Hebrish

I hate Hebrish or should I say Englew, English words written in Hebrew characters (for example, the new verb “lefaxses” means to fax). Whatever you call it, it drives me crazy. It took me two days of walking past bus stop billboards featuring a photo of some kind of fruit drink to figure out that the name of this product is “Spring”, not sapering or sufring or some other nonsensical Hebrew word. I was a little quicker to pick up on “yoga”, offered at our neighborhood community center down the street, but “Tai Chi”, “Kung Fu” and “bridge” written in Hebrew letters had me stumped for quite a while. Our new friends Liona, a dermatologist, and Alan, a venture capitalist, admitted that they still are periodically stumped by these “Hebrew” words even though they made aliyah from Canada over 15 years ago and speak fluent Hebrew. Upon arrival in Israel they opted to live in a Hebrew-only Jerusalem neighborhood, rather than in one of the predominantly English-speaking enclaves. They chuckled as they reported that in their modern Orthodox congregation there are two minyanim (prayer groups), one upstairs primarily attended by English speakers or mixed couples and the other downstairs frequented by Israeli or Hebrew speakers. They broke the norm in the congregation by mixing the two groups at the tables for their child’s bar mitzvah luncheon. They applauded our decision to live outside the Anglo bubble in Bavli (our Tel Aviv neighborhood) and our efforts to learn Hebrew at Gordon Ulpan. Alan shared this tidbit about his early struggles with the language: meaning to order decaff coffee, he asked for “coffee with unleaded gas," sending the waiter into a lengthy fit of convulsive laughter.

We learned all this while enjoying a fabulous dinner with Alan and Liona at Deca, a trendy new restaurant in a converted building in a south Tel Aviv industrial area —very hip interior and chic (but not overly fussy) food and by the way, it’s kosher (fish and dairy). We shared several appetizers: pumpkin carpaccio with buffalo mozzarella; fish felafel; tomato risotto; and gnocci with mushrooms. My entrée, sea bream over roasted potatoes with a drizzle of crème fraiche and balsamic vinegar was fantastic. For dessert we shared a molten-centered chocolate soufflé and strawberries with mascarpone. A good Israeli chardonnay lubricated the conversation with topics ranging from the failure of the Israeli educational system (their five children attend private schools); to the need for Jewish religious pluralism and removal of control over divorce, marriage and determination of Jewish identity by the state-sanctioned Orthodox rabbinate; the need for reform of Israel’s crazy, dysfunctional multi-party parliamentary system (Alan is on the board of the Democracy Institute); the importance of developing joint business ventures with Palestinians to build their economy and create a solid basis for peaceful co-existence (another of Alan's projects); to the fantastic classical music scene in Israel. Driving us home after dinner, Alan pointed out an alternative high school near our neighborhood where the very proactive principal has incorporated religious pluralism into the curriculum and maintains a relationship with a Jewish high school in Los Angeles. Something to explore further.