Anyone who’s been to Israel knows that catching a glimpse of snow is rare, and even a welcomed treat. Come to think of it, I’ve never even met anyone in Jerusalem who owns a shovel. Perhaps a longing to play in the snow has pushed IDE Technologies to become a major player in the man-made snow market.

First Tracks , an online ski magazine reports that IDE Technologies , based in Tel Aviv, is introducing unique refrigeration technology to produce man-made snow.  The ice technology was originally developed for seawater desalination in the most unlikely place – the hottest, your-face-will-melt-right-off, beach city of Eilat in southern Israel.

So what makes Israel’s snowmaker so much better than the rest? It works regardless of the season or air temperature, ensuring ski resorts can open up  the slopes for an early ski season, and obviously early profits are not far behind.

Existing snowmaking technologies spray tiny water droplets into the air, which freeze into crystals before reaching the ground. Such technologies depend upon ambient temperatures being at or below freezing, depending on humidity. IDE’s snowmaking facilities produce large quantities of snow regardless of air temperature.

If you’re interested in getting your own snowmaker, it’ll only cost you a mere $2 million. Now paying the ski resorts doesn’t seem quite as expensive, does it?

[photo by: bevcraigwhite ]

We’ll take a look at how long he’s been doing it, why, where and what he’s working on at the moment.

How did you get into graffiti art?

I got into graff after watching the film, Beat Street way back in 1985!

How long have you been a graffiti artist for?

I’ve been doing graffiti since I was 11-years-old, which means I’ve been doing it for about 22 years now and counting! My first attempt was done when I was four-years-old and I had done my ‘art’ all over my parent’s wall. My background is actually in graphic design, but this has nothing to do with my graffiti background, I’ve always kept them separate. Very quickly I moved from tags to bombings to stencils and pieces, and designed my first real piece way back in 1985.

What are your tools of the trade?

I use spray paint and stencils

Why did you decide to leave that world and become a graffiti artist; and was it an easy transition?

It wasn’t really that difficult because I was just doing something I always wanted to do with the freedom to do it and without restriction. If you believe in yourself then others will too.

Why do you do it?

I do what I do because it’s fun. If anything I do makes people think or just smile then it was all worth it.

The Lego character is everywhere! What is the meaning behind him?

The little Lego represents that childlike innocence and joy, the kid who never grew up and got away with mischief. It’s all about the message; I try to put meaning behind everything I do.

AME72 putting up a piece in Tel Aviv:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Do you have a favorite piece?

At the moment, one I did on Bograshav Street on the side of a cake store.

The colors work really well and the lines are tight – one of my favorites at the moment, but next month’s production will be far better.

What’s happening next month?

I’m opening up an exhibition called “Battle of Noth-thing“, which is a collaboration between myself and street artist, KLONE. I’m really looking forward to this. We created something quite special that we’re both very proud of; people should expect to see some ‘big’ surprises.

What does the name “Battle of Noth-thing” mean?

People go to war every day. Not just wars between countries but war on the streets between different artists.

To an outsider this may seem like a bizarre and strange thing, why would street artists go to war?

Street art is a world-wide movement which is growing bigger and faster than any other art form on the planet. This in itself is the root cause of conflict between the artists, as every artist wants to showcase his or her work on the street, which means finding an empty space.

With so many artists, street space is taken up quickly and some artists start to paint over other artists’ work. Here’s where the street art war begins.

It is an unwritten rule in the scene that one artist does not go over another artist without their consent; therefore, many artists take it extremely personally when another artist paints over their work.

This causes a knock-on effect, as the artist who has had their work erased by another, will then go out and destroy the perpetrators work. This results in nothing more than lots of street pieces being wiped out from around the city.

There is no financial gain in a street art war, no territories are won or lost, people don’t die, and no rockets are fired.

It’s a battle of respect between the ones who creep around at night adding colour and humor to dull grey walls, but to those outside the scene it may well seem like a ‘battle of nothing’.

Has anyone every painted over something you’ve made?

It has happened, but very rarely. Usually by kids who don’t know what they are doing. But there are some rules that graffiti writers go by to show as signs of respect.

When is the “Battle of Noth-thing” exhibition?

Opening night for the exhibition is on Thursday, October 18^th from 8pm to 1am at the Casco Urban Lab, Florentine Street 3A, Tel Aviv. There will be limited edition artwork for sale available at Casco.

Are you working on anything at the moment?

Right now, I’m working on the “High Authority” exhibition event between myself and several other artists, curated by Hadas Kedar.

This event will be held at Lillenblum 41, Tel Aviv. Opening night will be on Thursday 4^th of October from 8-12pm; opening days will be Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 6pm-10pm, and will run for 3 weeks. There will also be limited edition screen prints that will only available on the opening night.

Where have you seen the best graffiti, here or overseas…?

The best graffiti I’ve seen so far has been in East Harlem, New York and Sydney, Australia.

In which areas of Tel Aviv can we find your work?

Pretty much anything council or derelict is fair game, including public transport. You can find my work all over Tel Aviv, particularly on Bograshav and Pinsker Street, as well as opposite the Dolphinarium and Jaffa.

There’s a security fence in Jerusalem – you can find a lot of my work on the Abu Dis side.

Everyone’s mad for graffiti over here, even the people who have to clean them off the walls. One time, I saw a man cleaning a postal box which was covered in graffiti and tags and had one of my Lego characters on it too. He painted over everyone’s work except for mine! People seem to love that little guy and some have even asked me to paint those characters on their houses too!

Is your work just in Israel or other areas of the world too?

I traveled around a bit in the 90s and made my mark in the UK, New York, Australia, Thailand, Spain and Switzerland.

How big is the street art and graffiti scene here in Israel?

The scene is small here; it’s about 20 years behind rest of the world but catching up fast.

What do you hope to be the future of graffiti and street art in Israel?

Something better than it is now, it has a few years of catching up to do.

What advice can you give to people who want to get into graffiti and street art?

Graffiti and street art are two different movements. Any wannabe graffiti artist needs to know where it came from and learn the unwritten rules. Start by watching the film ‘Style Wars’ by Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant, it is a must-see for anyone unfamiliar with the ‘graff scene’. If you are going to be a street artist then put an underlying meaning behind what you do. It doesn’t matter if others don’t understand it as each person will interpret your work differently.

Click here to visit Ame72′s gallery

AME72 upcoming exhibitions:

High Authority Exhibition

- What? High Authority is an exhibition displaying and selling the works of AME72 and other artists. Limited edition screen prints will only be available on the opening night

- Where? 41 Lillenblum Street, Tel Aviv

- When? Opening night – Thursday 4^th of October from 8-12pm

Opening days will be Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 6pm- 10pm

- Duration? 3 weeks

Battle of Noth-thing exhibition

- What? Battle of Noth-thing is an exhibition showing the collaboration between street artists KLONE and AME72. There will be limited edition artwork for sale available at Casco

- Where? Casco Urban Lab, Florentine Street 3A, Tel Aviv

- When? Opening night is on Thursday, October 18^th from 8pm to 1am

AT&T

Once the deal is completed, Interwise will operate as a business unit within AT&T Global Business Services, and the R&D center will continue to operate here in Israel at Airport City.

Interwise started out as a supplier of software services, later specializing in e-learning. They almost folded in 2003 after the dot-com bubble, but managed to come out of the crisis with a new business model, leading to increased revenues and eventually breaking even in 2005. Interwise provides a single platform for virtual web meetings, long-distance learning, seminars and broadcasting over the web.

According to Red Herring, this purchase by AT&T is the latest of three such purchases by large firms, demonstrating the growing interest in IP-based conferencing:

Not long ago voice, video, and web conferencing were distinctly separate technologies that required fairly extensive user expertise to operate.

But firms such as WebEx and Interwise have managed to simplify, stabilize, and integrate multimedia conferencing on IP networks to the point where the market has grown considerably over the last few years.

“Conferencing is no longer something just for executives,” said Frank Zvi, CEO of Interwise. “Voice, video, and web conferencing is now given to everybody within the company just like email.”

Research firm Frost & Sullivan estimates that the overall multimedia IP conferencing market in 2007 will generate $5.9 billion worldwide.

Interwise investors include: Lazard Technology Partners, GE Capital, UBS Capital, NTT, Accenture Technology Ventures, GIMV, Leeds Equity Partners, STI Ventures, Challenge-Etgar Fund, J.P. Morgan, SAP, Texas Pacific Group, Shrem-Fudim-Kelner, Link Technologies Venture Capital, and Jim Manzi, former president of Lotus (from Haaretz.com).

“I stopped into the 92^nd Street Y dance offices and dropped off a tape of my dance troupe performing,” Friedland recalls. “I hoped someone would view the material and be impressed enough to invite us to the annual showcase.”

Months later the telephone rang and months after that, her company was off to the 92^nd Street Y Harkness Dance Festival – an annual event featuring top tier, expressionist, dance-multimedia, modern and dance drama companies hailing from the U.S. and now Israel. Funded by heavy hitters like Capezio, The Village Voice and The Harkness Foundation, the festival relocated in recent years to Manhattan’s prestigious Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater.

“It was unbelievable,” claims Sally-Anne of the experience.

South African-born Friedland grew up in a liberal household during the apartheid era and began studying dance at age three. She danced with Capetown’s ballet company and at twenty-two traveled to Europe where she caught the “modern dance bug” via exposure to performances and classes. But her background remained at the fore.

“Here was this well known, Martha Graham teacher in Germany teaching class and she was a black woman! I’d never seen anything like it before. The blacks in South Africa were servants. Here, we danced with them and ate with them,” Friedland recounts. “It was amazing.”

She returned to Capetown for a brief stint and then made her way to Israel and settled in Tel Aviv. She started a family, carved a name for herself as a dancer and in 2001 seamlessly transitioned to the role of dance architect.

“When I started creating, I was starting from zero,” Friedland relays. “I had to go inside, dig deep and find out what my dance is. This is my thing and these are my ideas. I take the layers from the library in my mind and when I start to work physically, they come out in stories. I’m communicating through dance.”

In August she celebrated five years of choreographic creation with a gala event at Tel Aviv’s Suzanne Delal Center. Celebrities and friends turned up to view her company’s hallmark Red and her most recent Concerto for 4 Dancers and Orchestra incorporating dancers and Raanana Symphony Orchestra members on the same stage.

At that gala, Eli Mizrachi – a fellow judge alongside Friedland on Israel’s popular “Dancing with the Stars” television series – sent her a congratulatory SMS message; She was sitting on the backstage steps maintaining a low profile. “I didn’t really mingle with the audience so I’m not sure who was out there,” she confides.

What does the future hold? Friedland recently completed work on Bereysheet Children’s show – a traveling event for 5-8-year-olds showing throughout Israel during the September holidays. In 2008 she’ll debut new works.

Until then, mum’s the word…

Yes, we shake it, ok? I mean, what else would you do if you were holding a hyssop and palm frond?

Anyways, of course there is deep meaning behind all of this, which you can find out about on Wikipedia’s Sukkot entry, or in other places. Or, it really comes down to the usual reason we Jews hold any celebration:

“They oppressed us, we survived. Let’s eat.”

True. I gotta start cooking.

Check out this video on the shaking that goes on during this holy holiday. Chag sameach!

Click here to view the embedded video.

These are the questions that face “street artists,” and their audience of viewers. Spray cans spell vandalism for most, while a paintbrush represents the artiste. But we all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder; so can beautiful graffiti be considered art?

The Israeli street art scene is particurly developed. Visitors to Disengoff Square in Tel Aviv are privy to the names and swear words plastered on the benches. Street artists are particularly attracted to the old buildings and abandoned warehouses in Tel Aviv’s Florentine neighborhood, which has become a popular site for some of Israel’s most famous street artists including Ame72, and the crew ‘Style Must Die’ (SMD) which includes well-known artists Know Hope, Klone and Zero Cent.

Over the next few weeks, we will take an in-depth look at the street art scene in Israel, the artists and the art. But before we do, let’s first take a look at this unconventional field and its significance.

What is “graffiti”?

(A comprehensive glossary of terms can be found at the end of this article.)

Graffiti, or ‘graff,’ is all about letters. These letters are scratched, sprayed or marked onto a surface, using a range of styles and techniques, like ‘pieces’, ‘tagging’, ‘throw-ups’, ‘dubs’, ‘block busters’, ‘wild style’ and ‘top-to-bottoms’. Graffiti is the maverick of the art world and sits comfortably on the fringe of modern culture.

Graffiti ‘tags’ are considered to be the most common form of vandalism and tend to have a bad reputation due to some of the taggers who use this to get their names up everywhere.

Street artists will tell you that there are no boundaries between the image and the environment. The surface to which the piece is being applied is as fundamental to them as the art itself.

Da Vinci had it easy

Street artists put a lot of effort into their pieces. They’re like graphic artists working on huge canvasses (i.e. the city), with the added challenge of the law breathing down their neck. No Da Vinci luxuries of twenty years to finish a painting; for them, time is of the essence.

The street art process is three-fold: choose the site, schlep supplies over under cover of night and do their thing, and then come back when the coast is clear to document it.

Vandalism or graffiti?

It all sounds like an excuse for vandalism, some of you may say.

Well, Street artists claim they respect the street and work according to unwritten rules. For example, serious street artists won’t spray over someone else’s work since they consider that damaging and disrespectful to the scene. They’ll avoid causing permanent damage by staying away from burners that leave ink and burn into the glass. Spraying on private property such as cars, houses, etc, and monuments, nice stone buildings, and religious places is taboo.

Buy my street art t-shirt on eBay

Street art has become a profitable venture. Famous artists are now making big bucks because they have fought hard to get people to view graffiti as a valid artistic medium. Much of street art is hand-made originals, with no two pieces being identical. That’s why artists like Banksy in the UK can make millions off their graffiti.

You could even say that a new breed of artists is being bred today. It’s not just the back-street ‘El Barto’s’ – it’s something that is slowly evolving to become a marketable form of expression. Artists take care to ensure that their names are out there and they are getting recognition for their pieces, in the hope that their art will become well-known and begin to sell. The business-savvy artists now sell items through their websites, such as t-shirts, posters and prints.

They just want to make a difference…

But street artists say they’re not in it for the profit: they really just want their art to move someone. But making a buck along the way isn’t so bad.

Art? Vandalism? Who knows, but it exists, so let’s have some fun learning about it.

If you want to see work by some of Tel Aviv’s finest, check back for our in-depth artist profiles.

(Below you’ll find definitions of the terms used in this article).

Graffiti Glossary of Terms:

Tag: The most common form of street art, it is often seen as vandalism because anyone can tag. Using a calligraphic appearance, it is made with a spray can or marker and represents the tagger’s personal signature.

Throw-up: Not related to vomit, this is usually painted very quickly and done in a situation where the writer is likely to be caught. It is done by making a layer of paint in one color and a quick outline of the letters in another.

Wild style: This is a much more complicated type of letter style used to create a piece, involving hard-to-read, highly decorated letters that blend into one another.

Blockbuster: uses easy-to-read block letters. This style is often seen on larger areas such as trains.

Top-to-bottom: the most impressive pieces, these cover entire walls with elaborate art work, characters and letters, and can take up to two days or more to complete.

Street Art Glossary of Terms

Wheatpasting: is also created from recycled materials such as the backs of old posters. It’s the process of putting up paper posters using a mix of water and wheat, and often contains the artist’s signature work.

Sticker tags: more subtle approach used by some writers. These are seen all over the city – on street signs, dumpsters, mailboxes, and anything considered a part of the street. They are also made from recycled materials.

Stencils: a personal favorite, made from cardboard cut-outs and sprayed over to leave a perfect image, usually displaying some political statement, cool design or character.

Mosaic tiling: a small square piece of tile with a cool design or character on it. You may have seen these small tiles pasted in peculiar places around King George Street in Tel Aviv. People collect these as an ode to the aritsts.

The curriculum at Self Access English Learning Center, located at 16 Malchei Israel Street in the heart of Geula, has been designed to meet the cultural sensitivities of the Ultra-Orthodox, says the business’s founder Laurin Lewis. Lewis is a veteran ESL educator at the Jerusalem College of Technology (Machon Lev) originally from Los Angeles who immigrated to Israel in 1984.

“I discovered there were special needs for haredi clients,” he begins. “No women dressed immodestly, and no mixed beach scenes.”

And no dinosaurs – which allude to evolution, he adds.

“Members of Israel’s haredi community are beginning to recognize the importance of English as the language of commerce, computing and even marriage,” he continues. “If they were not taught in school, they are looking for ways to catch up at home, to teach their children without fear of introducing inappropriate content.”

The 118-lesson English 4 Students software that Lewis created is suitable for beginners and caters to those seeking an English language exemption at the post-secondary level. Based on materials originally developed in the 1970s by Leslie A. Hill, an internationally known English Language Teaching expert from Britain, Lewis modified the texts and illustrations to ensure there was no taboo material.

The result is a 4,000-word kosher curriculum taught on CD-ROMs, or CDs for those who don’t have a home computer. There is no need for an Internet hookup – something many haredi homes eschew. As well, Lewis sells a textbook by Menachem Moshkovitz-Mashak that teaches Hebrew readers the Roman alphabet.

Lewis’ software utilizes visual mnemonics to emphasize new vocabulary. Thus an illustration shows a bear falling into a well, which in Hebrew is be’er.

“It changes lives,” he says of his home-learning products.

Why don’t haredim learn English or other modern languages?

Lewis explains that during the British Mandate, Rabbi Yeshua Leib Diskin imposed a herem (halachic prohibition) on learning foreign languages apart from Hebrew and Aramaic – the languages of the Bible and Talmud. The various yeshivot at which male haredi youth study emphasize traditional Torah studies to the neglect of modern curriculum including English and mathematics.

When students graduate ill-equipped for the work force, even if they don’t observe Rabbi Diskin’s edict, they may feel uncomfortable studying English in places where men and women sit together, or the curriculum is considered too risqué.

Another factor is that students at the girls-only Bais Ya’acov school system do study English, placing their potential mates at a linguistic loss.

Over the last two years Lewis has sold more than 10,000 copies of his ESL software. Apart from his new store in Geula, he sells the CD-ROMs at booths in shopping malls. It is also available at Office Depot where it retails for NIS 119.

“There’s practically no profession that you can learn that doesn’t require some English,” Lewis notes. “Without knowing English in the business or technical world, a person is very limited.”

It’s a dawning realization for a growing number of Jerusalem’s haredim.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy New Year, and may we all be blessed with a year of peace, health, happiness and prosperity!

Shana tova – happy New Year! Enjoy the apples and the honey!

Miriam Schwab, Editor

David Cohen, Dancing Camel’s founder, was living the Jewish-American dream. Born and raised in Brooklyn, David was a CPA with his own firm, a house in the burbs, 3 kids, and even the family dog. But Cohen had a dream, and wanted out of what he terms the “suburban white collar lifestyle.” Cohen dreamed of opening a microbrewery in Israel which would enable him to combine his two great loves – beer and the holy land. Since visiting Israel at the age of 20, Cohen had always imagined himself returning to stay. Now, more than 20 year later, he has finally made it happen.

After some initial missteps in Tzfat (the kids weren’t having it) and a long and arduous search for a suitable location for the brewery involving intimate tours of industrial zones “that no new immigrant should see,” Cohen realized that Tel Aviv was the only place to be. He signed a lease on a former nightclub, laboriously whitened the black walls, installed the imported brewing equipment, and finally, Dancing Camel was born – Israel’s first production microbrewery.

Dancing Camel on Israel’s English news:

Click here to view the embedded video.

So, why this passion for beer? “Human Civilization can be studied through the history of beer. I am fascinated by its history and culture,” says Cohen, who waxes poetic about Belgium’s natural yeast (the best in the world), the first German purity laws (on beer, not people!), and Czech’s technological brewing prowess (a response to their “lesser” barley, of course). It is also abundantly clear that the intensity of Cohen’s dedication to beer runs no less strong when it comes to Israel. “I came here to contribute to the culture,” says Cohen. “No one comes to get rich. This is an opportunity for me to develop an Israeli beer style.”

And this creation of an Israeli beer style is exactly what Cohen has gone and done. His four year-round beers boast unique local flavours, though he won’t divulge any of their ingredients. The dark and creamy Midnight Stout with its distinct roast coffee flavour contains…”a little something extra.” Okaaay. Cohen is slightly more forthcoming when it comes to the popular Hefe-Wit, a “Belgian style beer” whose “subtle spicing with coriander and orange adds a delicateness to be savored.” If that’s not Israeli enough for you, the strong India Pale Ale and the flavorful American Pale Ale do actually contain date honey.

In addition to the year round stock, Dancing Camel also brews seasonal beers to get you in the holiday spirit. Past offerings include the ‘Trog Wit for Sukkoth boasting the “unmistakable floral aroma of etrogs“, the Cherry Vanilla Stout – a sufgania [traditional Chanuka donut, ed.] in a pint glass just in time for Chanukah, and The Golem, a special 9.5% mystery beer named after the famous Jew-saving monster of Prague. Each keg offers up a mysterious surprise. This year, a special Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) pomegranate beer is already in the works. All the special beers are available in limited quantities only, so keep your feelers out near holiday time to partake in these festive libations.

In addition to special open house nights at the microbrewery (September dates to be announced), Dancing Camel can be found in various bars and restaurants around the country. In Tel Aviv, check out Armadillo, Cervesa, Norman, Norma Jean and steakhouse NG. Jerusalemites can head to Bellwood, Paradisio, and Norman’s in the German Colony. For additional outlets around the country, or to learn more about everything Dancing Camel (events, open houses, brewery tours), visit www.dancingcamel.com.

Among them is Herzl Shimoni, decked out in his finest Duck’s Ass haircut and tight bell-bottoms. “When Elvis died, I mourned for the whole month. I didn’t want to lose him … I decided then that I would start to perform his songs,” says Shimoni, one of the country’s best-known Elvis impersonators who performs three or four times a week at Tel Aviv bar mitzvahs and nightclubs.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Shimoni and his fellow fans croon Elvis classics like “Hound Dog” and “Can’t Help Falling In Love” over the karaoke – with the English lyrics transliterated into Hebrew. The day-long homage, as close as Israel comes to Graceland, celebrates the life of a pop music icon whose hips and music shook the world.

In a decades-old ritual, Shimoni and fellow fans gather at the Pundak Elvis hallowed ground every August 16, as well as on January 8, the birthday of The King in 1935 in Memphis, Tennessee. Tiki Rokah, 57, from Netanya, recalls the beginning of her decades-old affection for Elvis. “It all started for me when I was 13. I used to steal my brother’s Elvis records and he used to hit me for doing it, but I didn’t care,” she says wistfully. “I fell in love with Elvis back then because of his voice, charisma and look. And I stayed a devotee because he was also a good, generous and modest man who helped people and didn’t let the glamorous life change him.”

Elvis’ popularity in Israel isn’t limited to look-alikes and devotees. He has a broad following here thanks largely to the efforts of Uri Yoeli, a 61-year-old Jerusalem businessman who opened the Elvis Diner in 1974 and now runs it along with his brother Amnon and four children. “I got into Elvis when I was 14,” the seventh generation Jerusalemite recalls. “I quickly became the head of the fan club in the city.”

That role required the teenaged Yoeli to dress up as the King. He turned his collar up, slicked his hair back, and imitated Elvis’s trademark smile. “I had all his [33 1/3 LP] records, which had to be ordered from Tel Aviv, because Jerusalem stores didn’t carry them. We used to have dance parties, where all we would play were Elvis slows,” he adds with a nostalgic sigh. “Those were the days.”

In the early 1970s, Yoeli criss-crossed the U.S. in order to get near his idol. He flew from New York to Salt Lake City for a day to see the King in concert. And he stalked Presley’s home for hours to get a glimpse of the legend. When he finally caught up with him at a hamburger joint, the security guards prevented him from shaking hands with Elvis. In 1972 Yoeli married a woman who didn’t share his passion, so the posters and magazine clippings went into storage.

He didn’t foresee his eatery becoming Israel’s unofficial Elvis Heaven. When he opened the Mountain Inn in 1974, he hung two of his favourite pictures of the King on the walls. He didn’t even realize that anyone had noticed the photos until two truck drivers came in and asked to use the telephone. “They said to their friend, ‘Meet us at the place with the pictures of Elvis’,” Yoeli remembers, and he knew then he had something special.

Today, the proprietor dresses in conservative button-down shirts and vests, and wears his thinning hair too short to be slicked back. But the walls are covered with more than 1,100 pictures, shelves of memorabilia and souvenirs, including Elvis coffee mugs, postcards and wine that the Yoelis bottled especially for the 30th anniversary of Elvis’ death.

Even the ceilings are covered with row upon row of framed pictures. Situated between the silver and teal booths are three life-sized statues – and in the parking lot are two more that tower larger than life, including a 16-foot-tall, $50,000 bronze statue purported to be one of the world’s largest of Elvis. “People come here from all over Israel, and all over the world,” Yoeli notes with pride.

If you’re lonesome tonight, he counsels stopping by. The Pundak Elvis will get you all shook up.

Pundak Elvis is located at Neve Ilan Gas Station, Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem Road. Tel: 02 – 534-1275. Open from 8 am to 8 pm, except on Fridays when it is open until Shabbat. Kosher.