I had a meeting with another Israeli biotech company earlier this week, this time in Tel Aviv. I love going to Jerusalem, the holy city, but I also love going to Tel Aviv. This was just a quick in-and-out for a 9:30AM one hour meeting, but just driving through all the glass and steel skyscrapers is such a thrill. I know most Israelis liken Tel Aviv to New York but for me personally it is much more reminiscent of Chicago. The stunning architecture, the water-front, the big but not so big as to be unmanageable scope, the restaurants, the nightlife. As I walked to my meeting, past the Subaru dealer, the Mitsubishi dealer, and then the Ferrari dealer, and gazed up at the towering buildings, I thought, wow, these are all my people. They’re not some other nationality allowing me, however fairly, to enjoy what is theirs. It is we who built all of this. Its ours. And you know what? We’re not so bad at it… And although its not ancient and sacred, and not all white-golden Jerusalem stone, we are not only an ancient people. We are still here now. Yes we are still praying and crying and hoping. But we are also building and inventing and creating. We are back.
We had dinner with some friends in Netanya last night at a new restaurant. We left the kids together in their hi-rise apartment facing the sea. We arrived just in time to see the sunset. Watching the sun set over the ocean just never gets old. It’s as timeless as the Earth itself. You can literally watch the Earth spinning, the western horizon racing upwards as it covers up the Sun. It’s something you can look at and know that we didn’t build it. It’s not religious and yet at the same time it is. It’s not ours and it’s not theirs. (And you don’t need to argue about a pluralistic prayer space to experience it.)
Going out to dinner was great – good company, good food, etc. New, chic place – would’ve held its own in Chicago or New York. I had a great meal with good friends and drank Belgian beer at a non-kosher restaurant. Don’t get me wrong, I mean no disrespect by that. It’s just that Israel is not only starry-eyed religiousity or idealistic spirituality or biblical play-acting. It’s also cosmopolitan. There are those who are angry that it’s too much one or too much the other. But they are both alive and well.