Isreali Culture and Food

Religion - Judaism - language hebrew
Food - Unlevened bread such as Matzos (available in some supermarkets or Jewish shops)
Salt beef - olives - chicken noodle soup - more lately hummous and falafel like arabs
traditions - male circumcision - bar mitzvah - religious ladies wear wigs to cover their hair
culture - intermingled with religion mostly like all middle eastern cultures but also a mix of
oriental jews and eastern european jewish culture

Lets hope some of our israeli friends can elaborate more

Why not search on wikipedia.com and see

Since Israelis (or their parents) come from almost every country in the world, food traditions vary widely. But I think the most typical (and cheap!) is schnitzel in pita. This typifies the Israeli "ingathering of exiles" - the European schnitzel, usually turkey meat, in a Middle Eastern pita bread, served with a bit of salad. That will be easy for you to prepare. Unleavened bread is eaten only at Passover (nothing to stop people eating it at any time if they like it, but it isn't very exciting, being of the consistency of crisp cardboard!)

Jewish religious traditions are universal, not specific to any country origin, the only difference being the degree of strictness with which they are observed. Actually "religious ladies wear wigs" isn't exactly correct. Strictly Orthodox married (not single) women always cover their hair, and a minority of them wear wigs. Most Orthodox married women wear a hat or headscarf. Those who are less rigid in their observance cover their hair only when they go to synagogue.
The Sabbath begins on Friday evening at dusk, and ends on Saturday night after dark. Times vary throughout the year and also the place - in summer it is much later than in winter, obviously.

Circumcision is performed on boys at the age of 8 days, in a religious ceremony. At age 13 years, boys have a ceremony called bar mitzva, marking their religious "coming of age". They have to study hard for this, starting at least a year before, because they have to read in the synagogue, in front of the whole congregation, a long portion from the Bible, which isn't exactly easy! (Every week throughout the year a portion is read, the same portion in every synagogue throughout the world, and someone has to read it out. If there is a boy celebrating his bar mitzva that day, he is the lucky (or unlucky!) one. In non-Orthodox synagogues, girls may do something similar at the age of 12. Girls mature at an earlier age than boys, so a girl is considered grown up in Judaism when she is 12, and boys have to wait till 13.

The kids might be interested to know more about the religious holidays that occur throughout the year. Google "Jewish holidays" and you will find plenty of information.

a delicious snack/desert that israeli kids eat are chocolate balls:
http://kosherfood.about.com/od/kosherisraelifood/r/kadorayshokolad.htm
that might be a fun project to do with your kids to get them excited!

For religions I'd also somewhere put in there that Jerusalem is a holy city of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Arab Israelis make up around 20% of the population according to this years statistics so maybe incorporate something like that in there. The State is officially bi-lingual with Hebrew and Arabic being official state languages, Russian is also widely spoken as well as English. On the topic of food that's a hard one because like previous posters have mentioned Israel is a nation of immigrants so there are lots of different types of food. You could do a Passover Seder display which is something all jews across the board pretty much do, you can find more information on that here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder_Plate . You could use a menorah (Used over chanukkha and also a symbol of the state) and gets the kids to light the candles (7-10 year olds using fire, potentially not a good idea but hey, just throwin it out there). Hummus, Pita and Falafel is pretty popular EVERYWHERE in Israel. From a historical perspective Jerusalem has had a pretty active history, being conquered over and over again by everyone from the Romans, Israelites, Babylonians, Ottoman Empire, The British, The French, Saladins Army etc, 10yr old boys love some gruesome history (not to mention the last 100 years of ongoing conflict). Hope some of this helps, just what i could think of off the top of my head.

Food - Unlevened bread such as Matzos (available in some supermarkets or Jewish shops)
Salt beef - olives - chicken noodle soup - more lately hummous and falafel like arabs
traditions - male circumcision - bar mitzvah - religious ladies wear wigs to cover their hair
culture - intermingled with religion mostly like all middle eastern cultures but also a mix of

oriental jews and eastern european jewish culture

Lets hope some of our israeli friends can elaborate more

Why not search on wikipedia.com and see

=======================================

Food-Unlevened Matzos ????? Only in Passover. And Passover is only seven days a year. What an ignorance !
And besides, Is Matos the only thing Jews eat all year round ??? hehehehe......

==================================================================

traditions - male circumcision - bar mitzvah - religious ladies wear wigs to cover their hair

What about non-religious Jews who comprise 95 % of the population ? hehehehe......Some even smoke Hashish. Wowwww!!!!
Israeli people are a big diversity of different backgrounds, beliefs, political views , practises........
I would dare say that Israeli society is the most diversified I have ever seen.
==================================================================

Lets hope some of our israeli friends can elaborate more

Let's hope that some of the the bashers around here adopt some better views and more profound insights into things when judging others .
===================================================================
Why not search on wikipedia.com and see

Yeah, I guess it's a better option than relying upon the above mentioned assertions !

===================================================================

Sometimes I've got the feel that some people here live under a rock......

Point of information, though it's not strictly relevant: Passover is observed for eight days outside Israel. The reason for this dates back about 2000 years, when there was no fixed calendar, and it depended on the observation of the moon (as is still the case with the Muslim calendar). Messengers relayed the sighting of the new moon, and the information could well have been delayed by the time the news reached far-flung Diaspora communities, so to be on the safe side an extra day was celebrated. This applies to certain other holidays as well, though fortunately not Yom Kippur. Today we have printed calendars (and you can search on Google and find out what the Jewish date of, say March 27, 2063, will be, or what date Yom Kippur was observed in 1741).

Anyway, MadManascar, your comments are appreciated.

Quote : Anyway, MadManascar, your comments are appreciated

Oh really ?????? No they are not - they are pathetic and harrassing ... but not surprising of
a vindictive poster from past experience. Madman should try to make himself more understood
his broken english is pathetic - Ive got the feel ... maybe because you live under the rock you
can't get the rest of your words out!

Do you dispute that eating matzos in passover isn't a jewish cultural / religious tradition ? Twerp !
Biggest joke - are you trying to tell us here that non religious Jews which in your view comprise 95% of
the population aren't circumcized ???? What a prick ! Prove it please.

If you are proud to include smoking hashish as an Israeli cultural tradition in a talk to primary school
kids then - why didn't you answer the poster and advise them.

Likewise if you feel Israeli society isn't diversified - then answer the poster and advise him if you are israeli
and with all the relevant facts - (doubtful) but anyway ...

I just gave a very brief potted bio to start the info rolling - nothing I said was wrong - if it is provide proof
and source and prove me wrong.

Its pathetic people like you can't contribute something positive - I guess being full of hatred occupies a lot of time and
isn't conducive to positive thinking, friendship and co-operation. You sound ashamed that Israeli culture is interlinked with religious philosophy and culture. Next you will be telling us that Jewish people all eat Pork
and shrimps because non of them are religious. !!!

"Oh really ?????? No they are not - they are pathetic and harrassing ... but not surprising of
a vindictive poster from past experience"

What about OUR ( including MINE ) experience with you, Mesha ?????

Since I know your political views about Israel and your prejudicial attitude towards Israelis, I was writing the above comments.
Actually, I read only the first three sentences of your above answer and stopped reading. It seems to me useless to argue with a block-minded. And you really are !
And how am I supposed to deal with your comment "Lets hope some of our israeli friends can elaborate more". Isn't it pathetic ??? Absolutely yes ( though it is not harassing at the least...hehehehe).
Your whole attitude and way of thinking is pathetic. And you have been harrasing some of the Israeli members in this website for quite a long time. At least be fair when speaking about "harrasing" others.

OP asked about traditions in Israel. You answered that Matzos can be found in supermarkets. The stereotype of yours that Jews eat Matzos all year round shows how scanty your knoledge is about Jewish tradition. Please read some books before spilling out the nonesense you write in here. Matzos are eaten only in Passover which is seven days a year. Don't you feel embarrassed to tell such inaccurate facts.
You also mentioned the pious Jews and their wives who shave their heads. That is true. But that is a very small minority of the Jewish people. There are many traditions of the Jewish people. Some are more religious. Some are less religious. Some are not religious at all. And yes.........some eat pork and shrimps ( I must admit that I read the last sentence of your above answer. It just popped up in front of my eyes). Some supermarkets have non-Kosher food.
Israeli society is very diversified. The fact that you bash all Israelis in one color makes you very pathetic and even childish in a way. Israelis have different political views, different perspectives about life, different backgrounds and different beliefs. I understand it is very hard for you to accept this but it's a fact.
Your narrow views make you pathetic to the utmost. Though you are entitled to your views, do not expect other members of this website not to contradict you. It is an open discussion. Please respect it.

I must admit now that I have read your whole post.....

Biggest joke - are you trying to tell us here that non religious Jews which in your view comprise 95% of
the population aren't circumcized ???? What a prick ! Prove it please.

Personally, I wish I could. Do you want to see Him ??????

Yes, most Israelis are circumcizes.