Let's talk about porn and the Holocaust 😅

Right after World War II and up until the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Israel, it wasn't customary to talk about the Holocaust. Although there were many concentration camp survivors in the country. Survivors tried to return to normal life. By the end of the 1950s, their children were growing up and entering puberty.

Around the same time, the novel "House of Dolls" was published, about Jewish women in concentration camps who were forced to sleep with German soldiers (supposedly based on real events, though people still debate it). In an atmosphere of absolute silence, the book was a major event.

It sparked a series of pornographic comics called Stalag, featuring a male prisoner and a female SS officer. Often with themes of rape and revenge. The series was quite popular among teenagers, but didn't last long: the authorities initially pretended nothing was happening, then banned it altogether.

Nowadays you can find the issues in the National Library of Israel. Though they only let researchers and historians in. Or you can find them online.

I arrived in Haifa. Not a particularly notable city, you don't see it in the news. But then it suddenly turns out that this is a worldwide religious center with millions of followers around the globe—a religion I had no idea even existed. How is that possible?

In the late 19th century, Baháʼí Faith emerged based on Islam. Essentially, it's a meta-religion claiming that all major religions are united, and that Bahá'u'lláh (the founder), Buddha, Zoroaster, Krishna, and various prophets are all manifestations of God. At first glance, it all sounds peaceful: they advocate for gender equality, universal education, and a world government instead of a bunch of separate countries. By the standards of a century ago, ultra-progressive.

In Haifa, followers built the Baháʼí Gardens. In 2008, they were added to UNESCO's World Heritage list. Now it's the city's main attraction.

The faith emerged in Iran but faced severe persecution there, which continues to this day. That's why the gardens ended up in Israel.

There are over 5 million (!) Baháʼís in the world, and their numbers are growing by 5.5% each year. And that's good news, because every believer is obligated to voluntarily contribute 19% of their excess wealth to the Baháʼí center. I couldn't find any public financial data on their official website, but something tells me the numbers are quite impressive.

And they even have their own calendar (what else?): 19 months of 19 days each, plus 4-5 extra days to round out to 365.

You'd expect international corporations to provide roughly the same level of service regardless of country. But that's not always the case. For example, IKEA for some reason doesn't translate its websites even into English. And while you can get by in Serbia without too much trouble, good luck navigating the Israeli version (though they did manage to create an English version in the Emirates).

And they don't offer delivery either. At all. If you really need it, you can order through a third-party company (their interface is also only in Hebrew). Just 250 shekels (72€) and they'll bring everything. The catch is that smaller items aren't available through them, so you'll have to pick those up yourself. But there is a plus side: delivery includes stair climbing to any floor. This matters because many buildings don't have elevators, and movers charge decent money per flight of stairs.

The local IKEA also charges more for the same products. For example, a bed in Israel costs 17% more than the same one in Serbia.

If you just wait for a bus at a stop in Israel, you might not catch it. Usually it only stops here if you wave your hand. Or if one of the passengers needs to get off (there's a special button inside that you absolutely have to press). Otherwise, the driver will just pass by.

Plus, the bus can drive in the second lane, overtaking someone, right near the stop. So you need to watch the road carefully so you don't suddenly miss your bus.

An eruv is nice and all, but check this out—there's an Arab guy who buys up all the bread in Israel every year for a week!

Every year, Judaism celebrates the Exodus from Egypt (Passover). The Torah forbids eating chametz (any baked good that's undergone fermentation) for all 7 festival days and requires "removing leavened products from your homes." You've got two options: "completely destroy it" or "sell it to a non-Jew." Not much of a choice to make, really.

But Israel took this whole selling thing to the state level. This Arab businessman, Hussein Jabbar, has been buying up all the chametz in the country before Passover starts—for the last 20 years. Or rather, he declares his intention to buy: he signs a contract with the Israeli Minister of Economy (!) and the Chief Rabbi, committing to purchasing everything, and puts down a deposit of around fifteen thousand dollars. From that moment on, technically the "forbidden stuff" belongs to him, even though it's still sitting in the original owners' homes. To complete the deal, he needs to scrape together the missing (estimates vary) 300 million dollars before Passover ends. In all these years of trying, he's never once managed to come up with the full amount. So when the holiday wraps up, the purchase agreement gets canceled, the bread gets "returned" to the Jews, and the businessman gets his deposit back.

And everyone's happy. Then the next year, the whole thing repeats. Journalists never miss a chance to ask: "Mr. Jabbar, do you really want to buy this bread, or are you just doing the state a favor?"
To which he gets indignant and says, "Of course I want to! The previous times I just couldn't manage to pull together the necessary funds in time. But this year—I'm telling you—I'll definitely get it!" You've gotta wonder, what's he actually planning to do with all that bread?

During Shabbat, observant Jews are not allowed to carry anything outside their home. Not even apartment keys, children, or medicine. But there's a loophole: a courtyard is considered part of one's home. So entire cities here are surrounded by a symbolic fence—an eruv—and declared a communal courtyard, to which the restriction no longer applies.

Tel Aviv is divided into several large zones (map) within which you can move around.

But just putting up a fence isn't enough. You need to make sure it stays in good condition. So every Friday before Shabbat begins, a special team drives around the eruv to check that nothing has broken. If something's wrong, it needs to be fixed before the first star appears, otherwise the eruv won't be valid.

By the way, this exists not just in Israel, but also in cities with large observant communities. For example in New York or Moscow.

Officially, Israel is a Jewish democratic state. Supposedly secular. However, religion plays a very significant role in everyday life here. In no small part thanks to strong lobbying in government. Hence a bunch of uncomfortable restrictions, those who observe them come up with various ways to get around them, and those uninvolved simply suffer from strange rules that have somehow become laws.

For example, in Israel it's officially forbidden to register not even same-sex marriages, but interfaith ones. A Jew can't formalize a relationship with a Muslim woman or an atheist with a Christian woman. At the same time, it's all fine if a couple registers in, say, Egypt. Such a union is recognized without any issues by all state structures.

Or on Shabbat, public transport pretty much stops running across the country. Though this really depends more on regional authorities. In Tel Aviv it's noticeably less of an issue, but in smaller cities everything pretty much shuts down. But you just can't leave the airport like that.

There was a competition on a Tel Aviv beach for a local version of footvolley (though I'm not entirely sure that's what it was). I'm not sure how else to explain it, but everyone on the beach was playing this game, and some were even playing it in team format. But check out how beautiful it is.

Shabbat shalom :)

Istanbul is still beautiful, even if it's a late-night layover with an airport change, when you barely have time to grab a bite.

The contrast with Belgrade is striking. It feels like I've landed in a crazy megacity after a peaceful province. You can't get anywhere on foot, and the metro took me over an hour from the center to the outskirts. Everywhere you look, crowds of people rushing around, endless traffic jams, noise and chaos on the streets. Where did that familiar peace go?)

But at least I finally got some real use out of the "free" business lounges, where you can actually get some sleep (in quotes because access is included in the bank's fee). The capsule is more than compact, but I got a good rest. And honestly, even if I had to pay, it would've been way cheaper than a regular hotel. The only catch is that it's after passport control. So if I'd had luggage, I couldn't have gotten there that early.

I really needed to go back to Lazarev Canyon. For some reason, I thought it would be all yellow, but it turned out to be multicolored, and honestly, that's even better.

The way I felt, I could have gone back a week later. Or even two weeks. If the leaves don't fall, the colors will be even more vibrant. Although I have completely different plans for next weekend. But yesterday's trip turned out great. Autumn is the best time to visit the canyon if you haven't yet.

This time there were actually people on the trail! Over the summer, I'd run into maybe 3-4 people all day, but now there were even large groups. Guess it's peak season :)

During a break, my neighbors were discussing the funny names of the viewpoints: Amazing Lazarov kanjon viewpoint and Best viewpoint of Lazarov kanjon. I checked—the names don't lie! Those are genuinely the best spots.

To mix things up besides rock scrambling, I also explored Lazareva Cave below the mountain. It's cool, but more as a bonus activity. The plus side: it stays really cool inside. I remember it was late October, but I was hiking in just a t-shirt (and I wasn't the only one) because otherwise it would be too hot.