Hooking Up, Israeli Style
Be sincere. Stay fit. And don’t be afraid to nudge.
That’s the advice from Tel Aviv-born party promoter Eliad Cohen on “How to Hook Up With a Sexy Israeli” in this week’s issue of Next, a New York gay weekly.
Cohen’s “Tel-Aviv and Madrid-inspired” party, Papa, makes its stateside debut this Sunday. To mark the occasion, Next “asked the Chelsea-via-Tel Aviv resident just what it takes to get the attentions of the boys of Zion.”
How, the magazine asked, “can we possibly manage to land a kosher man for ourselves?” Step 1, says Cohen: Be sincere, be yourself. “We Israelis are famous for being direct, so it’s important for someone we’re with to be sincere, honest and just basically himself.” Second: Fitness is important. “We enter the army for three years when we’re 18. I think that the constant training instills an appreciation for physical fitness from an early age,” he tells Next. Number three: Get ready to go, go, go! “Tel Aviv is a very active city, so we’re always on the go.”
And finally, Don’t be afraid to be a little persistent. “Israelis have a nickname: Sabras. A sabra is a type of cactus that’s prickly on the outside but really sweet on the inside. We can be a little tough and argumentative on the outside, but inside, we’re attentive and sweet. Don’t always judge a book by its cover — something like that.”
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chief