Israel: Balagan, Sababa and Finding your Tribe

To understand Israel you need to understand some uniquely Israeli words and phrases:

1. Balagan
   This word originated from Russian roots, but is now very much Israeli.  It means chaos or fiasco and you encounter it as soon as you reach the passport line at Ben Gurion Airport.  A record 3.6 million tourists visited Israel in 2017 and contributed NIS 20 billion to the Israeli economy.  All 3.6 million of them have had to endure the chaos that ensues once your reach the passport lines.  Technically there are lines, but people are hovering in between, jumping from line to line and the entire process often takes hours.  It really sets you up with a few ticks up in your blood pressure and a little more aggression as you walk out into the hot sun and ready for battle on the train, in the mall, or at the markets.
2. Rosh Katan
   Literarily it means “small head”, but in day to day life it means “playing dumb” or putting in minimal effort.  Israelis often approach any request with this initial attitude.  It is quite shocking coming from abroad and  that the word “no” or “lo” is widely used in customer service.  That said for the most part we had very positive customer service experiences in our Israeli month.
3. Freier
   Yiddish for “sucker”.  No Israeli ever wants to be, or be seen as a freier.  That means that you can not possibly let anyone cut you off in line or traffic, or be fooled.  Your daily battle with the outside world is not to be a Freier.
4. Kashe
   Hard or difficult.  As much as Israelis like to take the easy, fast and most efficient way out and create the most amazing technology to get there, Israel as a whole loves to make life difficult.   From taxes to parking to almost anything else, life can be made difficult.  It is the middle east after all.
5. Sababa
   “Awesome”.  Can be conjugated in multiple ways and is just a way of life.  Actually life, living is Sababa.

As you get used and into Israeli life you learn to actually appreciate the constant dichotomy of daily life.  On the one hand it is hot, the temperature is high and sticky, people are rough around the edges and not friendly and one can easily constantly be on edge and just hate it.  On the other hand, it is hot, the food is GREAT, the beach is inviting and the water is warm, the people are out and about, living their life, socializing, with their friends, co-workers and family members.  The population is young and seemingly carefree.  You see a lot of kids out and about, they are a part of life, in the parks, in restaurants.  There is constant chaos and at the same time once you learn to navigate it, life really does become Sababa.

A Jewish man from London that we met and chatted with on the beach described it best.  Israelis are very nice and kind, they really actually care, but they have no manners.  You don’t have to worry about letting your kids walk around the beach, or the streets on their own, or that you’ll have a heart attack on the street and no one will come to your rescue.  But don’t expect a smile, or for anyone to let you off the bus, or give you a seat and the words “please”, “excuse me” and “thank you” have pretty much been struck out of the vernacular.

We arrived in Israel at the tail end of Sukkot after spending August in Scandinavia and the Nordics and before we even got here I told V that it’s good that we spent some time in Greece because otherwise the contrast would be too stark.  We weren’t completely ready for the attitude adjustment at first, but by the end of our first day in Tel Aviv we already started feeling like we are back home.  In the next few days we found the best falafel, the best hummus, the beach, the markets, parks and playgrounds and we each found our tribes as V got connected to yoga and wellness and I started connecting to the finance and tech startup community in and around Tel Aviv.

Israel and especially Tel Aviv have come a long way in the past 20 years, 10 years and 5 years.  Again, a dichotomy has developed.  Israel real estate was untouched by the 2008 global economic crisis, but now prices are completely out of reach for almost all Israelis.  Between foreign investors (30% of the market), population growth (less supply than demand) and immigration and foothold immigration (French and other Jews moving full time to Israel, or buying an apartment just in case anti-Semitism continues to flare up in Europe) real estate prices in Tel Aviv are now some of the most expensive in the world.   This has also led to a big build up of glassy new condo buildings.  But while a new skyline has filled up and new parks and green areas have popped up the older buildings, beat up by the salty air and the sun lay debilitated.  Why? No one wants to be the Freier that pays more to keep the outside of their building looking fresh, Rosh Katan and bare minimum effort attitude prevails.  There is an opportunity to make this city and country fresher, better and more sustainable than it already is, but for that you need longer term thinking, planning and an order that may not be in line with the Balagan that prevails and the short term live for today Sababa thinking.

Israel’s economy has a similar dichotomy.  Statistically, it has developed to one of the top 10 GDPs in the world, but under the hood there are many issues.  Income disparity is very high and the cost of living is higher than 2x the median income.  That means that a family where both adults work still can’t make ends meet.  We found Tel Aviv to be one of the most expensive cities we visited on multiple levels (judging by the cost of lodging or even a cup of coffee) and that has been one of the first thing anyone I met with, whether it is fellow New Yorkers, Europeans or local Israelis, speak about.  The official inflation numbers may not show it, but it definitely surprised us and surprises others when Tel Aviv is more expensive than most European cities and on par with London or New York to visit.  But somehow, Tel Avivans speak about how Kashe it is, but still pay up for the cup of coffee, or the high rent for the shoebox apartment because YOLO and you want it to be Sababa.

Israel’s business mentality is also very mixed.  The “Start-Up Nation” boasts more innovative tech startups than any community outside of silicon valley.  Even more impressive is it’s R&D prowess.  International companies usually engage in M&A in order to basically shut down many cost centers in the target company, but when acquiring an Israeli company the opposite is usually true — they shut down their US R&D center and move the innovation center to Herzeliya. The constant Balagan is actually very conducive to the “Move fast and break things” motto which has guided the tech start up culture of the better part of the past 2 decades.  Furthermore, Israel is a flat society: you can find everyone from the generals to businessmen to surfers eating in the same falafel joints and conversing freely.  This same mentality prevails in the workplace – open, blunt and very direct without much formalities.  This allows fast innovation and at the same time it allows quick retreats from projects that are clear failures, but in other parts of the world might take up many resources and time because no one wants to speak up to their superiors.  This part is great!   The dichotomy exists in that Israel and Israelis are not doing enough to think about long term sustainability of the economy, companies and people.  Everyone’s dream is to start a company, built it within 3 years and sell it.  That’s it.  There is lack of focus on building companies and champions that are true dominate global leaders, keep Israelis employed and educated and stay Israeli through and through.

The investment community lacks similar sustainable, long term thinking.  Israelis care about short term performance and that creates a very risky setup.  Instead of looking at long term results on a risk adjusted basis, most everyone cares about short term returns and benchmarking.  Couple that with some Balagan and Rosh Katan in order not to be accountable and the result is less than optimal and at times dangerous.  There is a definite need to develop more robust and liquid capital markets and real risk management standards and practices within the investment industry before this cycle ends.

With this polar economic reality there are also many polar social factors.  The left and right are very far apart in their political views on many levels and the country exists, set on Jewish values, with many outdated conservative realities and rules, but at the same time home to some of the world’s most liberal and free media and most outspoken people.  Within this country Tel Aviv seems at times to live in a bubble.  You walk around Tel Aviv and you see a mix of people, women in business suits and dads, with 2 or 3 kids on their shoulders very much involved in their kids’ lives.  While war may be on the borders only a few miles away, Tel Aviv is a city that never sleeps and its people are always out and about in constant social interaction and yet on Friday night and into Shabbat it slows down and everything almost stands still, reminding you that tradition sometimes outlasts all innovation.  SABABA!

I always say that my relationship with Israel is similar to the relationship one has with their family home.  You grow up, you move away and you expand your horizons and every time you come back that old home looks a little smaller, a little more beat up and old fashioned, but there is always a warm meal on the table and a warm pillow to lay your head on.  This still rings true to me after this time in Israel.  In many ways I and we have fallen in love with Israel and Tel Aviv all over again, but at the same time can’t imagine being able to stand it on a permanent basis and after a little while you are ready to go back out into the world.

I have also realized that 40 years after being born here, almost 30 years after moving to America and 10 years since I visited last I am no longer a true Israeli.  I am Israeli by birth and it is the only true homeland in my heart, but my Sabra thorns are not the same as they would have been had I spent all 40 years of my life here.  And that is just great.  Do I still get a little upset with myself when I speak in Hebrew and right away the person answers me in English because they pick up on my accent?  Sure.  But having had a different life experience means that I can appreciate the differences, but also be enough of a family insider to be able to point out the shortcomings within the family and maybe try to contribute to make them better in the long term and for our collective children.

Our time in Israel has been great and I am so grateful for our time living here.  It has brought our family and hearts much closer to our homeland and we are all very certain that going forward we will spend much more time here, especially if we end up living physically closer.  We have also incorporated some local customs into our family including a much more slow and family oriented Shabbat, shakshuka, more hummus, spend more time outdoors and being more informal and social.

p.s. for more Israeli slang click through this link  

p.p.s. We have been on the big trip for over 4 months and the “yoga” or process of the Big Trip is happening.  At first I was resistant and closed off and couldn’t really enjoy it or be in it enough.  Then there was a process of distress and detach (but not detox) and now as we spent a month physically and mentally detoxing and really getting into the stream of the moment I feel something happening inside.  As if some dots are connecting. Starting to “feel the effect” but have not gotten to the point where I can understand it, channel it and really focus the intention.  This voyage, on the 40th year of life, is such a blessing.  Maybe it took getting back to my place of birth to start to feel it:

“Baruch ata hadonei eluheinu melech ha’olam shehyanu v’keymanu v’hagiyanu l’zman haze.”

Amen!