The Old, the New, and the Weird

It's been three weeks since I arrived, but I haven't been outside of Tel Aviv yet. First, because I am working on an article manuscript and a dissertation chapter. But then, there is so much to do and see here in the city (not to mention the temptation of the beach which is less than a five-minute walk from our apartment).

Of course, there are not as many Biblical sites or Roman ruins here as elsewhere in the country. But one can argue that Tel Aviv-Yafo, as the municipality is officially known, epitomizes the amalgam of the ancient and the modern that the Jewish nation and Israel as its state (and "historic homeland," as it is often referred in my old country) are today.

Yafo is about 3,000 years old. Tel Aviv will celebrate its centennial next year. And the weird is timeless.


CAG and the Whale, the one that reportedly swallowed Jonah right outside of Yafo (aka Joppa or Jaffa)


View of Tel Aviv beaches and beachfront hotels from Yafo outskirts


Donald Duck's Israeli cousin on top of the City Hall Building, in front of which Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995


Mural of Jewish intellectuals-residents of Neve Tzedek (the first Jewish neighborhood outside of Yafo, established in 1887) in late 19th-early 20th century


A courtyard in Neve Tzedek. And more palm trees!


Contemporary sculptures in front of the house of Neve Tzedek's founder, Shimon Rokach, by his granddaughter


Old house -- contemporary additions, Neve Tzedek