Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Culture

Offbeat Israel: Seductive Water and a Shul That Takes Plastic

Many Israelis considered it sexiest advertisement of the year. According to the Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO), it is also worthy of a more dubious accolade — the most sexist.

It is an advertisement for mineral water brand Eden Springs that features model Bar Refaeli posed seductively in the male protagonist’s kitchen. “The bar you always wanted at home,” says the catch line — referencing both the model and an Eden Springs dispenser.

WIZO decided to identify the most sexist advertisement as part of its events tied to International Women’s Day, which was celebrated last week. The organization is calling on the public not to buy products that advertise themselves “through the denigration of women.”


A man who appeared to be breaking traffic laws has been cleared of all charges because he celebrates his birthday according to the Hebrew calendar, not the Gregorian calendar.

In Israel, you are only allowed to drive with up to two passengers unless you are 21 or older. In September 2007, driver Chaim Frankel was taking four passengers. A policeman stopped him, looked at his documents, and said he was only 20-years-old. Frankel said he had turned 21 a fortnight earlier.

The dispute centered around the fact that Frankel — like many religious Jews — celebrates his birthday according to the Hebrew calendar, and therefore considered himself 21.

Given that both Gregorian and Hebrew dates have legal status in Israel, the case caused considerable discussion until last week when a judge acquitted Frankel — now 23, according to everyone — of all charges.


It’s the perennial problem experienced by synagogue gabbais, or wardens. When people pledge a donation to the synagogue when called to the Torah — a practice called shnoddering — how do they ensure the promises are kept?

So sick of people not paying was the gabbai in the Halmin synagogue the Haredi settlement of Beitar that, according to reports in the Orthodox press, he called the credit card company Isracard and asked for help finding a solution. He now has a mobile credit card machine that he charges at home and takes to synagogue in the morning (except on the Sabbath when no monetary transactions are permitted).

Yes, you can pay in installments.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.