The most mouth-watering task is to explore Jewish cuisine. First of all, it is important to figure out what kosher is and what treif (non-kosher) is.

It is acceptable to eat meat of cud-chewing even-toed ungulates, such as goats, cows, deer, gazelles, etc. Pigs do not chew their cuds, so it is forbidden. According to halakha (Jewish law), animals must be slaughtered in a single cutting movement of a very sharp knife. After that blood must be drained off, then meat must be washed in three waters.

You can eat poultry but not birds of prey (owls, eagles, pelicans). It is permitted to eat eggs without blood spots in the yolk that are bigger from one (rounded) end and smaller from the other (sharp) end.

Fish need fins and scales to be permissible. Therefore, salmon can be eaten and, consequently, red caviar, too. However, it is forbidden to eat sturgeons and black caviar.

Meat and dairy products cannot be consumed together: there should be some time between such meals. However, fruit, vegetables, honey and nuts can be consumed with both of these foods.

The Torah specifies all these complicated dietary laws. For most of us, it is extremely hard to understand why such strict rules are necessary. What is way more interesting is the attitude of modern Tel Aviv residents to such dietary laws. Do they follow or neglect kosher rules?

We suggest you get an exciting gastronomic experience and grab a bite at one of Tel Aviv’s markets.

The Carmel Market: it is the largest and the noisiest market. Practically anything can be bought here, from ripe strawberries or fresh squeezed lemonade to sneakers or beach tennis rackets. Thanks God, you get to the market on the way to the beach. Though there are vociferous sellers and voracious buyers, as well as the atmosphere of a real Eastern market in the air, at no time will you feel deceived or foisted. All the sellers are smiley and friendly. They will be glad to haggle over the price in fluent English. They might tell you a funny story or even treat you with something yummy!

The following two markets are can be found in other tasks. So, to complete the experience, we suggest you go to the Carmel Market if you have enough free time.

The Levinsky Market: this is where people buy spices and Mediterranean foods (from Turkey, Romania and Greece). Its main part is located between Ha'Aliya and Herzl streets. Here you can find savories, bourekas (a local baked pastry), pickled products, exotic sausages, fish, olives, teas with rose petals sold by weight, Indian spices, saffron of high quality, za'atar (a local spice mixture), etc.
This market is in the Florentin neighborhood, where you can complete other tasks.

The Sarona Market: it is a prestigious indoor food court, or a more refined version of street food with rare sections of smaller stalls. It is all about pleasant coolness and nice market-goers.
This market is in the Sarona neighborhood, where you can complete other tasks.

This smart city is designed for clever discerning travelers. There is no limit to perfection.

Quality of Living City Ranking is annually published by Mercer, an international consulting company. All the cities included in the ranking are rated based on the following important criteria:

• quality of social environment
• cultural life
• political stability
• education
• transport accessibility
• attractiveness for business

In total, the quality of living in at least 200 most popular cities in the world is estimated by Mercer. We found 2019 Quality of Living Ranking. Now, Tel Aviv took the honorable 104th place. In other words, the city is the golden mean. At the same time, Moscow, for example, ranked 167th, which makes one wonder whether the ranking is really that unbiased. Comparing personal impressions of Tel Aviv with the reviews of returnees and those who relocated, one could say that, over the past few years, Moscow has been consistently overperforming Tel Aviv in terms of quality of living and other parameters.

You could never imagine Tel Aviv without a beach and the beach without the residents of Tel Aviv. This combination creates a unique vibe and even the guests of the city become vibrant.

You can complete this task in one chosen location and combine it with others to earn more points!

In general, right from the start, Tel Aviv gives the impression of a very safe and relaxed city. The only thing which interferes with this relaxation is the sound of the never-ending traffic and repair works.

The chillout reaches its peak in the late afternoon, at about 6 p.m. This is the time when the whole city starts moving towards the embankment as if by magic. You could call it Hell of Israel in a good way. People run, drive, go, walk their dogs, sit, lie around, do yoga, work out, play football and volleyball, smoke cannabis (yes, you will quickly smell this), swim, drink (in bars and outdoors using paper-bag bottles) and have barbecue. It happens 24/7, all the year round.

The ability to separate the wheat from the chaff and fact from fiction means we defy stereotypes related to Jews. Or sometimes confirm that some of them are actually true.

“How many Zionists does it take to replace a light bulb? Four: One to stay home and convince others to do it, a second to donate the bulb, a third to screw it in and a fourth to proclaim that the entire Jewish people stands behind their actions.” Do you remember similar jokes?

We daresay that while you were going to Israel you couldn’t help thinking about a whole range of stereotypes.

These are some of them:

• all Jews are greedy and avaricious, hoping to make themselves rich by any means. They are born moneylenders
• Jewish mothers hold sway of their sons practically until they die and even getting married is prohibited unless you get your mother’s consent
• matzo and forshmak represent traditional local cuisine
• Jews wear payots to infuriate others
• the whole population of Israel consists of Orthodox people in strange hats
• half of the population in Tel Aviv walks around carrying assault rifles
everyone is always ready to immediately go down to shelter in case of warning of a missile attack
• Israel would have dissolved a long time ago if it hadn’t been for immigrants from the former Soviet Union

You can add your own stereotypes that have not been listed.

A spoon bender, the Great and Terrible. Who is Uri Geller? Prodigy or great hoaxer and marketing genius?

Do you remember it when in 2021 the Ever Given container ship ran aground obstructing the Suez Canal? So much effort was put into freeing and refloating the ship! Carriers, insurers and everyone involved in this business tore their hair out, suffering billions in losses. 14 tugboats and dredgers worked day and night to refloat the stranded container ship. What a relief it was for everyone to find out that the vessel was finally freed.

The famous illusionist, mentalist and spoon bender Uri Geller seems to have been the only person in the world who was as cool as a cucumber then. The thing is when Ever Given ran aground, Uri said, «We can do this [refloat the ship] with mind power energy». When the vessel was freed, Uri reminded the world about his modest achievement. Now you are among those few who know the greatest secret of all times!

In 2015, having grown older, Uri, who is 76 now, came back to his hometown and opened the museum dedicated to his life which is located in Old Jaffa. What do you think is right in front of its entrance? You’d better see the artifact with your own eyes and touch it with your own hands.

Uri claims that he owes his power to representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations. The aliens are said to have kidnapped Uri at the age of three, endowing him with unprecedented superpowers. However, critics assume that Uri's superpowers are making money out of thin air and gaining profits by exploiting anything that could have Uri Geller’s brand name on it. For example, the museum's website sales bronze handguns that have bent barrels and the word PEACE carved in three languages. How much do you think each of these handguns costs? 6,000 bucks, Carl!

The religious life of the Jewish people is puzzling and unclear. It’s a hopeless tangle unless you have a rabbi. Or is it possible to see the light at the end of the tunnel?

Judaism is the oldest existing monotheistic religion in the world. This religious, national and ethical mindset of the Jewish people can be traced back to the 2nd millennium BC.

The religious life of Israeli Jews seems to be very complicated. What is more, there are terms, such as Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim, Shema Yisrael, menorah, Shabbat, Magen David, kashrut, shofar, amongst so many others...

“Young man, we Russian don’t tip each other off!” Brother 2, a popular Russian film

Do you know what Aliyah means? For some people, this is a name for Turkic girls. For Israelis, Aliyah is a wave of Jewish immigration (repatriation) to Israel. In this case, it is correct to refer to Israelis as to migrants because the last waves of repatriation included just a minority of full Jews. So what if the population, including those people who are obligated to serve in the military, is the main guarantee for Israel’s survival?

In total, there were more than 10 repatriation waves. The first Aliyah began in 1882 and affected Jews, most of whom lived in the Russian Empire (Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Bessarabia). Russia and the Soviet Union played a vital role in recovering the population of Palestine and Israel.

While conducting your research today, pay attention to the so-called Russian trail in the life of modern Tel Aviv. Where do most of those who turn out to be Russian work? Are there any signboards or advertisements in Russian? Have you seen anyone speaking Russian? How often? Are there any Russian-speaking websites or other electronic means?