In this centenary year for Tel Aviv, the first Hebrew speaking city, an anthology of English stories captures many facets of the city that many know infinitely less well than they do Jerusalem.  The stories range in quality, and some of it’s a matter of taste, but for an English language window into the world of Tel Aviv that you’ve probably missed thus far, this charming book is a great place to get started.

Miri, thirty-seven years old, is a twice-widowed, El Al flight attendant. She has her life carefully organized and moderated, until she discovered an abandoned Chinese boy whose foreign worker mother has been deported by Israel immigration authorities.  Miri decides to reunite the family, and embarks on an amusing and touching journey.  A lovely window into "normal" Israel people, and slice of Israeli life that we don't often see in the world of film.

A film about the Haredi community, this wonderful film (by David Volach) is a fabulous lens into that world, showing with sensitivity and deftness the struggle with faith that a Haredi rabbi and his wife face when they are confronted by a devastating tragedy.  It's a universal movie in that way, but it's also a wonderful way of getting insight into the Haredi world, its customs and beliefs.  Unforgettable.