28.05.2012                      07.Siwan. 5772                    Schawuoth 2

Tel Aviv:

Up all night: A glimpse of Shavuot eve in Tel Aviv

Tel Avivians – both secular and religious – shun the bars and restaurants for one night each year in favor of a Jewish learning experience.

It’s 6:30 P.M. on Saturday night, erev Shavuot, and the doors of Fishka on Eilat Street are already open. A young couple is tangoing across the inner courtyard. A cluster is forming around the cheese and wine. Someone is doing a sound check for the microphones being set up in the library.  Raz. Dvah. Tri. “Do you know why we eat cheese on this holiday?” Vova Tashaev, a 31 year old chef, asks, cutting a slice of Israeli-made camembert….