbinate in Israel can unfortunately confirm this.

Tzvia Greenfield will make a great Member of Knesset in my book.
After all the scandals, she might be the candidate of moral fiber, intelligence, and humor that we sorely need in this country.

And when asked if she asked a rabbi for permission to run for the Knesset, she answered:
“Of course not. There is no reason to do so. Why would it be important?
I can assure you that the Rambam did not ask a rabbi if he should be Salah a-Din's doctor. The problem is that the applicability of halakhic questions has expanded terribly and now includes all aspects of life.
The areas about which people ask questions have grown with no rhyme or reason.”

There is an Israeli fashion designer to watch.

You may never have heard of Michal Negrin, but she is slowly conquering the world with her "Israeli Victorian romance" fashion.
Negrin has developed her personal passion for kitsch into glittering and colorful pieces of jewelry that are popular with women all over the world.
Negrin's successful designs include jewelry, clothes, curtains and upholstery, as well as lamps and cushions –all in her trademark frilly style.

Negrin career is quite impressive.
She and her husband left Kibbutz Na'an 15 years ago and moved to Tel Aviv.
She opened a small stall in the Nahalat Binyamin pedestrian mall where she sold her own jewelry creations.
These pieces embroidered with lace and small colorful glass stones were a hit and Negrin was smart enough to develop her own style that also became her trademark: shameless kitsch adorned with floral designs, images of angels and drawings of elaborately made-up ladies.
It radiates Victorian boudoir romance.
Michal Negrin is currently running a small business empire of 39 stores from Japan and Hong Kong to France and the United States.
Production is done in her Israeli factory in Bat Yom, where 150 immigrants from the CIS are employed.
Her fashion line includes jewelry, clothing, mezuzahs and bathroom upholstery as well as closet doorknobs.
She also produces special jewelry items for El Al, that can be purchase on board.
Kitsch doesn’t come cheaply – a simple pendant will easily cost you $50.
Negrin’s designs are in high demand, riding the current fashion wave for elaborate necklaces, chandelier earrings and baroque jewelry.

Her high-profile customers include Britney Spears, Demi Moore, Nicole Kidman, Britney Spears, Alicia Keys, Kim Bassinger, Uma Thurman, Dustin Hoffman, Joni Mitchell, Celine Dion and Jane Seymour.
Negrin jewelry has also featured in Britney's music videos and in the latest movie of Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Fashions come and go, but although her designs are definitely not my taste, I sincerely wish that the Michal Negrin Designs Ltd. keeps on prospering and expending.

Let there be a prenup

Israeli couples heading for the chuppah are becoming clever.
The number of prenuptial agreements has risen spectacularly over the last few years.

More than 40 percent of the happy couples sign a prenuptial agreement before they get hitched - an increase of about 50 percent compared to the two previous years.

Most couples sign the contract a few months before the ceremony; the rest prefers to sign after the deed it done.

Not surprisingly, men are more likely to push for the prenup, while many women are still; willing to forego the contract even when they are better off than their partner.
The reason is quite likely the unfortunate habit of women to avoid tensions into the relationship.
Dumb, if you ask me.
If he splits up with you (or the other way around, doesn’t matter) over the prenuptial dispute, s/he was out for the money anyway.
So good riddance, I say.

Why are prenups new in Israel? There are several reasons.
First of all, the age of the average couple is rising, so it’s likely that partners already accumulated assets (especially own a house).
Secondly, the divorce rate is steadily climbing – a trend Israel has in common with most countries.

Last but not least, more and more couples choose a civil ceremony over a religious one, which makes the Israeli legal profession benefit from the attitude of the religious establishment towards marriage in Israel.

Still, if you really want to watch your back and safeguard your future, the best option is not to get married at all……just a thought.

Trump to the rescue?

The mayor of the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, which was hit by a suicide bombing recently, said that billionaire Donald Trump is planning to help build a huge beachfront hotel complex there.

According to the mayor, Miriam Fireberg-Ikar, a top Trump business associate visited the city three times on his private jet and was planning to build a number of hotels on 38 acres of empty seaside real estate.
We are talking about 2,500 rooms in several three, four and five-star hotels at the southern end of Netanya's beach, next to an 8-mile promenade.

The Trump associate, Michael Dezer, claims that there are plans for a $500 million hotel complex, despite the recent a suicide bomber who killed himself and five others at the city's main mall.
Dezer came up with the hotel idea six months ago when Fireberg-Ikar was visiting Miami. He said he contacted Trump, who agreed to join the project.

Netanya was actually named after the philanthropist Nathan Straus, the owner of Macy's department store in New York at the turn of the century. The city is located 20 miles north of Tel Aviv and boasts some of Israel's best beaches.
Netanya has been among the Israeli cities hardest hit by terrorism, severely damaging its tourism industry.
According to Israeli-born Dezer, “Bombings are a part of life in Israel. We are used to it, and it doesn't change a thing."

Needless to say, the Israeli media jumped on this story.
The leading Israeli daily Maariv ran a front-page headline reading:
"Coming Soon: Trump Hotels in Netanya."

However, Trump spokeswoman Norma Foerderer would not confirm the involvement of the star of NBC's hit reality show "The Apprentice", saying it was "premature" to talk about the Netanya project.

That makes me wonder…is it a clever PR trick of Fireberg-Ikar to boost the image of her city? Time will tell, but in the mean time, linking her own and the city’s name to the Trumpster is not a bad move at all….

No matter how much the economy suffers, the wedding & bar/t mitzvah industry still flourishes.
Following the lead from the USA, each event has to be grandiose and outshine all the previous ones.
Hence, weddings were the bride changes her wedding gown half way through, a transsexual perform a “wedding dance” as entertainment and more booze than the average UK pub.
And I am pretty sure that some Israeli zillionaire will find a way to top the
“obermitzvah” that took place in NY.
Long Island teen Elizabeth Brook, daughter of defense industry tycoon David Brooks, had the bat mitzvah to top all bat mitzvahs.
I t took place at two floors of New York hot spot The Rainbow Room at a price tag estimated at just over $10 million.
The 300 guests sampled hors d'oeuvres to the strains of Kenny G's soprano sax.
The main entertainment featured The Eagles' Don Henley and Joe Walsh, rap diva Ciara, Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, Aerosmith and 50 cent.
The goody bags were not too shabby either – each one included a video iPod and a digital camera.

Obviously, the costs of throwing a bar/t mitzvah party are increasing rapidly.
Before the Brookfest, Amber Ridinger's Miami bat mitzvah in November 2005 topped the list. Her bat mitzvah featured performances by rap and hip-hop artists Ashanti, Ja Rule and Marques Houston and set her parents an estimated $500,000 back.
On the other side of the United States, in Los Angeles, Etti Rabb has spent over a year preparing a bat mitzvah for her daughter, Natalie.

The minimum cost for throwing a bottom-of-the-line party is $20,000 – not include the service itself, which costs another $6,000.

But there is one big difference between having a party in the US or in Israel.
In Israel, the guests pay for it themselves, since they hand over a check as a gift.

The sad thing is: the “keeping up with the Joneses” has taken over. The core of the celebration, the religious ceremony, is now a minor detail – food, presents and entertainment is the focus.
And I wonder – who will look at the video and photos in another 5+ years?
May be it’s time to get back to the basics – and make it a memorable and touching celebration again (sans fireworks and circus acts).

Iran is at it again...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on 14 December 2005 that the
Holocaust is a "myth" that Europeans have used to create a Jewish state in the heart of the Islamic world.
Correct me if I am wrong, but there has been a Jewish state (Kingdom), way before Mohammed was even born.
He justifies his “theory” by stating that the Europeans committed crimes against the Jews and that they (the United States or Canada), should give part of their land to the Jews to establish a state.
He is helpful enough to propose the following:
"give a part of your own land in Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to them (Jews) so that the Jews can establish their country."
He went on to say:
"if you (Europeans) committed this big crime, then why should the oppressed Palestinian nation pay the price?"
As far as I know, the Palestinians never contributed to any Holocaust survival fund or Holocaust museum. (And they don’t compensate their terror victims as well).

Obviously, the Iranian president is not going to transfer any money soon:
"You (Europeans) have to pay the compensation yourself” as he publicly announced.
Mr. President needs a history lesson – or is he peeved that not enough American and European funds are flooding his way?

Ahmadinejad also suggested the week before that Israel should be transferred to Europe.
Now that is an interesting viewpoint, considering the percentage of Muslims in Europe.

By his own logic, if the Israelis don’t belong in the Middle East, Muslims don’t belong in the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Obviously, Mahmoud is not a great fan of Israel in October 2005, he called it a "disgraceful blot" that should be "wiped off the map" .
Considering that Israel is the only democracy in the whole Middle East and has a great track record of products and inventions (Israel won the Nobel Prize for economy in 2005), it is clear that he is talking drivel.

Ahmadinejad also said that the West had harmed Muslims, invaded their countries, and plundered their wealth.
In all fairness, it is true that the colonial powers sometimes treated their colonials disgracefully, but to say that they plundered their wealth is ridiculous.
(don’t forget, this was all before the oil boom).

"If your civilization consists of aggression, making oppressed people homeless, suffocating the voices of justice and bringing poverty to a majority of the World’s people, we say loudly that we hate your hollow civilization," he said.
Funny, that is exactly the point why so many in the Western world hate Muslims and why the war in Iraq started…

They say that each country gets the leader its deserves.
In that case, I feel sorry for the Iranian people who used to have the political moderate Mohammad Khatami as head of state.
He used to call for a dialogue among civilizations and promote a low-key understanding with the United States that stopped short of diplomatic relations.

If any of you want to give Mr. Ahmadinejad a holiday present that he would really like – there might still be a copy of the Elders of Zion around…….

Anyone seen the King of the Jungle?

We all know that the Gaza is not exactly the most sophisticated place on the planet.
It they would ever twin, I would suggest doing it with Afghanistan or Iraq.
There is not much law and a lot of disorder (an idea for a new reality show? “Outlaw and Disorder”? Oops, forgot, we already have that in the form of incursions in Iraq….)
It seems that not only humans are unsafe – our animal friends are also in danger.
Mid November, four masked gunmen armed with Kalashnikov rifles raided the only zoo in the Gaza Strip.
After they handcuffed the guard and locked him up in the cafeteria, the thieves first stole two white and grey parrots that speak a few words in Arabic.
That is in itself a Good Thing - if they would speak Hebrew, they would for sure be bird pie by now.
Then, the thieves moved on to grab two lions. They were successful with one; the other violently resisted and was left alone.

The zoo’s manager Saud al-Shawwa announced a $1,000 reward for anyone who provides information that could help find the lion and parrots.
"Thousands of people visit the zoo and they will miss these animals, especially the lion," he said.
"We have different species of animals here and we urge the Palestinian security forces to help us find the stolen animals."
(I wouldn't hold my breath if were him - the Palestinian security force is not exactly known for its efficient operations).
"The whole operation lasted less than 30 minutes," Shawwa added.
"The thieves must have visited the zoo before to examine the place. The zoo was officially opened two months ago."

To me, it looks like an animal abduction gang that was filling an order – the black market for lions is non-existent.
Apart from an attitude problem (lions don’t take very kindly to anything that interrupts their daily routine), they are also expensive in the upkeep.
An adult will easily eat more than 3 kilos meat a day, and we are not talking hamburgers, but prime stuff.
So somewhere in Gaza, Jordan or Egypt, there is a Fat Cat stroking the head of this lion….
I don’t think that the announced reward will bring in any leads – the Fat Cat will for sure multiply this amount as hush money if necessary.
Let’s hope that our lion gets a good treatment; if not, it can always cross the bother and enjoy matzot during Pesach in an Israeli zoo…..

Job Interview from Hell

We all had them – job interview from hell that leaves you drained, upset and second guessing yourself.
Once you land a job, you are too busy recalling what you went through.

So for all you (potential) jobseekers, when you feel like you had the worst interview in history – read the following stories and smile. And whatever you do, don’t doubt yourself!

In 2004, I went for my third job interview at an Israeli biotech company in New Jersey.

I met their female, Chinese Vice President half a year ago, and she told me then that they were looking for someone like me. “Bingo!” I thought.

I went on my second interview a month before, but was turned away from the office since the VP (aptly named “Asia”) was out of the country on business.

I double-checked this time, and was informed that they were waiting for me. So far, so good….

My b-f drove me to my job interview and told me not to worry about him and take as much time as I needed. (A prince among men, non?)

I went in at 11 am and stumbled out at 12.30am. The interview was a disaster.

Asia started by informing me that she is an excellent boss who never stabs people in the back.

Furthermore, when she is unhappy, she will give her employees hell, but not in front of others.

“I am very loyal to my people, you see” she said.

Needless to say, I did not see; my laser eye correction in 2000 must be less successful than I thought…

She told me that the present position is for a Director, but that she will appoint him/her as a manager, so she “can place another person over his/her head if I am unhappy”…

She also told me: “you are single, no kids? Excellent! You can work long hours!”

She went on telling me that I have to work “at least twice as hard as I did before”.

Since I work an average of 10 hours a day, it would mean that I have to forfeit sleep, eat and other such unnecessary activities to meet her demands……

I asked about the financial situation of her company. The investment round only generated $1M. which is peanuts for a technology-driven company . They are under pressure to be commercial ASAP.

We did not discus salary, but she told me that all employees received a salary cut of 20%….She said that nobody left the company, despite the salary cuts.

I wondered if that was because they are chained to the wall and cannot physically leave….I decided not the ask.

When asking “where I see myself in 2 years” she informed me that she loves to hear a candidate telling her that he/she wants her job. I looked at her nose, expecting it to grow like Pinocchio’s, but no such luck.

She also talked about the Israeli CEO as a “wonderful, caring, honest man” in a dreamy voice, looking at the ceiling with a smile around her lips - which gave me some clue about the dynamics in this company.

Her plan is simple: appoint a tandem consisting of a Marketing Director and a Business Development Director. Their successes are hers, the failures are theirs (and “off with their heads” as the Queen said in Alice in Wonderland).

She then went on criticizing and second guessing all my qualifications, wondering if I was really “up to the job” and that she had “some reservations” about my being able to write materials.

This did not stop her from making notes of all my suggestions and opinions that I am pretty sure she happily implemented afterwards.

She polished it off my informing me that she had given me 1,5 hours (and not the standard 30 minutes) since I came in vain the previous time, thus nifty making me feel responsible for it.

Her parting shot was the best: “I am interviewing 30 other people, but keep in touch, I expect questions from you by email”. (Sure, and please hold your breath until I do!)

I stumble out of the building, emotionally drained. B-f was very supportive (he always is!) and gave some colorful feedback harboring on character assassination. (Asia’s, not mine).

B-f knows me well, so he treated me to a wonderful lunch (salmon in a cream/mushroom sauce on a bed of wild rise with cooked asparagus + a glass of excellent dry white wine) to cheer me up. Guess what? It did the trick!

Needless to say, I never heard anything back, not even a polite “thank you, no thank you” email........

Do you speak Peretzenglish?

Israel’s newly elected Labor Party Chairman, Amir Peretz, delivered his first speech in English. Recipients were donors of the Rabin Center.
Peretz fumbled his way through the speech, unable to pronounce several words.
In the end, he skipped complicated sentences.

For his lack of English, Peretz has been harshly attacked in the media.
In itself, this is grossly unfair.
The Union leader (yes, only in Israel can you be the leader of one of the biggest political parties and potentially prime minister and still serve as the powerful chairman of the Union) worked his way up from a poor immigrant background to the powerhouse he is today.
I definitely do not agree with his views (I strongly believe that he will be disastrous as a PM), but I give him a lot of credit for that.

“How can a guy like that talk to the President of the USA?” his critics asked.
Well, easily, I would think.

Let's face it - George W. Bush makes a habit of slaughtering his native tongue.
They even coined a phrase for his many gaffes: Bushlexia.

A loyal Bush Watcher coined this phrase describing it as “a combination of dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, apraxia, illiteracy, ignorance, laziness, passive-aggressiveness, inappropriate humor, and an arrogant attitude of privilege.”
So I don’t see why Amir and Georgie cannot communicate in simple basic English sentences.

So what if Amir misuses a word or doesn’t know how to pronounce it?
Just look at the following quote of the current Prez:
"Israel has got responsibilities," Mr. Bush said.
"Israel must deal with the settlements.
Israel must make sure there's a continuous territory that Palestinians call home."
(The White House, which late in the day produced a transcript of Mr. Bush's remarks, put the word "contiguous" in parentheses after "continuous," to indicate that "contiguous" was what Mr. Bush had meant.) --New York Times, 06.04.03

This is not the only "misquote" of GWB - what to think of the following?
"Too many good docs are getting out of the business.
Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." —Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

You see my point? Let’s first wait for a US president with proper language skills before we criticize non-Anglo politicians….
And at least Peretz is fluent in two languages (Hebrew and Moroccan Arabic), in contrast to the 43rd President of the USA who personifies the old joke: “what do you call someone who only speaks one language? American!”

Et tu, Hila?

Hila Cohen is a judge who was convicted in the summer of 2005 for tampering with court documents. She forged minutes of meetings with defense counsel that never took place and also destroyed court documents. Instead of firing her on the spot, the court sentenced her to be reassigned to another court and to a severe reprimand.
This created an uproar, and Cohen was asked to resign, which she flatly refused.
Proceedings to dismiss Cohen were submitted to the judges selection committee to make the lady leave. The committee is expected to do just that on December 1.
But Hila is not a woman to avoid a good fight, so she announced that she wants to launch a counter investigation of Justice Minister Tsipi Livni.
She wrote a letter to Livni , asking to question the Justice Ministry and other senior officials, including the Justice Ministry commissioner for complaints against judges.

She also demands that "defense witnesses" will be heard and that she can "counter investigate."
She justified this as follows:
"in a legal inquiry it is inappropriate that a judge who is being asked to conclude her tenure cannot investigate the people who have proposed her dismissal."

OK, so if this flies, we can all start investigating the performance of our bosses when we are being laid-off……
I don’t know how Hila Cohen got appointed and I haven’t got a clue what her credentials are, but she is for sure creative!

She is not the only one taking creative licenses with the law.
Omri Sharon, son of PM Ariel Sharon, was convicted of falsifying corporate documents and perjury, among other offenses, which in the overwhelming majority of cases constitute crimes of moral turpitude. This is relevant, since Omri is a Member of Knesset (MK).
According to the Basic Law on The Knesset, an MK may not continue to serve in his position if his final conviction pertains to crimes of moral turpitude.
A court hearing a MK’s case - at its own initiative, or in keeping with a request from the attorney general - can determine whether the offenses in question constitute crimes of moral turpitude.
In the case of Omri (who struck a plea bargain) that part has not been finalized.
Obviously, being convicted is not as important as gluing yourself to your parliamentary seat.
The State Prosecution will ask the court to rule that the offenses for which Sharon was convicted do indeed constitute crimes of moral turpitude.
But even when successful, Omri has the right to appeal that part of the verdict, effectively dragging it on for years and calmly remaining an active MK member, representing the people of Israel.

Oh irony – Israel has a wonderful political and court system with too many unscrupulous people abusing it.
It makes you almost pine for the times of King Solomon…Oh Shlomo, were are thou?

Esther is coming to town

Madonna, the poster girl for Berg’s version of Kabbalah, is planning to visit Israel during the Hanukkah holiday.
Madonna, who refers to herself as "Esther" is planning to visit Israel during the upcoming Chanukkah holiday.
She wants to seek the blessing of Israel's leading Kabbalist - Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri.
(First off, considering her new name, it would be more fitting for her to visit Israel during Purim).
This is the second time that Madonna asked to be blessed; the previous time (in 2004) the rabbi refused even to meet her.

This time around, Madonna’s managers apparently also contacted the rabbi's associates, including the rav’s grandson Yossi Kaduri, to try and set up a meeting between the pop singer and the rabbi.
You see, mother-of-two Madonna wants to have another child but first wants to receive Kaduri’s blessing.
(I am not sure what that has to do with the price of tea in China, but I applaud her motherly instincts).

All in all, I am quite puzzled.
For starters, it just doesn’t make sense.
Madonna is Catholic, so it would make more sense for her to visit the Pope.
(The new one seems like a decent bloke, so give it a shot, Madge).
Furthermore, someone has to explain to her that just using the name Esther doesn’t make her Jewish. If I would get a dollar for every non-Jewish girl called Esther, I could buy myself some serious real estate. (The Hamptons spring to mind).
It’s nice that she has a spiritual life, but her version of Kabbalah is not exactly mainstream.
I cannot blame organizations such as the International Society for Sephardic Progress to go into a hissy fit and urge Kaduri to shun her.

And our Madge doesn’t exactly have what we call neshamah.
Remarks such as "It would be less controversial if I joined the Nazi Party (instead of the Kabbalah Center)," only show that she doesn’t have an inking about Jewish sensitivities.
Don’t get me wrong, I admire Madonna for the marketing genius she is, but I would like to suggest the following.
Once in Israel, I would like her to give a concert, free of charge, and invite her fans and admirers from both sides of the (security) fence.
Let Israelis and Palestinians together belt out songs and make dance moves.
It might not be a Kabbalah blessing, but it would for sure be a true Mitzvah!

JAP meets Sabra

For those of you watching the dating/reality show “Of all the girls in the world” the best episode up till now was the one broadcasted last Sunday on Channel 3.
It showed us all the difference between the Israeli and JAP lifestyle.
To update you - the elimination race is still going on. The three finalists were flown to New York to meet the parents.
First we have Neta, a sweet Israeli girl who, IMHO, would be desperately unhappy outside of Israel.
Then there is Marie, a 21-year old perky Canadian, who comes across as a diva in the making. Last but not least – Bulgarian Maria.
Non-Jewish Maria (Jewish father, Catholic mother) is very much a woman, statuesque, with an air of mystery about her.
In New York, the girls are staying in bachelor Ari’s not-so-impressive- apartment.
I would have put my foot down and asked for a single room in the Millennium Hotel.
They were whisked off to an olam to meet the family. Oy!
All of them made a good impression: the mother liked Marie, the father Maria and the sister Neta. So much for consensus. Ari’s family came across as slightly dysfunctional.
Ari’s father was blatantly fawning over Maria gushing what a beautiful woman she is.
The mother announced that she is the perfect mother-in-law, because "I keep my mouth zipped shut and my wallet zipped open." Mmmm, so much for the Jewish Values that Ari keeps bringing up. Sister Charlene knows how to act for the cameras. She plays the vixen part with relish and could give Joan Collins a run for her money.
Charlene invited each girl to her place for a separate check session.
The first victim was sweet Neta, who was schlepped to a manicure/pedicure place.
When Charlene found out that she never had a pedicure before, she nearly fainted and drowned in her footbath.
She asked Neta about working, emphasizing that she herself is a stay-at-home Mum.
Neta answered truthfully that she would like to work and cut down on it once she has children. Charlene looked shocked.
Obviously, she doesn’t get two things:
a) staying home with the kids is a luxury Israeli women don’t have (except for the affluent ones);
b) educated women like to work in their chosen field of expertise. I wonder if Charl Dear ever visited Israel or has any Israeli friends.
After summing up the visit, Charlene informed Ari that she had a problem with Neta not being "a traditional woman such as Mum and myself."
Marie was the second victim, and was cordially invited to step into the high design kitchen to make "sesame schnitzels with noodles."
"Noodles" in the States is called "pasta" in Canada and Europe (being a collective noun), so Marie asked if she was talking about spaghetti. Charlene gave her an affirmative nod with a "don’t try my patience" look.
Marie did her best, honestly saying that she didn’t know if she was heading for the chuppah yet. "I see myself having a serious relationship that might lead to marriage," she said, which in my book is a very mature and sensible statement for a 21-year old.
Charlene kept emphasizing to Marie and Ari that she (Marie) is very young, and that there is a 13-year-old age gap with 34-year old Ari.
The last victim was Maria, who had a really tough time.
Charlene took her to a boutique were she tried on her outfit for her son’s Bar Mitsva.
It consisted of a knee length black frock with a short sleeved glittery jacket – not exactly a proper outfit for an Orthodox shul. Maria said that she liked the outfit.
Charlene changed into a white evening halter dress with a slit halfway up her tights.
Charl posed "Alexis Carrington of Dynasty"- style and asked poor Maria (who lied through her teeth that she liked this outfit as well) what she would wear at an Orthodox Jewish wedding.
"A dress" she answered, "with sleeves."
Charlene was not happy about this answer and told Ari that she didn’t think that Maria has any neshomme. Ari promptly dumped Maria stating: "I have a problem with your honesty."
Considering how he is portrayed in the show, this gives new meaning to the world chutzpa.
So now we are down to two: sweet Sabra Neta and perky JAP Marie.
Who will win? I predict neither.
No matter who will be chosen, Ari will not settle down with anyone.
His best option: let Charl select a woman for him, and marry her after the approval of the parent unit.
It’s a pity Charlene doesn’t work – she has the makings of a great shadchan!

Want to drink some Kabbalah?

Forget about Red Bull. If you want to be trendy (the Madonna/Britney/Demi way), your beverage of choice must be Kabbalah Energy Drink.
It's a heady combination of medieval Jewish mysticism, a fizzy strawberry-flavored drink loaded with vitamins and a splash of holy water – so how can you say no?
Follow the hip, the curious and the thirsty crowd and fork out $2 for a can of sweetened, carbonated, caffeinated, vitamin-charged water to which some Canadian mountain spring water blessed by a rabbi is added.
Believe it or not, the US distributor XL Beverage is located in (hold on to your seat) Bethlehem.
“I would not think there would be any actual spiritual benefit to drink this. The true teachings of Kabbalah have nothing to do with energy drinks,” deadpanned one Kabbalah scholar.
I bet that in order to get the maximum benefits, the soft drink producer will tell you that it can only be consumed while wearing one of the red Kabbalah strings (at $ 26 a piece) around your wrist.
Who came up with this New Age energy drink brainchild?
Darin Ezra, the director of Kabbalah Enterprises in Los Angeles, is the beverage distributor. He was approached by the Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles to distribute their bottled Kabbalah water, another trendy product (Madonna has been known to drink it).
Ezra saw the huge amount of synergy between the Kabbalah brand, energy drinks and the kind of consumers interested in both - namely, the 18- to 35-year-old set.
Kabbalah Energy Drink's success has snowballed ever since Ezra tested the market by sending out 10,000 cans in January 2005 to stores in west Los Angeles.
Energy drinks, which also cross over into what the industry calls the ''New Age'' drink category, generally contain high caffeine and sugar content, as well as loads of vitamins, such as taurine, an amino acid, and B vitamins. ''I think one reason the category is so successful is, that the products actually work,'' Hemphill says.
Healthy? I don’t think so – the Kabbalah Energy Drink contains a warning:
“consume responsibly. Limit to 24 ounces per 24-hour period. Not recommended for children, pregnant women or people sensitive to caffeine.”
And it's not Kosher for Passover. Mmm, I wonder how that happened? May be because marketing-savvy Ezra plans to launch Kabbalah cookies and Kabbalah cereal?
Before asking Tempo when it will be available in Israel, I strongly suggest that you try a great beverage that has been around for a few hundred years: coffee. The caffeine and sugar content is optional.
It will give you the same buzz without the chemicals – trust me. Coffeelah, anyone?