It's No Ibiza אין לנו איביזה

We've got the breeze from Eilat to the Kineret

Welcome to the first installment of our irregular newsletter devoted to Israeli popular culture. Based on our whims, it will consist of everything from celebrity gossip to serious (brief) reviews of TV, music, and film, as well as our recommendations for what to watch. “It’s No Ibiza” is taken from the song “Silsulim” by our faves Static and Ben El, who tragically split ways in 2022. It refers somewhat jokingly to Israel’s relative marginality in terms of world culture while extolling Israel’s virtues, a thin line that we hope to walk in this newsletter. It’s also a bop, and we expect this space to be fun. Appropriately, we’re starting things off with our namesake group, Static and Ben El!

Static and Ben El’s Weekend at Bollywood

Indian singer Akull released Gadbadi (Na Na Na Na Na), a remix/cover Further Up (Na Na Na Na Na)  of the tragically short lived collaboration between Pitbull and Static and Ben El from 2020. (So many Nas.) This video was released about two weeks ago and already has 14 million views and it is, according to the description, the definitive party song of 2023! So glad we got that sorted out in 2022. Also, gadbadi is a Hindi word which seems to have the same meaning as the Hebrew balagan. 

In addition to the Tupac-like vibes of the collaboration, “Gadbadi” speaks to the increasingly friendly relationship between India and Israel. Much has been written about the bromance between Modi and Bibi, the arms deals, and the right wing politics in both countries. But international relations isn't just about calls between prime ministers–it also happens in the increasingly global market for culture. An Indian remake of Fauda, Tanaav, will premiere on Netflix in January with more Israeli-Indian collaboration said to be on the way. Of course, the appeal of an Indian market for Israeli creators is massive - over a billion people and growing. But not all are thrilled. Nadav Lapid, an iconoclastic Israeli filmmaker, recently caused a diplomatic crisis when he criticized the controversial film The Kashmir Files as racist propaganda. (The film focuses on the 1990s expulsion of Kashmiri Hindis from the Muslim majority region and labels the expulsion a hidden genoicide–a claim that many, many scholars dispute. Yikes.) He delivered his comments  at the International Film Festival in Goa, where he served as jury head, and added that the film was “inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival.”  India and Israel are cleaning up the messes, and it’s no coincidence that Fauda’s Lior Raz spoke out against Lapid. (We are still waiting for comments from Static and Ben El.) Gadbadi indeed. 

Jam on the ‘Gram

In recent years, fans of heartthrob Aviv Alush may have noticed changes in the star’s work and public presence. Aviv is the well-known star of “Le’hiyot itah” (known to English-language viewers as “The Baker and the Beauty”) and is less well known for his turn as Jesus (yes, Jesus Christ!) in the 2017 American film The Shack. Over the course of the last decade, he has become more religiously observant, with effects on his film work and personal life: Aviv no longer appears in any stage of undress on screen nor will he film sex scenes, he moved with his family to a farm in northern Israel, and he speaks publicly about his embrace of religious practice. He is also a prolific user of Instagram, and the social media app is the best place to track his evolving Jewish  journey.

One regular feature of Aviv’s Insta is a weekly post about the Torah portion, which is often characteristic of the account’s unusual mixture of new agey spirituality, professions of Jewish unity, Jewish mysticism, longing for the messiah and the third Temple, and Israeli nationalism. His commitment to the bit is real: off of Instagram, he has recently claimed that coronavirus is a divine plague designed to usher in the messianic era and the third Temple, and that Benjamin Netanyahu will be Israel’s last prime minister. On Insta, this political-religious soup is mixed with thirst traps, some of them including tallit and tefillin, posts about his work in film and music, and announcements of his famous annual etrog-jam giveaway.

The etrog-jam giveaway encapsulates so much of what is wonderful, wacky, and problematic about Aviv’s Instagram (and probably the man himself). The jam is made from etrogim he has personally blessed and said prayed over for healing, romantic love, wealth, and love of one’s fellow Jew. The jam is a segulah, a vehicle to bring these blessings to your everyday life. Aviv packages the jam in small containers that he leaves out in select locations around the country, which he announces on his Instagram feed, and asks anyone who takes some to follow a few guidelines: give tzedakah (he leaves a box for collections near the giveaway locations), choose someone in your life with whom you have a difficult relationship and offer a sincere blessing for that person, and say the proper blessing over the jam before eating. I’m pretty sure if Aviv Alush offered us jam (or anything else), we would turn to jelly.

Further Up…

(or, what we are looking forward to)

An Israeli Version of Reality Show Love Island!!! 

Auditions are underway for the Israeli version of Love Island. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the reality television series, the show’s premise is that a bunch of Hot People live together in a giant villa on an isolated island and couple up based on…basically nothing but vibes. As the series progresses, contestants can either pick someone new or decide to stay coupled. If you become single, you get sent home! There are also challenges that are silly. The public votes for the winning couple at the end.  CANNOT WAIT. 

CHANSHI

Chanshi is about an American Haredi woman who ditches her nebby shidduch Mendy and moves to Israel to sleep around and live her best life. (We know many who have followed similar trajectories, and honestly, good for them.)  Her parents are played by Henry Winkler (yes, the FONZ/Coach Klein himself) and Caroline Allen (Shirley Maisel!)  It’s giving frum Broad City vibes and just premiered in Israel. Our kind of Israel-America relations. 

The Masked Singer

Celebrities dress up in totally wacky costumes and they sing and you have to guess who they are. It started in South Korea and now every country has its own version. Some of the costumes aren’t really culturally specific, some are. Like the time that Ori Sassoon, Olympian medalist and Judo himbo of our hearts, of our hearts, won the season disguised as a FALAFEL. Incredible. New season drops soon. 

Anyway, that’s it for us. The next time we are in Tel Aviv, you better believe that we are going to the kosher bar/club in Tel Aviv inexplicably called Qumran. Party like the Essenes! See you there.