Travel Tales #23

With all our shows cancelled and a whole lot of spare time on my hands (and feet), I’ve spent most of these Corona days strolling up and down the laid-back paths of my kibbutz, contemplating what my next stop would be on this “Wandering Israeli” adventure.

In the kibbutz spirit of sharing, people here leave bushels of lemons outside their house for the taking! So, I grabbed a few lemons and went to work.

I’ve had this dream for the past few years. A simple, down-to-earth, doable dream: to perform regularly once-a-week in English at the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv (to a sold-out crowd six months in advance!)

And I was getting really close to realizing that dream!

Tickets were selling out, reviews began amassing on Tripadvisor and with so many tourists on the streets of Tel Aviv, I could already see us transitioning from once-a-month to once-a-week performances.

And now, only three months later, not a tourist in sight, not a theater open, and the game entirely changed. But not my dream. Just taken a little detour through the lemon bushels scattered along my kibbutz pathways.

So, in the spirit of lemons to lemonade, I quenched my creative thirst by squeezing a slice of tangy lemon down the bottleneck of a cold and bitter Corona. Emerging like bubbles from the depths of these bizarre times, are two very exciting ventures that’ll set us wandering together and hopefully bring you closer to Israel – even though you can’t really hop on a jet just now.

Live Zoom Show from Kibbutz Magal

Every Sunday at 7pm PST / 10pm EST
Simple lemon logic: If you can’t come to Israel, why don’t I bring a taste of Israel to you? We’re doing a once-a-week show on Zoom, live from my Kibbutz Magal every Sunday (7pm PST / 10pm EST) – that means 5am for us! You “pay what you can” and we’ll give you all that we’ve got – 45 minutes of live music, storytelling, theater, comedy with an Israeli twist, and a behind-the-scenes peek into the adventures of a Wandering Israeli. Join and help us spread the word: wandering-israeli.com/zoom

Kibbutzvisit.com

As an “Oleh” from Los Angeles and a lone soldier, I was adopted on a kibbutz. To this day I’m a proud “kibbutznik”, living in one of the most unique communities in the world. On stage, I share a kibbutz story and now, thanks to Corona times, I’ve built a website that maps out all the attractions in all the 250+ kibbutzim in Israel! When the skies open up once again, you too will be able to visit a kibbutz… and grab a lemon. It’s all about sharing. So please visit and share: kibbutzvisit.com – Visit a Kibbutz in Israel

If you have any ideas on how we can get the word out (and sell out our zoom shows six months in advance! :-), or even book a private zoom show for your community or anything else – just drop me a line. I’ve got quite a bit of time on my hands (and feet :-).

Keep safe, be well, and wander-on!

Until our paths meet again,

Elad