Friends of Friends: Bat Yam – A Room with a View

While at Matzrap, one of my fellow volunteers gave me the business card for a B & B in Bat Yam. Jack thought I would enjoy meeting the owner and staying by the sea. And so it was that I came to visit A Room with a View.


Sharon Sleeper, a former Sar El volunteer, ran the Atlanta office of Volunteers for Israel for many years before she made aliyah. I had directions from her to get to Bat Yam with specific instructions for my transfer at the Central Bus Station (my least favorite place in the whole country) in Tel Aviv.


Sharon was delightful company. While we went out exploring the city (Bat Yam and Tel Aviv) by bus while my clothes were in the washing machine – emphasis on machine! I was taking notes on the bus routes that would get me ”home”.
We ate falafel and did some shopping. At the bookstore, I loved seeing copies of Anita Diamant’s Red Tent in Hebrew! (A Kodak book moment with Sharon in the background).

Hanging one’s wash to dry 10 floors up is a nerve-racking experience. I probably used twice the number of clothespins than I needed, but I was very concerned about dropping something (bras or undies come to mind!) Worrying about falling laundry did not affect my ability to sleep soundly. It was a deja-vu: falling asleep to the sound of the water! (almost like being in Rhode Island at the Pooc)


This was my time to finish off the short “To Do List” for Tel Aviv. A tour of the “White City” was on it. The area known as the ”White City” has an extensive collection of Bauhaus architecture.

One of the oldest and most elegant avenues is Rothschild Blvd, is at the heart of the area.
In July 2003, the “unique urban and historical fabric” of early Tel Aviv, known as the White City, was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Its history is interesting. At the beginning of the 19th century Jaffa, a very busy port city was overcrowded. People were migrating from the area, to Neve Tzedek and beyond, in search of a better quality of life. 60 families built single-family homes on wide streets in Tel Aviv. This was the vision of a better socio-economic status. Jaffa remained the focal point for work and shopping until rioting between the Arabs and Jews erupted in the port city. The homes that were built were eclectic, incorporating a variety of design components: oriental domes, classic Greek arches and pillars, and Jewish stars. By the late 1920’s, there was an emigration of architects to study at the Bauhaus Center in Germany.


The architects returned with ideas of simplicity, functionality, minimalism and mass production. The basics of the Bauhaus structure are an asymmetric design, a single-family house and a prominent balcony.


Most had windows in the stairwells. Rounded corners were not a Bauhaus feature; rather, they were added at a later period to ”soften” city life.



Although the White City has much prominence with its UNESCO designation, Neve Tzedek has its own significance in the history of Tel Aviv. In 1887, a small group of Jewish families began creating a community on the sand to the north of the poverty stricken, mostly Arab port of Jaffa. At the rate of 10 houses per year, they laid the cornerstone for Neve Tzedek in1890. This is the oldest neighborhood in Tel Aviv.

Today this area is an artists’ haven, with a growing number of galleries and restaurants.

Though bordered by main boulevards, this little quarter is very tranquil. About a dozen streets, make up the area of one and two story buildings. It is a neighborhood in transition as many of the buildings are in various stages of disrepair or renovation! Gentrification is happening in Neve Tzedek!

Early morning walks on the Bat Yam promenade along the water gave me insight to the population in Bat Yam. Hebrew was not the primary language! Although it is a Russian enclave at this time, the historical perspective is always interesting.

In the years following Israel's independence, Bat Yam grew dramatically due to mass immigration, gaining the status of a city in 1958. As more and more immigrants moved to the city, socio-economic problems began to appear. Relatively low real estate prices and a building boom during the 1970s and 1980s, saw even more migrants from lower socio-economic strata, mainly second- and third generation descendants of Jewish immigrants from Arab countries move into the city. As a result, middle-class veteran inhabitants of Bat Yam started to move out, primarily to the newer suburbs of Rishon LeZion, a boomtown south of Bat Yam.


In the early 1990s a mass-immigration from the former Soviet Union lead to many choosing Bat Yam as their new home. It was close to the industrial centers of the country, and relatively low real estate prices. This influx of Russians, however, did nothing to help the city's socio-economic crisis, and by the early 2000's, following financial scandals resulting from the declining local leadership, the city was placed at the brink of bankruptcy. Bat Yam became synonymous with urban decay, with a reputation for having waste left in streets, and poor sanitation.


Since 2003, with the election of a new mayor, the city has slowly begun to rejuvenate. Some areas have already been transformed; others are in the process. Kiryat Bobov, a small Hasidic enclave, has established itself in Bat Yam. A recent article in the Hebrew edition (Unfortunately, I have not yet found the English translation) of the National Geographic Traveler identified Bat Yam as the next Riviera. Millions of shekels and dollars are driving the new building boom!

Shabbat provided an exciting excursion to Petah Tikvah, northwest of the city. Since the buses don’t run on Saturdays, getting there was the biggest part of the adventure. I was off to visit Alfred, the manager of the warehouse where I spent most of my working hours at Matzrap. Sharon accompanied me to the Central Bus Station to make sure I would find a “sherut”. A sherut is a shared taxi service that is run by private companies. The van waits until it is full and then goes to its destination; my wait was minimal!

I met Alfred on the bridge near the medical center. The bridge reminded me of the new Zakim Bridge in Boston. It was a fun day visiting with Keren, Alfred’s wife and his 2-year-old daughter, Efrat. I brought a copy of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree for Efrat. I don’t think the cadence (that would be very slow) of my reading Hebrew helped her understand the story! She was totally engrossed in the story with her mother reading. Meeting Alfred’s family was a really nice extension of my Sar El experience.

I can’t wait to find out the news of the newest member of their family! Alfred was kind enough to drive me back to Bat Yam; Keren didn’t want me on the sherut again!

The following day I was off to Jerusalem.. Sharon gave me a great Plan B and I was able to get the bus from the Arlozorov bus station in North Tel Aviv. There were hugs and last minute instructions before she put me on the #10 bus right in front of the condo. I had a great tour of the city on the way! Traveling on Sundays is always busy (first day back to work after the weekend);I elbowed my way on to the bus just like the locals!

And the adventure continues...