Every year on Yom Hashoa (and Yom Hazikaron) they sound an air raid alarm across the country for two minutes of silence in order to reflect on  the tragedy. It is absolutely awe inspiring to witness. Here is a great Youtube video showing the Tel Aviv highway shutdown completely. 

I haven't been all over Israel and I've heard some places are less machmir about this, but in Tel Aviv it is absolutely amazing. (I saw it for the first time in person last year). 

It is like the ultimate freeze.

I think Israel really does an excellent job trying to take these days seriously. They also make sure that ALL stores - restaurants, grocery, etc... - are closed by 7 PM on these days. 

Michael Jordan - Shooting Guard

Magic Johnson - Point Guard

Larry Bird - Small Forward

Lebron James - Forward

Wilt Chamberlain - Center

Team chemistry would either make or break them, but these are the best of the bests. 

Below is a letter I recently received from a Darfur refugee in Tel Aviv. I understand both sides of the issues and have a hard time deciding which is correct. I think it's worthwhile for everyone to be aware of the issue and make up their own minds.

If you have ever been by the old bus station in Tel Aviv it is absolutely devastating. 

-------------------------------

I am a member of the community of Sudanese refugees living in south Tel Aviv. Since 2007, I have been living in Israel, working for a living and doing everything in my power to help my people as a volunteer at the Darfur Association.

It is very important to the Sudanese community that Israelis understand us, our culture, and the circumstances that brought us here. For this reason, I decided to write this open letter to the Israeli people. 

We are a group of asylum seekers, forced to flee our homeland and our families. Since 2003, Darfur has been under attack by forces allied with the Sudanese government. The Darfuri people have fallen victim to genocide, organized rape and looting and mass displacement, with millions forced to leave their homes. Since 2004, 400,000 Darfuris have been slain and 6,000 villages in the Darfur region have been burned.

To this day, almost 4 million people stagnate in refugee camps, surrounded by violence and fear and in desperate need of food and medicine. It was this situation in our homeland that drove many Darfuris to flee north, to Egypt. 

But the Egyptian government received us with hostility and violence. In late 2005, Egyptian police raided a protest encampment set up by Sudanese asylum seekers across from the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Cairo. Dozens were killed, and hundreds were left homeless and penniless. In the wake of the attack, many decided to flee north once more, this time to Israel.

The journey to Israel is not an easy one. Egyptian forces police the border with orders to shoot at African refugees. Many of those who do manage to cross the border into Israel arrived injured by bullets or having lost family members en route. We do not know how many of our people have been killed trying to cross the border.

On the Israeli side, the army carries out a policy of “hot return,” turning back whomever they manage to catch. Those who are not caught in the act of crossing the border are sent to Israeli prisons, where they can stay for months on end. 

Once released from prison, most refugees make their way to Tel Aviv, where they find themselves in a delicate and unstable situation. Homelessness is common, especially among people suffering from psychological trauma and injuries. Last winter, many Darfuri refugees had nowhere to spend the night, and were forced to sleep in Levinsky Park, across from the Central Bus Station. 

In March 2008 our community began to organize itself, and we rented a shelter to house Sudanese refugees. The rent and bills cost us several thousand shekels a month, more than we could afford. 

Although the shelter was originally meant to house only the injured and minors, we soon had about 100 people sleeping there. Over the course of the year we accommodated over 1,000 refugees, most of them only for a brief time until they managed to get on their feet and rent apartments. For most, this was their first stop in the country after being released from detention by Israeli authorities. 

In September of 2008, the immigration police decided we were no longer permitted to stay in Tel Aviv. Many of us were detained. Others left Tel Aviv to seek work in Eilat. The shelter was kept open, but only the wounded and a handful of students, teenage boys who study at an ulpan in Jaffa, remained. 

Since then, the shelter has filled up once again, and now houses around a hundred people. In late February of this year, we were again on the verge of closing the shelter due to lack of funds, when private individuals from the Sudanese community stepped in and offered us their support. 

All that we ask from Israel is the right to work, so that we may take care of ourselves and live freely and in peace and security. The shelter is dependent on contributions from its residents for monthly rent and bills, but without work visas it is increasingly difficult to cover these expenses. 

Several hundred Sudanese were granted official refugee status, and with it the right to work. Most, however, are still denied the right to work in Israel legally. This despite the fact that they are displaced refugees, and receive no support from the government. 

Officially prohibited from working between Hadera and Gedera, many of us have tried to look for jobs outside of Tel Aviv, but there are few to be found. Darfuris are also forced to compete for jobs with migrant workers and other refugees, many of whom are allowed to work legally. 

Unfortunately, the handful of organizations that are involved in helping us are limited in their resources and capacity to help. Also, education programs promised to us by the government have not materialized. 

We are displaced people looking for peace and security. We live in Tel Aviv because it is the only place in Israel where we have access to jobs and health care. I believe that, given the right to work in Israel, we could take care of ourselves and be a benefit to the communities that we live in. 

Our organization needs support. Our immediate need is for funds to cover the shelter’s rent, in order to have a place for injured people and minors to sleep. In the longer term, all we ask is the right to live and work in Israel and take care of ourselves while we are here. 

Hamed Sadindin is Director of Humanitarian Affairs of the Darfur Association/Sudan Liberation Movement Israel Branch. He can be contacted at shararanaar@yahoo.com.

I was just reminiscing over the first real concert I ever attended and found the actual event on Youtube! They have a few videos actually. It's obviously difficult to capture the true power of being there. 

I'm pretty sure it's the best rock concert I've ever been to. 

What I always find amazing is that Gene Simmons has never been high, drunk or smoked in his life. (I guess fire breathing doesn't count).

Gene Simmons is a stand up guy (in some respects). Born in Haifa, he was a big supporter of GW Bush and sent a televised message of support to an Israeli soldier wounded in the recent Lebanon War calling him "his hero".

I first went to the Israel Museum when I was in Yeshiva about 5-6 years ago during Pesach break. Unfortunately most of it was closed and found the open parts to be extremely boring and uninteresting. 

Thankfully that did not keep me from revisiting it today and finally see what I missed. To sum it up: I was very pleasantly surprised.

This museum is absolutely fantastic. 

Hands down the best museum I have visited in Israel and possibly the best museum I have ever visited.

I will break this review down into parts.

Jerusalem During the Second Temple:

This is the first exhibit you see when you enter. It is similar to mini-Israel. It is a model of what Jerusalem looked like during the second temple. You get the audio guide earphones to explain exactly what you are seeing and what each building is. They try and make it as accurate as possible based on all available Judaic, Christian, Muslim, and secular sources. It was really interesting to get a better visual of what the city once looked like. I've always learned about it, but seeing the visual really enhanced my understanding. 

Billy Rose Sculpture Garden

I can't believe I was unaware of this before today. Isamu Noguchi, the Hulk Hogan of sculpture artists, not only has sculptures there but designed the entire flippin' garden! I honestly have never really been much of a sculpture person but I found the garden to be extremely enjoyable, provocative, and interesting. The weather was also perfect for walking around which only enhanced the experience. 

Shrine of the Book

The home of the Aleppo Codex and the Dead Sea Scrolls, two of Judaism's most important artifacts. The Aleppo Codex is "considered the most authoritative document in the masorah ("transmission")". I don't understand how someone cannot find this amazing. Especially a religious Jew. It is absolutely priceless. (It is called keter in Hebrew which means crown.)

This was really the highlight of my visit and my main reason for going. 

Bizarre Perfection Art Exhibit

Even the Israel Museum's art exhibit was excellent. Nearly every piece they had was unique and interesting. Like the picture below: This is a full size kitchen made out of shiny beads! It looks stunning in person. (I am considering remodelling my kitchen to be similar...)

Conclusion:

There is nothing negative I have to say about any of the parts of the museum I saw today. It was a really fun, educational and thought provoking trip. 

If someone told me they were coming to Israel for a week I would definitely put this on the must do list. 

It is truly one of Israel's national treasures and almost bizarrely perfect.

Note: There is a lot of construction going on so a good portion of the garden and museum is currently closed.

10) Brother Can You Spare a Dime (Many many artists) : Very popular during the Great Depression (and has been seeing a revival lately for obvious reasons).  This is Tom Waits version. 

9) Get By (Talib Kweli) : Likely the most respected hip-hop artist you've never heard of. "Get By" was his breakthrough single and still my favorite of his songs.

8) Drink Before the War (Sinead O'Connor): An amazing artist that was crucified because she spoke out about the Pope allowing priests to molest little kids. Only a few years later people realized how right she was. Her entire The Lion and the Cobra album is a classic but her recent album Faith and Courage I think is even better. "Drink Before the War" is a classic anti-war song.  

7) True Colors (Eva Cassidy): Eva Cassidy died in 1996 from cancer and at the time was virtually unknown. In 2000 she was suddenly discovered and has been a chart topper ever since. In 2005 Amazon released a list of its top 25 best-selling musicians, which placed Cassidy in 5th position! When I first heard True Colors by Cassidy I was working in NYC. At lunch I went to Best Buy and purchased 3 of her albums. (The original Cindy Lauper hit ain't bad either.)

6)  St. James Infirmary (Many many artists) : A jazz standard. I love this version by Arlo Guthrie (a Jew). This version by Eric Clapton and Dr. John is excellent too.

5) Sweetheart Like You (Bob Dylan): Bob Dylan's Infidels album is commercially his most underrated. Most serious Dylan fans I've spoken to though agree that it may be one of his top 3 (especially if you include Blind Willie McTell which was foolishly cut from the album) The album also features one of my favorite musicians Mark Knopfler. One of my favorites Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight is also on the album as well.

4) Knocking at Your Backdoor (Deep Purple): Simply awesome. At one point in time Deep Purple was compared with Led Zeppelin but something went askew somewhere. Deep Purple has unfourtanetly fallen off the charts with only a few songs like Smoke on the Water still famous. Deep Purple did a bunch of sold out concerts in Israel recently which is also cool.

3) You Give Me Something (Jamiroquai) : An artist with a rare fresh sound. He has hit stardom with "Virtual Insanity" and "Canned Heat" (featured in Napolean Dynamite). 

2) She Doesn't Get It (The Format) : An indie band that unfourtanetly already broke up. They only released a couple albums but they are both golden. They will only get more popular with time.

1) I'de Rather Go Blind (Etta James) : This is a super popular song but since a few people I mentioned it to recently didn't know it I've decided to include it. It's simply a classic and really shouldn't need any introduction. 

Another song that I haven't heard in awhile but somehow crept up onto my playlist is Mandy by Barry Manilow. Say what you will about the guy, but this song is near perfect.

For those that may have missed it, over the last two weeks Jon Stewart of the Daily Show has been taking shots at CNBC for their terrible investigative reporting. Jim Cramer took personal offense and foolishly decided to come on the show. 

In hindsight this was definitely a mistake as anyone who saw the show clearly saw that Jim Cramer is a giant hack.

Follow link for the full interview.

Jim Cramer's responses such as "CEO's lied to him" clearly illustrates just how little his show has to offer. 

In case you missed the news... Bernie Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 charges. He was taken to jail immediately and will likely never leave jail again.

• Count 1: Securities fraud. Maximum penalty: 20 years in prison; fine of the greatest of $5 million or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense; restitution.

• Count 2: Investment adviser fraud. Maximum penalty: Five years in prison, fine and restitution.

• Count 3: Mail fraud. Maximum penalty: 20 years in prison, fine and restitution.

• Count 4: Wire fraud. Maximum penalty: 20 years in prison, fine and restitution.

• Count 5: International money laundering, related to transfer of funds between New York-based brokerage operation and London trading desk. Maximum penalty: 20 years in prison, fine and restitution.

•  Count 6: International money laundering. Maximum penalty: 20 years in prison, fine and restitution.

• Count 7: Money laundering. Maximum penalty: 10 years in prison, fine and restitution.

• Count 8: False statements. Maximum penalty: Five years in prison, fine and restitution.

• Count 9: Perjury. Maximum penalty: Five years in prison, fine and restitution.

• Count 10: Making a false filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Maximum Penalty: 20 years in prison, fine and restitution.

• Count 11: Theft from an employee benefit plan, for failing to invest pension fund assets on behalf of about 35 labor union pension plans. Maximum penalty: Five years in prison, fine and restitution.

His new living conditions are going to be terrible. Especially from what he is used to. 

It's hard not to feel sorry for him, but I think everyone agrees the punishment is just. 

This one is definitely not good for the Jews.

If I were to cast actors in a movie of the purim story I would have:

Achashverosh : Marlon Brando

Mordechai: James Stewart / Humphrey Bogart

Esther: Natalie Portman

Haman: Al Pacino

Charvona: Morgan Freeman

I don't know how I overlooked this article several months ago.

Bill Miller, former best stock picker ever, was dethroed royally over the last two years. 

He was a portfolio manager that I was always personally impressed by.

It's hard to really believe in the value-add of portfolio managers after this. 

Where are all of our best and brightest? 

If no intelligent investor will invest, it's our responsiblity as idiots to!

Google’s web-based email service, Gmail, has crashed this morning, leaving millions of users from Britain to Australia unable to send and receive messages

The email service went offline at around 10.25am GMT, and the outage appears to have affected users throughout the UK as well as across Europe, and even as far afield as Australia and India.

According to insiders, Co-CEO's Larry Page and Sergey Brin have recently clashed over whether to keep Google's web-based email service free. One insider has even mentioned the possibility that they will dismantle the service completely as it did last year with Google Answers. 

If Google decides to shutter it's free email service it will likely give users little to no warning. Many employees actually thought that today's outage was actually the official closing of the service. According to Google's disclaimer they are allowed to close the free service without warning and without recourse. 

The last two paragraphs are absolutely false. But when I couldn't access my email today I was scared that something like this had happened. It was worse than the worse dream I have ever dreamed.

Today I attended the Bar Ilan ESCape "Family Day BBQ" as it was family day in Israel. 

Why?

Clearly I have lots and lots of free time. 

I did have fun though.

I don't have time to write a long description of the event as I am extremely busy, and most of what I would write would be extremely uninteresting, but I wanted to share with you the most important thing I learned today: Egg fights are downright hilarious.

I don't know why, but eggs flying through the air and eventually cracking on something or someone is extremely funny to me.

My suggestion for Bar Ilan ESCape's next event: A giant egg fight.

Imagine 50, 100, or 200 people lining up in a giant battlefield, with some stationed on tops of roofs, hurling giant eggs at each other; the thrill of seeing hundreds of eggs whirling through the air towards you at one time; the feeling of eggs cracking against your body. 

I checked on Youtube to see if anyone has ever constructed an egg fight as the one described and could not find any. I think such an event, on a large enough scale, could become a great viral video too.

If anyone wants to organize such an egg fight you can definitely count me in.

I don't have to tell you things are bad. 

Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. 

The dollar buys a nickel's worth; banks are going bust; shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter; punks are running wild in the street, and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. 

We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. And we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be! 

We all know things are bad -- worse than bad -- they're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out any more. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, "Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials, and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone." 

Well, I'm not going to leave you alone. 

I want you to get mad! 

I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to write to your Congressman, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. 

I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first, you've got to get mad. You've gotta say, "I'm a human being, goddammit! My life has value!" 

So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dib2-HBsF08

Like many of you, I am sick and tired of being misinformed and disinformed by Pres. Barack Obama. That's why I'm writing this letter, to bring the communion of knowledge to all of us. I shall give you candidly and without circumlocution the best estimate of our present plight that I have been able to make. Let me preface my discussion by quickly reasserting a familiar theme of my previous letters: Pres. Barack Obama's tracts should be labeled like a pack of cigarettes. I'm thinking of something along the lines of, "Warning: It has been determined that Pres. Obama's statements are intended to turn marauders loose against us good citizens."

Be forewarned: Pres. Obama wants to produce an army of mindless insects who will obey his every command. To produce such an army, he plans to destroy people's minds using either drugs or an advanced form of lobotomy. Whichever approach he takes, we ought to reveal some shocking facts about Pres. Obama's complaints. That'll make Pres. Obama think once—I would have said "twice" but I don't see any indication that he has previously given any thought to the matter—before trying to peddle the snake oil of ruthless libertinism.

Pres. Obama will stop at nothing to increase alienation and delinquency among our young people. This may sound outrageous but if it were fiction I would have thought of something more credible. As it stands, in a tacit concession of defeat, Pres. Obama is now openly calling for the abridgment of various freedoms to accomplish coercively what his illiterate squibs have failed at. Failure to analyze the morbid—and what one can term only testy—underpinnings of his complaints will threaten the existence of human life, perhaps all life on the planet. So please permit me to appropriate and paraphrase something I once heard: "Enough is enough." I've left out many criticisms of Pres. Barack Obama from this wailing wall of a letter. Nevertheless, I feel that it's a start—a philosophical space where we can plant a new flag symbolizing all that is wrong with Pres. Obama.

I just spent some time putting all my pictures into slide shows on Youtube. It's my first time doing this, but I think it was a good idea as it's easier to go through pictures faster this way. Slideshow One, Slideshow Two, Slideshow Three .

I'm not sure which is the best. The few people that have seen all three have each given me different opinions.

I spent the last day getting my last bit of sun relaxing by the beach/pool, attempting to copy the pictures from my friends camera onto my USB drive, and hanging out at Chabad.

My taxi driver to the airport was a former Israeli that currently lives in Koh Samui and he brought his Israeli friend. He started asking me questions about myself and when I told him I moved to Israel we got into a discussion about why he moved to Thailand.

His pitch for Thailand was that there are no worries and everything is perfect. In Israel it's all craziness. I had no strong rebuttal to someone not religious. 

The Koh Samui airport was fantastic. It is all outdoors and there are free drinks, snacks and newspapers. It was like the whole airport was a first class lounge. I think it's the best airport I've ever been to.

I took flight from Koh Samui to Bangkok and then El Al from Bangkok back home to Israel.

When I got back to Israel I took train and bus back to Givat Shmuel. It was great not taking a taxi like a friar as usual.

I already miss Thailand, but it is nice to be back. 

My roomate and some friends seemingly have a lot of extra time on their hands and made several posters welcoming me home. I thought it was very nice and I really appreciated it. Maybe Israel has some things that are better than Thailand.

Now I have to get back to real life. :(

Yesterday we took a boat to Ko Phangan, the island a bit north of Ko Samui, in order to witness the world renown Original and Largest Full Moon Party. Everyone we had met over the last few weeks told us that they were planning to attend so we figured it was worthwhile to see on our last night in Thailand. We didn't even book a hotel for the night as we planned to be up all night watching fire shows and listening to music. This proved to be a mistake.

Before we hit the shore we could instantly see that Koh Phangan is a beautiful island. It has many mountains and waterfalls (which fortunately makes it harder to build on) and is also surrounded by white sandy beaches with fairly clear water. 

If not for the people it would be a really terrific island, but unfortunately the island has been polluted to no end (primarily from monthly full moon parties), making it one of the most depressing islands we have seen.

Sadly this is also the most Israeli island in Thailand, with many touts first speaking in Hebrew and only switching to English if the tourist doesn't understand. Israeli flags are larger than the other countries and mounted higher. Restaurants serving Israeli food are plentiful. 

On to the Full Moon Party.

The music started about 7 PM but people didn't really begin to filter onto the beach until somewhere between 10 and 11. 

The anticipation for the party was palpable. You could feel the super heavy bass vibrate the ground below your feet and deep within your chest. People were lining up to purchase "buckets" which are plastic buckets filled with a type of alcohol and a soft drink which you then mix yourself in the bucket to drink. (Most sellers tout "Free Ice!")

By about 11 PM the party was in full swing: people dancing and fire flying. I have little to say about dance as I know nothing about it but I was not a fan of most of the music as it was all techno and electronics. This was a big let down as the Lonely Planet book said there would be Reggae as well.

They did the fire jump rope again which I thought was cool last time, but I decided not to do it (even though I mentioned earlier I would like to). The main reason for opting out was because you don't jump by yourself but rather with everyone else who wants to jump as well (like at a bar mitzvah), making it likely you are going to get burned due to someone (drunk) missing a jump. (It rarely got past 3 or 4 turns.) 

This is the same issue that kept me from jumping through the ring of fire as well: You have to trust the guys holding the rings to keep it steady. 

I did give fire limbo a try, but my knee gave out early on. (This is not dangerous as everything is in your control since the bar stands on stilts.)

Due to my boredom, I spent about an hour watching the emergency medical tents which proved to be very interesting. There were two connected tents in the middle of the beach where people with injuries would come to get basic medical treatment and be mocked by fellow party goers and doctors. 

The first guy I saw was a 19 or 20 year old that accidentally drank a laced drink. As he lay down shaking, crying and hallucinating, fellow party goers posed pictures with him: Some making mock sad faces, others sexually provocative, and others just posing with huge grins.

Another bloke, who reminded me of John Belushi in Animal House (who died of an overdose of Heroine and Cocaine), was either stoned or drunk out of his mind (or both). He just sat there going in and out of consciousness. He received the same treatment as the fellow above, but the crowd had decided to up the anty by having one guy shave off his eyebrows with a razor blade. This won loads of laughter. Even the doctors were posing for pictures. 

I forgot to mention that the doctors and nurses were allowing this ridiculous mistreatment of patients the entire time, as well as laughing, and taking pictures of humorous injuries (About two hours later I saw the guy, with no eyebrows, dancing in slow motion over a fire in the shape of a heart clearly wasted away having no idea what was going on and that he no longer had eyebrows.)

The injuries I saw most listed in order of most frequent to least frequent were: Cuts from glass (primarily due to the littered bottles on the dark beach floor), alcohol/drug overdose, fire burns, and blunt traumas (from falling from tables and platforms while dancing). There are probably more injuries that I missed. As I was waiting for the boat I saw one guy being taken by stretcher to the hospital boat to be taken off the island to a real hospital. 

Basically the night was filled with debauchery and crude behavior. The shore line was filled with hundreds of men and women defecating and vomiting throughout the night. For your sake, I will not describe the rest of the night and everything I witnessed.

On a bright note, throughout our trip we felt that we were missing out to a degree as we never partook of the night life due to religiousity. After this party I am certain we didn't miss anything.

Why people enjoy debasing themselves to less than animals is beyond me. There was absolutely no class at the entire party. It was the lowest of the low. The bottom of the mud. Completely self centered and hedonistic.

It's an absolute shame that these people are ruining our world with the pollution from their parties. Ko Phangan was a paradise before they destroyed it with their nightly self-centered parties. Leonardo DiCaprio actually mentions the destruction of Ko Phangan in The Beach now that I think about it.

Now to mention some positives...

There were likely over 30,000 people there making it an absolutely huge gathering on a fairly small beach. It was pretty crazy.

Some of the fire shows were really amazing and seeing people attempting to jump ropes and fly through hoops was entertaining.

The fire signs they had were also excellent as were the kites (?) that flew by lighting a fire underneath them.

The Koh Phangan full moon party is overrated. Trust me. Skip it if you are in Thailand.

Overall, I was less than pleased and took the first speed boat home at 2 AM but I would have prefered earlier. When I get back to Ko Samui we didn't have a hotel room so I decided I would like to try sleeping either on a city bench or on the beach - both would be firsts for me (and things I have always wanted to try.)

First I tried the city bench but the lights and noise from the street were annoying so I switched to a city bench nearer to Chabad a bit further from the street but the prostitutes kept propositioning me. 

At about 3:45 AM I decided to give the beach a try where there were still a handful of people around. I gave it about 15 minutes but the sand was bugging me and I really didn't feel safe as anyone could come and take stuff from me as I was sleeping. So I head back to the Chabad bench - when about four streetwalkers approached me and asked if I had a hotel room for the night. I broke my silence and answered I did not and they offered me to have one of their rooms for free for the night.

I clearly did not take them up on this offer as how inappropriate can you get - even though they promised I would be totally alone and no funny stuff (no "boom boom" as the Thai's call it). I was taken back by their kindness though. I found it amazing the extraordinary contrast between the behavior of the people I saw a few hours earlier and now.  

I decided that if the prostitutes felt so bad about me sleeping on the street it must be a pretty bad thing to do. After visiting a few hotels I was able to negotiate one hotel to give me a room for 100 baht an hour so I took it. 

Last night we had a Tu B'shvat seder which was entertaining especially since none of us knew what 95% of the fruits were called even. It was fun trying native fruits - they were very tasty. I guess that's the closest an Orthodox Jew can get to enjoying local Thai food.

Today we sat by the ocean and the pool and I read while my friend listened to music. It was nice and relaxing.

We also played a few games of pool.

Today we went to the marine national park about an hour away from Ko Samui by speed boat. The snorkelling was terrible as there was only two types of fish and the water was a bit cold for my taste. The scenaries were glorious as usual, especially since the government takes good care of the islands. We also went kayaking a bit which was nothing super special.

We did meet a lot of interesting, pleasant people though.

Overall I think this was one of my least favorite days. I am pretty sure I really just want to bum on the beach and around the pool for the last few days.

Shabbat in Ko Samui was pleasant. It was a bit smaller than shabbatim we had, but the Chabad rabbi is very nice and the oneg was enjoyable once again. We took a short walk around on Shabbat day, but definitely got a lot of rest.

On Saturday night we went shopping (again).

Today we found a pool on the beach and basically bummed there all day. Very relaxing.
We also played some billiards.

I think the rest of vacation will mainly be relaxing.

This morning we took a nap after getting to our apartment and then headed over to Chabad to get something to eat and use some internet. After we went to the tourist agency to see if anyone could recommend anything for us to do in Ko Samui to which she said basically no. It seems that we have exhausted almost everything to do in Thailand. Her response was that Samui was "Same same" which is a very common expression here. I even bought a T-shirt that says it.

We ended up just relaxing on the beach (which is not as good as Ko Phi Phi in my opinion, although my friend prefers this one), digging deep holes, building sand castles, and swimming.

My friend vomited in the ocean from drinking too much salt water (which I told him not to), which prevented me from swimming anymore. I think he ruined the ocean for everyone forever. Next time you consider entering the ocean, remember my friend vomited in there. (Note: The Atlantic Ocean may still be ok as it's far.)

This morning I woke up and was literally wrecked. My body is really not used to this level of physical excersion. I was planning on taking a leading course in rock climbing so that in the future I can climb anywhere for free but I was clearly in no shape to climb. (My sunburns only magnified the pain.)

Instead, we decided to spend the day at the glorious beach of Ko Phi Phi (shown in yesterdays picture - and yes, it really looks like that). I hadn't planned to go swimming but when high tide came in and I felt the warm clear water I had to go. It was crazy relazing and refreshing. You could easily see fish just swimming about.

I spent about 20 minutes closing my eyes and reopening them as each time I reopened them I was struck by the same awe as when I first saw it. It looks exactly like a perfect postcard - it was truly awesome.

At about 3 PM we started our long journey to Ko Samui. This involved some walking, two boats, two sungthaw's, and a minivan. We slept on the boat (a first for me). This was no cruise ship. Think more along the lines of Cuban refugees. It was pretty ridiculous and there were about 8 young kids who decided they would have a binge party with drinking games which kept everyone awake.

Thankfully I remembered my ear plugs and slept soundly.

We arrived at Ko Samui, watched sunrise on the beach, and rented an apartment for 600 baht a night.

It feels like were in the last stretch of the Thailand trip. It is quite sad :(

This morning I went wake boarding on the ocean as I had hoped I would be able. It is definitely harder than cable wake boarding but a bit more fun. You actually get wakes when following a boat which makes it great for jumping and also you can tell the driver to go faster or slower. I was really not great on the ocean but my wipe outs were amazing. Thank God my friend captured some of them on video. (He also got to drive the boat a little.)

I was really spent after wake boarding (mainly from my crazy wipe outs), but we decided to go snorkeling anyways. First we stopped by another monkey island where we got to feed monkeys hand to hand (I never tire of that), and then we went cliff jumping. I made two jumps one between 10-12 meters and the second between 12-15 meters (40-50 feet). The second one was pretty scary but it was well worth it. It really feels like you have a few seconds of free fall.

We then went snorkeling where we saw a lot of colorful and bizarre looking fish - and sharks. Yes, sharks. I saw about 5 or 6 of them, each about 4 to 5 feet. Weirdly enough I was more scared of some of the eels we saw than the sharks. We had an underwater camera so hopefully some of pictures I took come out decently.

We then went to Maya Bay which is where the movie The Beach was filmed. I had not seen the movie or even heard of the movie before Thailand. Maya Bay was beautiful but not much different than the rest of Ko Phi Phi.

Tonight one of the bars showed The Beach which I imagine they do at least once a week. It was a decent movie, but definitely not IMDB top 250 material. The best part of it is that the movie is about how Maya Bay is paradise. It most definitely is.

This morning we went to the largest cable ski park in Asia (in Phuket) where I did wake boarding and my friend did knee boarding.

Wake boarding was great as usual and I am definitely feeling more comfortable changing stances and working on jumping a bit more. I tried jumping over ramps for the first time which was amazing! I only landed decently on the last one, but I am definitely going to work on it when I get back to Israel. Hopefully I get more wake boarding in Thailand. I want to try it on a boat for my first time.

We then took a ferry to Kho Phi Phi. The view of the island from our ferry when we were approaching the shore was truly breathtaking. Just WOW.

We then found ourselves a small room for 800 baht (the most we've paid so far but still cheaper than what people told us we would pay on Ko Phi Phi). After that we took a short but strenuous trek of about 200 stairs and a steep walk up to the Phi Phi Viewpoint where we could see a great outline of the island. We couldn't help think about how terrible Tsunami must have been when it wrecked this island.

At night we went to a fire show on the beach where crazy drunk people tried jumping over a flaming jump rope and fire dancers twisted and threw fire with disregard. Although enticed, I didn't try the flaming jump rope - I wanted to see how bad people got injured. No major injuries so hopefully I'll get another chance before the trip is over.

Tomorrow we are going snorkelling along Kho Phi Phi Leh.

Last night I spent relaxing and learning a little Daniel. Was very relaxing and interesting.

This morning we took the James Bond Island hopping tour and it was spectaculor. The island is called the James Bond island because it was in The Man with the Golden Gun. I never saw the movie so it didn't mean that much to me.

The other islands were great though. On Monkey island we canoed through a pitch black bat cave where we saw hundreds of bats sleeping and woke some up with our lights. We then fed wild monkeys that took the fruit right out of our hands. They were really cute. I really enjoyed that part. We also saw dozens of eagles fly around our boat. More eagles than I've ever seen in my entire life.

All of the islands we saw were gorgeous as usual and we stopped for swimming where I jumped and dove off the top of the boat (~25 feet). [My highest dive ever.]

We met a lot of interesting people and on the way back there was a lady-boy show on the boat. It was a bit disturbing but I think my friend enjoyed it a lot because he took the most pictures of the day of it.

It was a really really great day.

Tomorrow to Ko Phi Phi - which is regularly ranked as one of the top islands in the worlds. I'm excited as usual :)

We spent Shabbat in Patong Beach which is very developed and a big difference than Railey.

The Chabad rabbi there, who I call Rav Aharon, is extremely dynamic. He takes care of the entire Chabad house himself which is no small feat. All the other Chabad's we were at had at least 3 rabbi's. There were about 300 people for Friday night dinner and we even stayed for the oneg which was great. Everyone in the room got up and told a story. I probibly spoke more hebrew that night than anytime while I was in Israel. I even gave my story in Hebrew which I was very proud of - and people laughed and clapped which made me feel good :)

The entire shabbat was very nice and we met a lot of interesting and friendly people. We were two of three Americans that Shabbat and only two others were from an English speaking country.

The plan tomorrow is to go Island hopping by speed boat around the Islands near Phuket. Should be exciting.

Today we left Ton Sai / Railey by long tail boat to Ao Nong and took a mini van to Phuket.

The area we are staying in Phuket is basically a mini Israel. There are a crazy amount of Israelis. We don't have much time before Shabbat to tour as we have to get ready.

Shabbat Shalom - I hope all is well!

Railey Beach is known as a rock climbing heaven with over 700 crags. Even though I was still sore from the other day and our trek through the rocks I decided that I shouldn't give up the chance to climb in Railey so this morning I climbed over to Railey West and went rock climbing again.

It was once again terrific, with amazing scenery. I once again failed to complete a 6b but managed to get further than I had in Chiang Mai. I also managed to complete to 6a crags. This time it was 3 of us, a guy from Ireland on a 6 month trip and a guy from Canada on a one month trip. They were really nice and we had a great time.

In the afternoon I had to get back to Ton Sai for lunch (energy bars and cookies) but high tide was up again so I decided to swim from Railey West to Ton Sai which took about 45 minutes. (I also was carrying a water bottle which I threw ahead of me every 5 feet, my glasses, hat, shirt and sandals.) It was very fun.

In the afternoon we went to Phranang Beach which is essentially Railey South and went swimming in the gorgeous emerald clear green water. It was extremely relaxing and refreshing.

Before this trip if someone asked me what the most beautiful natural place I have ever seen I would definitely have said either Bryce Canyon or the Grand Canyon, but now Railey Beach is definitely a contender.

At night I sat down by the beach, under the bright stars (with Mars in clear view), and read some fantasy stories from Hermann Hesse. My Nirvana.

Today we flew from Chiang Mai to Krabi with a stop over in Bangkok. It was a bit of an annoying flight as it wasted most of our day.

We were planning on spending the night in Krabi Town but I changed my mind as I heard how beautiful Railey Beach is. We took a long tail boat from Ao Nong and we were planning on staying at Railey East as it is cheaper than Railey West, but someone in the boat recommended Ton Sai so we stayed as it is the backpacker beach so we ended up going there instead.

Railey Beach is attached to Krabi but completely divided by mountains, making it only accessible by boat. It is very quiet and undeveloped. We stayed in a tiny bungalow near the beach for 600 baht.

The second we took step onto Ton Sai I could sense the extremely chill vibe: Bob Marley music playing, BBQ's being setup and dozens of unshaven, loosely dressed backpackers attempting to walk on a wire strung between two trees. This was exactly what I was looking for.

We spent the first night hanging out and walking around admiring the magnificent scenery.

The only thing seperating Ton Sai and Railey West (which is a gateway onto Railey East) is a 20 minute trek over sharp jagged rocks. We walked to Railey West the first night and thought the walk was a bit difficult. When we decided to return to Ton Sai at about 9 PM, high tide had come in and it was clear that our difficult walk earlier was now going to be nearly impossible. We didn't realize that all the rocks we had walked on getting there were now under water until a minute into our walk.

We walked through the dark water (we had no flashlight and the island has very poor lighting) and managed to survive - even though my friend resisted my insistance that we follow the buddy system where we must always hear and see each other.

I recieved many cuts and bruises from the hike but thankfully we are still alive to see Day 11.

Today me and my friend split up: I went rock climbing and he went white water rafting. I was looking for something that was outdoors and more active making rock climbing a natural choice.

It was terrific. It was just me and two Thai tour guys. (I used The Peak tour guide service if you are going to Thailand - they are first class). The first three climbs I had (5b, 5c rating and each about 15-20 meters) I found fairly easy. I then convinced them to let me climb a 6b+ which was a total disaster and embarrassingly I couldn't finish it :( It was really great trying though and definitely tested my limits. Also note, it took the guide a really long time to climb it himself.

We then ate lunch which was free but I brought along tuna and crackers (which is what we have been doing for several days and now we are finally out of). I did take a look at the menu and noticed that everything was 30 baht (~3 shekel)! That included a soup, a meat dish and a side.

After lunch we went out to another crag for a 6a+, 35m climb near the top of the mountain. The rocks were limestone and different parts had different colors: yellow, red, black, and brown. Most of the mountain was a cove for owls and bees - I was a bit scared every time I saw several bees fly out of one of the holes as when your climbing you can't see what's in the next hole you put your hand in.

I had a lot of difficulty near the the beginning part and tried a million times. I was determined I could do it. After several tries, scraped knees, torn skin, and bruised fingers I decided maybe I could pass the hard part if I just pull the belaying rope rather than actually climb the rocks. The guide said if I can do it he'll be OK with it.

It was definitely harder to pull myself up with the rope than actually climbing but I was having a very difficult time finding proper food placement. Thank God I was able to pull myself up using the belaying rope for about a foot. (Yes, I am aware this is cheating...)

After that I was nearly completely spent but managed to make it to the top with a bunch of breaks. The view at the top was spectacular, overlooking numerous types of trees and dozens of green mountains and light brown lakes. Clearly the sense of accomplishment was also excellent. I had the guide hold me up there for about 5 minutes just to take in the moment. It was truly magnificent.

Now I'm waiting for my friend to get back from white water rafting.

I really need some time to relax from the rock climbing. Thankfully we are heading out to Krabi Beach tomorrow!

Last night we went to the Sunday market which was hands down the largest market I have ever been to, seen, or heard of. It is tremendous. If you are in Chiang Mai for a short time, skip the other markets and just go to this one as it has everything and more.

We also got fitted for suits and shirts which I am already having buyers remorse. We went to Supreme Collections which so far seems to be doing a good job. They are very friendly and speak english well. On the downside, we are paying twice as much as any other store we asked.

On that note, we are the worst shoppers ever, or as the Israelis here call us "Friars". We get taken advantage of all the time. We'll spend an hour bargaining over everything and then when we finally make purchases constantly check our buys at other stores selling similar wares. To say the least, we have not been doing too well. The Thai people are born for haggling and sales.

Today was the best day in Thailand so far. We rode elephants, went bamboo rafting, oxen riding, saw an elephant circus and visited (exploited) children in a village.

For a quick run down:
Elephant Riding: Awesome! Very bumpy but really cool. We even walked through a river. (The Thai people made fun of my friends weight again and made him ride on an elephant by himself (opposed to with someone else, but unfourtanetly they didn't use the pregnant line - so really it was just mean.)

Oxen Riding: Not too exciting. Reminded me of Borat.

Elephant Show: Majestic! The Elephants PAINT PICTURES, kick soccer balls, and do other tricks. We saw so many elephants today - likely over a hundred different ones.

Bamboo Raft: Was extremely relaxing and we got to look at the glorious landscape. This was exactly why we came to Northern Thailand.

Long Neck Village: Weird. We drove to this village called the Long Neck Karen village where the women wear golden rings around their necks, legs and sides from the age of 5. Their necks stretch because of it. They wear these things to protect them if a tiger tries to bite them. (I didn't ask what happens if they are bitten somewhere else.)

The weird part about the village is that it's basically a human zoo. They put about a dozen women and little girls in booths and some of the little girls were clearly pretty upset about that. We played with some of the little boys though and that was fun.

Tomorrow the plan is to go rock climbing.

Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures in the near future.

Note: I am well aware of the terrible grammer and mistakes in the blog lately. I only have a few minutes to write each day. Sorry!

Last night we took it easy and went to the one day market (there are three big markets: Night Bazaar, One Day, and Sunday market.)

We bought some things, nothing to exciting though - I got a T-shirt and a hat. We figure we'll get more beachy clothing in the south.

The one day market is also ridiculously long so we decided to get a massage for our barking feet. It felt like that scene from Seinfeld when the Korean ladies make fun of us. They just kept laughing at us and we didn't understand what about. It was pretty humurous.

We were signed up for a three day jeeping trip that was supposed to leave on Sunday morning but we decided after speaking with people who went on the trip to forego it. Instead we are planning two day trips and one day of Chiang Mai relaxing.

Today was the Chiang Mai relaxing. I rented a scooter for 250 baht (including insurance) but unfourtanetly my friend can't ride a bicycle nor a scooter. The scooter is amazing and makes me want to get a scooter more and more in Israel.

I drove to the Chiang Mai zoo where I met up with Aaron who take a Songtauw (a small mini bus). We saw the Great Pandas of which there are only ~160 in captivity and under 2,000 left in the world. We had to pay another 100 baht just to see them, but it was well worth it. They were adorable.

The rational behind going to yet another zoo was that a) I love animals, b) there was a famous Panda, c) it's beautiful scenary without having to travel 3 hours to get to a jungled. In the end it was likely one of the most non-touristy things we did as it was mainly populated by locals . We also saw a seal show.

The crazy part about the zoo was that at most stations they also sold meat of the animals so that you can taste them. Pretty crazy stuff.

The entire time at the zoo though I was dying to get back onto my scooter though and I will likely use the rest of the day to get lost in Chiang Mai. I just hope I can find my way back.

For one humorous anecdote:
When we were riding the tram at the zoo I mentioned to my friend surprisingly that there are some pretty attractive thai people. My friend answered "that's a pretty strange way to describe an animal." I was pretty shocked that he would describe Thai people as animals. In the end he thought I was talking about TIGERS.

Another great part is that EVERYWHERE we go my friend is asked if he's pregnant because he's a little overweight. It's not just funny that Thai people all are so rude to make fat jokes, but that they all use the pregnant line. This has literally happened around 7 times so far. It's probibly the best part of the whole trip so far. I find it hysterical.

Shabbat in Chiang Mai was nice. There were about 150-200 people for Friday night dinner at Chabbad. The food was ok, but a bit scarce. We met a bunch of interesting people. We had dinner and lunh with an American religious woman who is volunteering with AJWS for four months in Thailand.

We walked around old Chiang Mai on Shabbat day and sat by the pool (until being asked politely to leave) at the Shangi La. The Shangri La is the hotel to stay at if you have the money. It was really nice.

The bus ride to Chiang Mai wasn't terrible. I slept through most of it. The last two days we went ATV'ing (which I am absolutely terrible at) and zip-lining through the jungle (which I thought was a bit boring, although my travel mate is scared of heights so it was funny watching him freak out on each one [everyone else on our group thought that was the best part too]).

Both events were in the magnificent jungle. It is really refreshing to be able to get some fresh air away from Bangkok.

When we went ATV'ing we came across a famous temple but couldn't enter because of the the Halacha we learned:( We did see some Monks so got pictures with them. It was really really funny. I won't say we made a mockery of their religion or desecrated their holy sites but yeah...

The ATV was just the two of us, a very nice Israeli guy and the tour guide.

At night we went to a Thai Boxing match where we watched people gamble on 10 year old children kick box. (One kid was knocked out from a hard kick to the face - he almost cried). It was really really disturbing and I had to leave several times as I couldn't bare watching it. So far Thailand is turning out to be an extremely disgusting place. The only thing we haven't seen yet is people eating live animals.

The Chabad in Chiang Mai is much smaller than Bangkok but still very impressive. Were staying at the Red Brick Hostel which is basically 90% Israeli.

Shabbat is soon and we will be going to Chabad obviously. Saturday night we are going to try and go to the night safari. On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we will be going on a jeeping trip and then flying to Krabi (southern Thailand) to hang out on the islands - which is what I am really excited about.

Have a Shabbat Shalom!

Basically Bangkok is nearly the worst place in the world (based on my limited traveling experience).

You know how Israeli shop keepers are very pushy and always try to scam you. Thai people in Bangkok are a whole new level. The only worthwhile reason to go to Bangkok is to witness they way they operate in person. You can't walk 10 feet without being pressured into buying something or going somewhere.

The most common conversation I have had is:
Tuk Tuk driver: Where you going?
Me: I'm going for a walk.
Tuk Tuk driver: I'll take you anywhere, 10 Baht.
Me: I want to walk.
Tuk Tuk driver: Come I take you.
Me: WHY WON'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE!!
Tuk Tuk: 5 Baht I take you anywhere.

I've learned to really just ignore the sellers.

The prostitutes are just as aggressive and possibly even a larger multitude. The only thing more than prostitutes may be rats. They both come out at about 11.

All in all, Bangkok is a crummy city with terrible pollution.

I am thriled we are going to Chiang Mai tonight, even though the ride is going to be 12 hours by bus. Yikes! And I didn't even like the 5 hour bus ride from Tel Aviv to Eilat. At least were saving a little by not flying.

We also went to the zoo in Bangkok which was pretty interesting. We saw many endangered species, and the last male albino Barking Deer. I was thinking about killing it, because then I would be the last one in the history of the world to have seen a male albino barking deer. I decided against it.

I am thinking of going to the Chiang Mai zoo too because they have two famous Giant Pandas.

My friend showed up at about 2 AM last night. We woke up for minyan at Chabad at 9:30, after which we had a 250 baht breakfast (I had eggs, cappuccino, and salad), and then headed to the Royal Palace of Thailand.



The Royal Palace and the Emerald Buddha are all in the same complex so we also looked at some of the temples. Based on my limited knowledge of Buddhism, basically the novel Siddhartha and Wikipedia, I was under the impression that Buddhism was not avoda zara. I decided to email Rabbi Ezra Bick from Gush this morning just to check...



Question: I am in Thailand, and I was wondering if I can visit the Buddhist temples and or see the Buddhist statues.



Answer: Bhuddist temples are avoda zara mamash. They and everything in them are assurim be-hana'a. That means that you may not even enjoy the shade from the sun. Halakha l'maase one should not enter a temple even if there is no direct hana'a.



So in retrospect most of the day was pretty bad... We did not go to any place where they required us to take off our shoes, but we still looked at everything.



After the palace we were greeted by a very official looking Thai man who advised us that our ticket includes another museum which is a few miles away and that we should make sure to go there too. He arranged for us to travel with a tuk-tuk driver (basically a golf cart) that can take us there and some other places for only 40 baht - which is crazy cheap even for Thailand.



So we went with him expecting to see the sites but instead he took us to a custom made suit store where he makes commission. We were like we don't want anything and just want to go to the museum. So we got back into the tuk-tuk and drove for another 30 minutes at which point I insisted we definitely drove too far so he stopped in another minute and told us we were at an important site. We got out, and he drove away.



He left us basically in the middle of nowhere. (At least we didn't pay him...)

If only we had read the Lonely Planet guide:
Preludes to a rip off:
"A tuk-tuk driver offers a sighsteeing tour for 10B to 20B. Do thae maths: Petrol and time will get paid by you thanks to a commission from whatver tailor store the driver "happens" to know about". They even mention in another paragraph that "You should be doubly suspicious if they are professionally dressed but aren't busy at a real job somewhere."

Touched down in the land of smiles at about 3:30 today. Slept most of the flight which was great. My hotel's sign is written in huge hebrew letters. First thing I did was stopped by Chabad and grabbed a 150 Baht (about $5) meal of shnitzel, israeli salad, ice tea, and fries. T'was decent. Chabad is packed. Getting a minyan for Maariv was very easy.

Now I'm in Bangkok. You can't help but feel alive here. Very busy, lots of people.

I'm paying 10 baht for 20 minutes of internet use so I'm in a rush. I'll likely update the blog periodically over the trip.

Overview:

The Palmach Museum is an experiential museum, covering the Palmach legacy through the stories of individuals and groups. Visitors to the museum join the group of young Palmach recruits from its establishment, and advanced through the story of the Palmach until the end of the War of Independence. 
The manner of presentation is extremely innovative. There are no displays or documents, but rather an account of a fascinating personal story accompanied by three-dimensional decor, films and various effects incorporating documentary materials. 
The visit, which is conducted in groups, correlates with the structure of the presentation, set out as a series of events, and symbolizing the Palmach team spirit. 
The tour commences and ends in the memorial hall for Palmach warriors who died fighting for establishment of the state of Israel. 

Visit to the museum must be pre-arranged. The tour is carried out in groups of up to 25 people (individuals visitors will be pre-arranged into groups).
The tour is for children over 6 years only. 
The length of the tour is 90 minutes. The presentation is in Hebrew. English, Spanish, French and Russian speakers will be provided with a translation through headphones. 
Entrance fee: 25 NIS for adults. 15 NIS for school children and pensioners (payment is by cash or check only).
Bus routes: all routes reaching the Tel-Aviv University, parking is available at the Eretz Israel Museum's parking areas, situated adjacent to the Palmach Museum. 
Driving directions to the Palmach Museum:
Take No. 20 Highway ("Netivay Ayalon" - Ayalon freeway). Exit at Rokach West. After 1 Km. drive, turn right to Namir road and after about 200m. turn right again at Levanon St. (passing the Eretz-Israel Museum) and the Palmach Museum is at No. 10 Levanon St.

Contact us: For arranging tours please call: 972-3-6436393, or Fax: 972-3-6436964. Email: palmach_reservation@mailto.mod.gov.il

The Museum opening hours: Sun, Mon, Weds 0900-1700; Tues, 0900-2000; Thurs, 0900-1400; Fri, 0900-1300.

Address: 10 Haim Levanon st. Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv. For correspondence: the Departmenr of Museums, Ministry of Defense, P.O.B. 952 Kiryat-Ono 55108 

Tel. 03-6436393. Fax. 036436964

Review:

A 100% must see. The museum reminded me of a universal studios ride. You can tell that they spent a significant amount of time and money in order to get patrons to really feel the experience of being part of the Palmach. They even utilize the sense of smell. 

I don't want to ruin too much for you, but I don't think this museum will be a let down to anyone. I have not been to or even heard of a similar museum anywhere. The whole time I was thinking wouldn't it be cool if in the future all movies were like this... 

Your not going to be inundated with facts etc... and you may feel like you didn't learn that much about the Palmach (it really only covers the bare basics of who they were and what they did), but it will hopefully get you a sense of how it felt to be part of the Palmach.

Tip:

Call a week in advance. If you are one person you may be able to get a spot in the middle of the day on the day you call, but generally it makes sense to book a spot at least a week in advance.