"State of Israel"

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
[b]"State of Israel"

Just Learned My Son, Eric, Will Be Travelling to Israel Next Week on Business.
I'd Very Much Appreciate Any Current Information About This High Profile Center
of Strife from Anyone Who Has Family or Friends There or Has Recently Visited.
Thank You.[/b]

Why do you capitalize every word?

Aside from that, my advice is, having friends who go there, I would not order pork ribs.

Originally posted by JS357
Why do you capitalize every word?

Aside from that, my advice is, having friends who go there, I would not order pork ribs.

Thank you.

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
Thank you.

Try

http://www.vayama.com/etiquette/israel/

quote:


1. Dress Attire

DON'T worry about a dress code, normally. Most of Israel is very westernized.
DO dress more conservatively if visiting a synagogue or mosque. No bare legs or arms.
DO cover your head in a synagogue if you're a man.
DO wear proper business attire if attending a business function. In the summer, proper business attire for men is a light suit (with or without a tie), or a button up shirt with nice pants. In the winter, the proper business attire for men is a suit, jacket, and tie. For women, the appropriate business attire is dresses and skirts of a reasonable length or slacks.

2. Table Manners

DO assume that your hosts keep kosher unless they tell you otherwise. Keeping kosher means that pork and shellfish are completely off limits, and mixing dairy and meat is not allowed. Be aware of this!
DO expect an informal atmosphere at meals.
DO eat only what you want off your plate. It's not customary to eat everything off your plate unless you want to.

3. Tipping

DO check the bill to see if a service charge was added before paying a tip. This would be written in both English and Hebrew.
DO tip generously if the service was good. Restaurant wait staff often don't make a lot of money and depend on tips.

4. Gift Giving and Accepting Gifts

DO give a gift to a business associate if invited to their home.
DON'T spend more than twenty U.S. dollars on a gift.
DO give flowers. There are no rules or customs in terms of giving flowers.

5. Body Gestures

DON'T make disrespectful remarks about the Torah or Judaism.
DON'T discuss the Arab-Israeli situation.
DON'T bring up the Holocaust.

6. Greetings

DO feel comfortable moving to a first name basis rather quickly. This is common in Israel.
DO shake hands upon meeting someone and again upon departing.
DON'T shake hands with a woman who is obviously religious. In Orthodox Judaism, men and women who are not married do not touch each other at all.
DO stand upon visitors entering a room. Men will also often stand whenever a woman enters.

7. Language Etiquette

DO expect to see and hear a lot of English. Although Hebrew and Arabic are the official languages of Israel, most people speak English, as it is mandatory in Israeli schools. Street signs are also in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.

8. Visitors Etiquette

DO bring a gift. A bottle of kosher wine or flowers is a perfect gift for your host.
DO expect dinner at someone's home to last the entire evening.
DON'T discuss business at someone's home.
DO call to thank your hosts for their hospitality. A written thank you note isn't necessary.

9. Shopping

DO bargain when shopping. At bazaars sometimes you can get the merchant down to 25% of the original price. Bargaining at malls and big stores is a little harder, but you may want to give it a whirl anyway! The more you buy, the easier it will be to bargain.

10. Business Meeting

DO schedule your appointments one or two days in advance. If you're meeting with a high-ranking official, then your appointment might take even longer to arrange.
DO be on time. Meetings start within ten minutes of the scheduled start time. Business negotiations will begin quickly.
DO feel comfortable making small talk in the beginning of the meeting. You may chat about weather, your hotel, family, etc., but avoid politics or religion unless you know your hosts views and don't be critical!
DO expect business meetings to be fairly informal.
DON'T expect to receive business cards when doing business in Israel. Unless the meeting is with a big company, business cards are usually not exchanged.

In spite if Israel being a fairly Westernized country, you'll find that in some respects, the people of Israel are very traditional due to the laws of Judaism. Enjoy your trip to Israel, but remember to respect their customs and religion.

Originally posted by JS357
Try

http://www.vayama.com/etiquette/israel/

quote:


1. Dress Attire

DON'T worry about a dress code, normally. Most of Israel is very westernized.
DO dress more conservatively if visiting a synagogue or mosque. No bare legs or arms.
DO cover your head in a synagogue if you're a man.
DO wear proper business attire if attending a busi ism. Enjoy your trip to Israel, but remember to respect their customs and religion.

Wow. I had no idea there were that many details to consider. With your permission, I'll email a verbatim copy to #1 Son (Boyhood Nickname, since he won his first chess tournament in 1st Grade at the age of five). Many wonderful years later, Eric found RHP and encouraged me to join.

Here are few comments in response to your previous question: "Why do you captalize every word?" 1) I'm a retired widower here to enjoy frequent contact with old and new friends in the forums and over the chess board. Since returning from an unanticipated 16-month medical related absence, I've been primarily playing Unrated/Conversational Games;

2) Routine Internet Communications ever since Eric configured a laptop system for his First Time Ever User Father in 2007, appropriate etiquette and conventional protocols have been learned (many through somewhat arduous trial and error) and applied; 3) Deviations from [Standard English Language Sentence Length, Upper and Lower Case Usage, Spellings and Abbreviations] reflect either situation warranted, heightened seriousness [as it was in this thread's original post] or friendship related relaxed two-way liberties [sometimes outrageously funny] for the sake of relaxed give and take in the name of fun. Some RHP In-Game Message Conversations I still laugh about long after our game's done or emails have been replied to and sometimes saved.

We all have different likes and dislikes; tastes and styles; personalities and communication comfort zones. How horribly boring would our lives and times be if some Government Stricture Summarily Penalized Us by Duct Taping Our Fingers Together or Mouths Shut for Violating the "Law of All People Shall Be Cookie Cutter the Same". Ha, (gb)
.

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
We all have different likes and dislikes; tastes and styles; personalities and communication comfort zones. How horribly boring would our lives and times be if some Government Stricture Summarily Penalized Us by Duct Taping Our Fingers Together or Mouths Shut for Violating the "Law of All People Shall Be Cookie Cutter the Same". Ha, (gb)

You are one of a kind, Bobby (I fervently hope).

Originally posted by HandyAndy

You are one of a kind, Bobby (I fervently hope)

"(I fervently hope)" hey, handy, i hope u realize hope's still one of my fav colors [tks]

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
"(I fervently hope)" hey, handy, i hope u realize hope's still one of my fav colors [tks]

I was in and out of Israel for almost ten years and my take on security is this: If you are living in the center, like Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, you don't have a whole lot to worry about in terms of the Palestinian bottle rockets, not enough range.

Also the amount of actual bombing is much less now than in the past, suicide bombers, I am talking about, C4 strapped to their backpacks and so forth. You can't let that kind of thing cloud your thinking about being there.

If you get worried about it, the terrorist wins. That is exactly what they want, people to be afraid.

Being afraid or not being afraid, the chances of being in the wrong place at the wrong time are exactly the same so in my mind, going around unafraid is the way to go. That puts unafraidness of at least ONE person fighting the wishes of the Jihadists which is to make you afraid to go places, do business, play music, whatever.

Originally posted by sonhouse

I was in and out of Israel for almost ten years and my take on security is this: If you are living in the center, like Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, you don't have a whole lot to worry about in terms of the Palestinian bottle rockets, not enough range.

Also the amount of actual bombing is much less now than in the past, suicide bombers, I am talking about, C4 s ...[text shortened]... shes of the Jihadists which is to make you afraid to go places, do business, play music, whatever.

Thanks, Sonhouse. May I forward your comments to him (as an internet chess friend, without disclosing your RHP Nickname Identity)? Finally have his Travel Schedule: "Tel Aviv, Israel arrive May 23 2013" for about a week, I believe.

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby

Thanks, Sonhouse. May I forward your comments to him (as an internet chess friend, without disclosing your RHP Nickname Identity)? Finally have his Travel Schedule: "Tel Aviv, Israel arrive May 23 2013" for about a week, I believe.

Correction: He leaves for Tel Aviv, Israel Friday (May 3) and will be back the following Saturday(May 11, 2013).

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
Correction: He leaves for Tel Aviv, Israel Friday (May 3) and will be back the following Saturday(May 11, 2013).

Of course you can forward it to him, I thought that was in the program🙂

Originally posted by sonhouse

Of course you can forward it to him, I thought that was in the program. 🙂

Both Eric and I thank you (JS357, Johnny and Zamboner) for this timely information. Even during the past few days, tensions with Syria have mounted. Logan to JFK late yesteday afternoon, then an 11 Hour Delta Evening Flight to Tel-Aviv, Israel, to begin work Sunday through Thursday. He'll be a student, for once, having been given an invitation to participate with an international group in a Beta Testing/Focus Group (for one of this company's newest internet security software services). During free hours, he plans 30-Minute Bus Trips for Tours of Jordan one day and Jerusalem the next. This opportunity must be one of the most exciting events of my son's professional life. Marriott's Renaissance Tel-Aviv Hotel:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/travel/tlvbr-renaissance-tel-aviv-hotel/