Irene and Moe: Bauhaus, Bow-Wows and Bullets

Tel AvivWarm and Sunny

Bauhaus Buildings

Bauhaus was a German art school founded by Walter Gropius that operated in Germany from 1919 to 1933. Their mission was to provide new, affordable, plain and utilitarian designs that could be used by everyone. Bauhaus architectural style favored functionality over ornamentation and rejected decorative details. Bauhaus style buildings have flat roofs, smooth facades, favor right angles - although some feature rounded corners - and balconies. The colors used are white, gray, beige.

Bauhaus Building

Simple, Geometric, Rounded corner, Vertical window, Balconies (most with overhang above for shade)

Tel Aviv experienced a building boom after WWII and some 4,000 Bauhaus building were erected from 1933 onward. This collection of Bauhaus is the largest of any city in the world and is referred to as The White City of Tel Aviv. In 2003 UNESCO declared The White City a World Cultural Heritage site.

Hotel Center Chic, our "home away from home" in Tel Aviv was a Bauhaus building. So was it's sister hotel, The Cinema

Hotel Cinema

Non-Bauhaus Building

What a hoot! We walked by this house on the way to the museums. Definitely ornamented! And well peopled!

Found this for Wendy and Sandy

Bow-wows

Dog -Friendly Park

Dog -Friendly human!

Cats were welcomed to control rats many years ago. Their populations exploded and feral cats are everywhere. They are fed and given water by sympathetic souls. A program to neuter and spay is underway - cats with notched ears have been "fixed".

The Great synagogue of Tel Aviv

We were walking by and decided to look. The caretaker bid us come inside. The synagogue was once at the center of Little Tel Aviv, but populations have shifted and now the impressive building is used only on special occasions and holidays.

Sign of the Times - Concrete barriers between the columns to protect from terrorists

Bullets

We visited two military museums: the Hagana Museum and the IDF Museum.

Hagana Museum

This museum chronicles the formation and activities of the Hagana, the paramilitary organizations that was the forerunner of today's Israel Defence Forces (IDF). A civilian force protecting Jewish farms and kibbutzim from attack in the 1920s and '30s, the Hagana assisted in the illegal entry of over 1000,000 Jews into Palestine after the British Government's 1939 white paper restricted immigration.

The White Paper of 1939 was a policy paper issued by the British government. Although never formally approved, it acted as the governing policy for Mandatory Palestine between 1939-1945. It called for the establishment of a Jewish national home in an independent Palestinian state within 10 years. It rejected the idea of the creation of a Jewish state and and the idea of partitioning Palestine. It limited Jewish immigration and put restrictions on the rights of Jews to buy property. Zionists were greatly upset because of the increasing persecution of Jews in Europe at the onset of WWII.

Yitzhak Rabin and Moshe Dayan served in the Hagana

Although it acted as the de facto policy of the British government until 1945, its key provisions were ultimately never to implemented, initially because of Churchill's opposition following the change in government.

IDF soldiers (Israel Defense Forces) come to the museum to learn about military history. All across Israel we have seen IDF soldiers being educated in all aspects of Israeli culture and history, going to classes and visiting museums

IDF

The Israel Defense Forces - IDF - consists of ground, air and navy forces. The number of wars (20) and border conflicts in which the IDF has been involved in its short history (established in 1948) makes it one of the most battle-trained forces in the world.

IDF Soldier Prays Wearing Tefillin on his forehead and arm. (pic from Wikipedia)

The IDF is one of Israeli society's most prominent institutions influencing the country's economy, culture and political. We have seen IDF forces every day, often in great numbers. They are eating in restaurants, buying things in stores and going to educational classes as well as preforming their duties.

Military service is mandatory for all Israeli citizens over the age of 18. Ultra-orthodox Jews are exempt from service, which in controversial. Men serve about three years; women serve two years (women in combat serve three years). Afterwards they serve in the reserves until the age of 40 or 45.