DALIA, SCHWARMA and YEHORAM GAON

Doesn't it sound just delicious to say that you can't wait to eat Schwarma again?

Well, what we had in the Druze (look it up folks) village of Dalia wasn't, according to my friends who took me with them, quite the real thing (and they were counting of having the real thing) - essentially because ours was chicken and real Schwarma is made with lamb - a big leg of lamb, roasted on a spit off of which meat is shredded and given to you, along with rice - or the ever popular Tzhips (french fries - just say "chips" with a non-English accent on the "ch" and you get the idea).

Regardless - my inexperienced palate found the food to be plentiful (I have leftovers in the fridge) and delicious.

So, we're sitting in this restaurant in Dalia and I have on the table a clipping from the newspaper of a concert in Ceasarea which I would like to attend that evening (no, I didn't go). The waiter asks about it and then tells me that Yehoram Gaon is sitting in this very restaurant and I should go say "hello." I didn't "get" all of this right away and I though maybe the owner was his brother, or something, but no, it was Yehoram Gaon himself.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering what the big deal is. Well, imagine you happen to be - say, in Portland, Maine, doing a little touristy kind of thing and have clipped from the local paper that James Taylor is in concert nearby and you want to figure out how to get there. Then, the waiter says, oh, you like that kind of music, do you?, well, sitting up in front is Paul Simon.

Get the idea? Yehoram Gaon is a classic Israeli music star from the 70"s to now. Everyone knows him. Everyone knows his songs. He is a part of everyone's musical experience. And, he's eating in the same restaurant as we are.

So, pure tourista, we walk to the front (the place isn't very crowded - it's near closing time) and say hello, etc. - my friend's husband takes picture of us standing together. There it is in living color, my photo next to a STAR!!

BTW - when the owner of the restaurant asks my friend's husband how the meal was - when he was paying the check - he tells him the food was only so-so, but Yehoram Gaon made up for it.

We then proceed to get 20% off of whatever we buy in the shop next door - and we do some shopping - which was part of the trip to Dalia - authentic Druze crafted wares.

Cheers from 7 hours further along in the day than all of you on the East Coast of the USA.

Rabbi Heath