[img]96|left|Shachar||no_popup[/img]Dateline Jerusalem — I am a people watcher. And Israel is the perfect place to watch people because it is a melting pot. People from every country, every religion, every ethnicity, and every culture live together in peace in this country.

Because of Israel's freedoms, all its citizens have the opportunity to hold public office, seek higher education, and observe the religion of their choice.

When I walk down the street, I observe secular people dressed in shorts and tank tops, jeans and low-cut blouses, to religious people dressed in attire from the 18th century with long black robes and black hats or fur streimels and white knickers to modern clothes with yarmulkes (kipot in Hebrew) of every shape, color, and texture on their heads, and women attired in ankle-length skirts and blouses covering the collarbone with sleeves going to the wrist with sheitels (wigs) or snoods or scarves covering their heads, to everything in between.

Contrasting Styles

Even on occasion, I have observed Arab women clad in burqas with only their eyes showing. But that is an unusual sight because most Arab women in Israel just cover their hair with scarves and wear modern clothes. There are even men and women wearing traditional garb from their native countries. There is no such thing as being in or out of style in Israel. Also, the most interesting thing of all is that on any given day, a woman in shorts could be viewed walking on the same sidewalk as a man in a black hat.

As I walk down the street, I will also hear just about every language. I have come to recognize Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, Russian, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Polish, Tagalog (language of the Philippines), and the native language of Ethiopians. I do not know what they are saying, but that is because I only understand English. Of course, I also hear a lot of English.

The official language of Israel is Hebrew. Yet street signs and road signs are written in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, and the English name of a street will, more than likely, be spelled differently on all four corners of an intersection. If one were to call a government office, an answering machine will be in Hebrew or Russian, and occasionally in Arabic and English.

Someone, Speak to Me

Usually I just keep pressing “1” until I get a live person and ask if he or she speaks English. I am here three years and have yet to learn Hebrew. Although they usually tell me they do not speak English, they definitely understand it. Often they will get my number so that someone who does speak English can call me back. English is taught from elementary school on, throughout the country.

Television shows have subtitles in Hebrew, Arabic and Russian. That is because there is an abundance of television shows from Anglo countries like the U.S., England, and Australia. There are TV news shows like Fox News, CNN, BBC World News, Sky News, Bloomberg, the Arab Al Jazeera station, Jordan and Egyptian TV, News from Tunisia, Russia, Switzerland, Germany, France, Brazil and Argentina, etc. What would we do without Nickelodeon, MTV, VH-1, Disney channel, “E,” and other shows like “Ugly Betty,” “24,” “Brothers and Sisters,” “CSI,” “Jimmy Kimmel,” “Ellen,” “Oprah,” “Dr. Phil,” and the Bollywood movies from India, tele-novellas from Brazil and Mexico, and soap operas from the U.S., England and Australia? The most interesting of all are the Russian TV shows that are takeoffs of old US shows like “The Nanny” and “Law and Order.” The Russian characters even look like the American ones, and the shows are titled the same.

There are Japanese, Korean and Bahai gardens. There are synagogues, mosques, churches, and oriental temples. Israel, of course, has more museums per capita than any country in the world. There are ancient buildings and modern architecture, and many biblical sites to see. No wonder so many tourists from all over the world come to Israel. The various sites are sights to see.

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.