Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv is pretty much everything Jerusalem is not ... which is quickly making it one of my favorite places in Israel. It's about a 45 minute ride from J-town and sits directly on the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea and in terms of style, people, history and character couldn't be more different than Joe Biden and Barak Obama.

Unlike Jerusalem, Tel Aviv is a brand new city, it was founded only 100 years ago and has tall skyscrapers, super trendy neighborhoods, a rather funky music scene and everything that young, middle class young people could want: boutiques, beaches, soy lattes, chicken pad thai, gay bars, tattoo parlors, boardwalk, shopping, surfing, bar hopping, jogging, etc...

It also is usually about 10-15 degrees warmer than Jerusalem.

The Tel Aviv v. Jerusalem division really marks the entire country. On one hand you have the holy of holiest cities with a history dating back thousands of years. Jerusalem has the government, the main museums (Israel Museum, Holocaust), the most popular tourist destinations, ancient ruins and religions of all shapes and sizes.

Tel Aviv has the best theater and dance, the locations for major political demonstrations, the dominate basketball team, premier restaurants and bars, the stock exchange and everything secular you could imagine.

I've started to spend a bunch of time in TA. It's a real fun city, and one I could see myself living in. It also, holds the best future for liberal Judaism in Israel and if liberal Judaism was ever to truly blossom it would have to stem out of Tel Aviv. I've hung out with my friend Yoav who lives in Tel Aviv (see photo of us in front of the map of Tel Aviv)

editors note: I seem to have lost the last part of this post, you'll have to take my word that it was witty, funny and probably the best thing i've ever written. Also please note that in the lost part I was able to determine a mathematical way of proving absolute zero.