News from Israel is often dire and gloomy. But Daniella Askenazy–a freelance journalist from Silver Spring, MD, who made aliyah to Israel in 1968–decided to write a different kind of Israeli news column. Her weekly feature Chelm on the Med is a collection of wild, wacky, and often heartwarming stories that illustrate the strangeness of everyday life in Israel.
In one recent report, a bunch of illegally-imported crocodiles somehow made their way to the ritual baths of Hasidic Jews in Bnei Brak. In another, an Israeli soldier‘s mother snuck into his boot camp to accompany him on patrol.
Ms. Askenazy offers excerpts from the column free of charge to any newspaper that wants to print it. She also syndicates it on her website, so those of us who don’t happen to be in the media–or don’t happen to be in Israel–can also partake.
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