the ancient port city of Jaffa to allocate plots of land for a new neighborhood called Ahuzat Bayit, later to be known as Tel Aviv. Those families, mostly middle-class European immigrants, wanted a clean, modern suburb outside the crowded, disease-ridden lanes of Jaffa. During the 1930s, Tel Aviv was transformed into a flourishing city by a massive wave of Jews fleeing persecution in Europe. All these people needed housing, and their predominantly German heritage and taste welcomed the designs of the Bauhaus School of Art and Design, led by architects Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe. Characterized by flat roofs, clean lines, lack of ornamentation and cubic shapes, the Bauhaus style of architecture (later known as the International Style), resulted in Tel Aviv’s signature look. The White City, as it is called, includes over four thousand buildings in this modern style, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. Since the 1980s, young, sophisticated, and educated Israelis from all over the country have flooded to Tel Aviv, which gives the city its sophisticated air. A large number of illegal immigrants from places like Eritrea, Sudan, and the Philippines have created ethnic clusters, adding to its cosmopolitanism. Massive renovation and development has added skyscrapers to all those Bauhaus gems, so the city now combines the look of a relaxed Mediterranean seaside town with an edgy urban vibe. Naturally, traffic jams Tel Aviv’s busy streets 24 hours a day as natives and tourists crowd the restaurants and clubs that go all night long. Tel Aviv’s club scene is said to rival that of New York City. Tel Aviv offers high as well as low culture. Israel is known to have the highest number of museums per capita of any country; three of the largest—Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, and Eretz Israel Museum— are in Tel Aviv. Eighteen of Israel’s 35 major centers for the performing arts are located in the city, including five of the country’s nine largest theaters. The Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center is home to the New Israeli Opera and Israel’s national ballet. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra performs here. Forty-seven movie theaters are located in the city, showing films from all over. Over one and a half million foreign tourists visit Tel Aviv annually and stay in the city’s 44 hotels. The gay capital of the Middle East, Tel Aviv has a well-established LGBT community. An Israeli transsexual won the 1998 Eurovision song contest, the city hosts a LGBT film festival, and its gay pride parade attracts large crowds from all over the world. All Tel Avivers are proud of the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team, which won the European Cup five times, and NBA player Anthony Parker called Tel Aviv the best basketball city. Not to neglect Israel’s other sports passion, Tel Aviv is the only city with three clubs in the Israeli Premier League, the country’s top soccer league. One hundred years after its establishment, Tel Aviv has made its founders’ vision of a vibrant, cosmopolitan, sophisticated city come to life. By Leah Garber, director of JCC Association’s Israel office. Contact Leah to find out how to bring your board to Israel for a meaningful retreat and learning seminar. e-mail: Leah@jcca.org.
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