[img]96|left|Shachar||no_popup[/img]Dateline Jerusalem — This week a friend from California, who converted to Judaism, became Orthodox and moved to Israel a few years ago, observed a milestone birthday.
She gave herself a birthday party to celebrate the occasion with her female friends. The Orthodox usually attend all-male or all-female functions. Or, if they do go together, they sit separately. At least that is the way in my community.
The party was held in her apartment, a few blocks from mine. But what a difference. I rent in an older building with no amenities. She owns a relatively new penthouse apartment with garden roof. She has a two-story apartment on the fifth floor of an apartment building surrounded by older buildings. In Israel, it is not unusual to find state of the art modern buildings next to old decrepit ones.
Speaking of state of the art, her kitchen is to die for. I was “in love” with the kitchen I had in the States, with two ovens, two microwaves, two dishwashers, two sinks. But she has all of that and more. It is not unusual for a private home, but very unusual for apartments in Israel unless they are in exclusive areas of Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.
The weather is beginning to change, with the comfortable dry air slowly becoming humid. By summer, it will be unbearable. By the time I walked to my friend's place, I was hot and it was 8 in the evening. The only consolation was a slight breeze on the penthouse roof where the party was to take place.
So Where Is Everyone?
The invitation said “8-11 p.m.” When I arrived the birthday girl still was in her robe with a snood covering her head. I thought I had come on the wrong day. I walked up to the roof and waited almost 30 minutes before the next person arrived. But I was enjoying the view, a full moon peeking though fluffy clouds against a sea of midnight blue as I watched the entertainment of the evening, home movies of her life and pictures of her as a child actress. Both she and her brother did TV and movies, but her brother had his own TV series and co-starred on several shows.
My friend knows how to put on a party. Several tables were beautifully set up on the roof's Italian tile floor, with tea lights floating in champagne glasses. Teriyaki chicken wings were cooking on the bar-b-que, while tables along the outer walls of the roof had gigantic bowls of Chinese chicken salad, several varieties of sushi, and an unbelievable table of the sweetest and richest cakes and cookies. Wine flowed freely but I stuck to coffee and soda. For over 30 minutes I relaxed on the roof with no one around, not even the hostess.
What Is the Hurry?
It seems that 8 p.m. in Israel means “come between 9 and 10.” The next person did not show up until 8:40, and she joked about going to a wedding and waiting in her car because the bride did not show up until 2 hours later.
Come to think of it, I went to a wedding a couple of months ago and the people who drove me there did not pick me up until after the time the wedding was supposed to begin, and we had an hour’s drive to get there. The wedding ceremony did not officially start until a half an hour after I arrived.
By 9:30, most of the birthday guests were busy eating and laughing. The birthday girl still was nowhere to be found. She finally came out as some people were leaving. I left at midnight when the party was going full force.
But I had to get up for work early the next morning. In Israel, weddings, bar mitzvahs and parties usually are held mid-week. They often go all hours of the night and early morning. How Israelis function on the job the following day amazes me. Cities like Tel Aviv never sleep.
Next year, G-d willing, I will be celebrating my milestone birthday. I could never compete with my friend's party, but I expect to have fun trying. I think I will start figuring out the menu now.
L'hitraot. Shachar
Shachar is the Hebrew name of a California-based attorney and former Los Angeles County deputy sheriff who moved to Israel almost three years ago.