This is a photograph of a man holding a trumpet to his mouth. The title given to this photograph explains that this is the town crier, announcing the start of Shabbat to the people of Tel Aviv. He is walking down the street and is wearing a long black coat and a black hat. A man riding a bicycle along the street is watching him. In the background is a shop advertising Israeli produce.
Even today, the start of Shabbat is announced in towns and cities with special sirens or even Shabbat songs on loudspeakers. This photograph depicts the well-known Tel Aviv “Shabbat town crier” who blew the trumpet or the shofar on different occasions. This photograph also depicts the often complicated relationship between religion and the residents of Tel Aviv, which has been a secular, liberal stronghold since its establishment. Alongside the mainly secular residents of Tel Aviv, there has always been an orthodox community wishing to form a more Jewish ambiance in the “first Hebrew city.” There has always been controversy over the way that Shabbat is practiced in Tel Aviv in the public domain.
In the Jewish calendar, the day begins when the sun sets and not, as in the Gregorian calendar, at midnight. The time of the beginning of the day therefore varies throughout the year as the time of sunset changes. Thus the exact time of the start of Shabbat changes from week to week, and notices and other methods are used to announce the beginning of the holy day.
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Celebrating Shabbat in Different Ways – Orthodox Jews who follow the halachah (laws originating from the traditional interpretation of the Torah) celebrate Shabbat according to traditional laws that focus on refraining from secular work, business, and study as a day of family, prayers, and rest. These laws include prohibitions on writing, driving, and using electricity and technology. However, Shabbat is also celebrated in many other ways. Many non-Orthodox families also have special Shabbat meals, often including Kiddush. People use the day to rest, take trips, visit family, etc. Either way, the Jewish people, who brought the day of rest to the Western world, still finds ways to change their life on the seventh day of the week.
Tel Aviv-Jaffa – Founded in 1909 by a small group of Jews on the outskirts of old Jaffa, Tel Aviv is now Israel’s second largest city and the cultural, financial, and technological centre of the country. It is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the heart of the Gush Dan Metropolitan area. The original founders of Tel Aviv were looking for a healthier environment outside of the crowded city of Jaffa. With the help of the Jewish National Fund, they purchased 12 acres of sand dunes and called their new city Tel Aviv (spring hill). “Tel Aviv” was the name given by Nahum Sokolow to his Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzl’s classic, Altneuland. Meir Dizengoff was the first mayor of Tel Aviv and served for 25 years. In 1917, the Ottoman rulers expelled most of the Jewish community from Tel Aviv. With the end of World War I and the start of British rule the following year, the Jews were invited back to Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is sometimes called the “White City” due to the 4000 or more buildings built in the Bauhaus style. The mostly white Bauhaus buildings were built in the 1930s by German Jewish architects who immigrated to pre-state Israel during the British Mandate after the rise of the Nazis in Germany. Tel Aviv has the largest number of Bauhaus buildings of any city in the world. On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was declared in the art museum that was located in Dizengoff House. By 1950, the city of Tel Aviv had grown and expanded, and it was renamed Tel Aviv-Jaffa to reflect the unified city and to preserve the historical name of Jaffa. Tel Aviv is the home of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the financial capital of Israel. It is also the centre of high-tech and start-up companies and a major centre of culture and entertainment, known for its active nightlife and the variety and quality of its restaurants.
