022 Infinite Light

Tel Aviv has officially joined an exclusive club of cities worldwide that permanently host an exhibition by prominent artist Yayoi Kusama. Starting this past June, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art began displaying "Infinity Mirrored Room: The Eternally Infinite Light of the Universe Illuminating the Quest for Truth" as part of its permanent collection. This long-titled exhibition is  expected to transform the museum into a pilgrimage site for art lovers from across Israel and beyond.

The announcement came after the overwhelming success of Kusama's 2021 retrospective exhibition which drew hundreds of thousands of visitors and was the first display of the Japanese contemporary artist in Israel. The retrospective featured over 200 works spanning eight decades of now 96-year-old Kusama, but it was the infinity room, a specific section of the retrospective, that captured the collective imagination of Tel Avivians.

For more than fifty years, Kusama has been creating these immersive installations that envelop viewers in a universe of endless reflections. This particular room, created in 2020 specifically for the Tel Aviv exhibition, contains bright, flashing LED lights that slowly change color within darkness, like an infinite cosmos of stars. Mirrors line every surface, creating the illusion of boundless space within a chamber no larger than a modest bedroom.

The experience is intimate by design - only one or two people can enter at a time, spending precisely sixty seconds inside before making way for the next visitor. In the past two months since the permanent installation opened, the museum has already seen visitors queuing, with advance bookings quickly filling up. Initially open only on Thursday evenings, the museum promises to expand access to regular operating hours as they refine the visitor flow.

I was thinking about this recent addition to the permanent collection of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art as I was passing by it. Actually, I’m passing by the museum quite often, since it’s right next to where I’m recording this podcast, at the podcasting studios of Tel Aviv׳s main public library, Beit Ariela. Is this Kusama installation really making Tel Avivians ponder about the infinity, the universe and the quest for truth? Or is it simply a great background for yet another instagram story? Perhaps I shouldn’t be too cynical about it. After all, if it’s another step in connecting people with art and culture - so be it. Plus, it further cements the Tel Aviv Museum of Art’s standing as a world class art museum. One could say that Kusama's infinity room is also the perfect metaphor for Tel Aviv itself - a small space that contains endless possibilities.

My name is Tomer Chelouche and I've been guiding tours in Tel Aviv since 2008. I started out of fascination with my family history - the Chelouche family was one of the founding families of Tel Aviv. My ancestors built this city - and I'm telling its story.

The best way to get to know Tel Aviv better is by purchasing one of my audio tours. Here's one way to do just that -

The Elkonin Hotel first opened its doors in 1913 as the city's very first hotel. After welcoming luminaries like Albert Einstein and leaders such as David Ben-Gurion the hotel lost much of its glory and fell into decades of neglect before new life was recently breathed into it. Reopened a few years ago after meticulous restoration, this property blending historical preservation with Parisian elegance now operates as a stylish 44-room boutique hotel not far from Rothschild Boulevard.

The hotel's crown jewel is its rooftop dipping pool, overlooking the urban scenery and a bit of the Mediterranean coastline, complemented by a cocktail bar. The building's early 20th-century elegance is evident in each and every room, featuring carefully selected furniture perfectly combining style and comfort. Some rooms face the sea, others overlook the charming streets of Neve Tzedek, with several featuring private balconies ideal for morning coffee.

What sets Elkonin apart is its commitment to creating a luxurious escape in Parisian style. The French skincare company Clarins opened its first spa in Israel at the Elkonin. The newly opened bakery and the sophisticated seafood restaurant in the hotel’s ground floor complete its high level of hospitality. After indulging in a Swedish massage at the spa and after dipping in the rooftop pool, in the late hours of afternoon when the heat of the day starts to cool off, you’d be all set for my Trail of Independence audio tour. A few minutes walk away from the Elkonin Hotel you’ll find the starting point for the audio tour, right on Rothschild Boulevard.

This historical journey traces the footsteps of the city's founding fathers. Here it was where sixty families drew lots from seashells to determine their plots of land to build the first houses in Tel Aviv. Here also was the Hall of Independence, where David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the birth of the State of Israel. As you stroll beneath the boulevard's leafy canopy, I'll reveal how Tel Aviv emerged from sand dunes to become the beating heart of the Startup Nation, sharing stories of the first sheriff of the city and the school that regrettably vanished. This will be your opportunity to learn the secrets hiding behind the preserved buildings that witnessed a city’s beginning and a nation's birth.

You can make sure you've downloaded my Trail of Independence audio tour before you head out, or you can download it on the go if you're set with a data package allowing for uninterrupted internet access. There's a link in the show notes to purchase my audio tour -

The Trail of Independence: Tracing the origins of modern Tel Aviv

If you have any questions - you’ll find all the ways to contact me on telaviv.tours (telaviv as one word, no space, no hyphen) and there’s a link in the show notes for your digital convenience.

Travelers coming to Tel Aviv next month, August 2025, will experience the notorious combination of Middle Eastern heat and Mediterranean humidity. Learn from locals, who will surely tell you that the best time to go outside is in the late afternoon hours. Past 4pm is when you should start exploring the city streets. Conveniently, this is also the time Tel Avivians come back home from work and go out for happy hour drinks, mostly between the hours of 5pm to 7pm. Sitting at a local pub, taking in the last hours of the day as the sun sets into the sea and the breeze comes rushing over your face - this is the true feeling of freedom and relaxation that this city offers. In celebration of that little joy we have in life, here’s a short guide to Tel Aviv’s drinking culture. I’ll fill you in on what to drink, but it’s up to you to decide what to drink for.

1) Gazoz - For a truly Tel Aviv experience, head to Levinsky Market and seek out Café Levinsky 41, where owner Benny Briga has elevated “Gazoz” - a traditional Israeli soda - into an art form. His artisanal beverages combine sparkling water with locally sourced fruits, flowers, herbs and spices, creating a kind of flora artwork in a glass. The original “Gazoz” (taken from the Hebrew word for sparkling) dates back to Tel Aviv in its infancy. The first business place in town - the kiosk on the corner of Rothschild Boulevard and Herzl Street - sold soda water flavored with syrups. Today, Briga's creations might include a tomato-based soda that tastes like a virgin Bloody Mary or a version including almond flavoured fermented loquat. Each glass is adorned with a combination including some or all of the following: macerated fruit, sugar-preserved spices, fresh herbs and edible flowers. It’s a culinary upgrade, a far cry from the simple syrup-and-soda of the first kiosk.

2) Arak - the anise-flavored liquor that has become integral to local drinking culture is probably the first response you get if you ask a local what is the quintessential Israeli alcoholic drink. Made by distilling grapes and adding anise, this clear spirit performs a mesmerizing transformation when water is added, turning from transparent to milky white - a chemical reaction that never fails to fascinate first-time drinkers. True arak aficionados prefer it served simply: over ice with a splash of water, but most drinkers would prefer it mixed with grapefruit juice or lemonade. Arak - taken from the Arabic word that means to break a sweat, since you start sweating if you drink too much - is famous across the Middle East, but the local twist, lemon or grapefruit, is a hallmark of Israeli drinking culture.

3) Ice Café - If Tel Aviv had an official summer drink, it would probably be a coffee slushie. Israelis use the half English half French term “Ice Café” to ask for that cool and energizing drink, which some deem as Tel Aviv’s unofficial official drink. I loved it as a teenager, but today it’s too sweet for my taste, so I go for the more ordinary cold coffee, which is just a shot of espresso over milk saturated with ice cubes. Still, from time to time, and especially in the peak heat of August, I order an Ice Café, with recollections from being twenty-something coming to mind with every sip. With branches scattered in many places across Tel Aviv, popular Israeli coffee chain “Aroma” is the place to get either a regular or a diet version. It’s worth mentioning that if you look for a Starbucks in Tel Aviv - or, indeed, in Israel - you won’t find any. Starbucks did try, more than once, to penetrate the Israeli market, failing spectacularly. What can you say? We simply had great coffee to begin with.

4) Israeli Wine - First established in the late 19th century, vineyards and wineries were a central source of income for the modern Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. For years, customers from Jewish communities across the world were buying mostly sweet sacramental wine, proudly marked as a product of Israel. The Israeli wine industry has seen a major shift since the beginning of the 21st century with boutique wineries popping up all across the country. Recent years have also seen a sharp increase in the number of wine bars in Tel Aviv, now showcasing local treasures from diverse terroirs - to use the professional lingo - the different kinds of soil on which the wine grapes are grown. From the rich earth of the northern Galilee and Golan Heights, through the rocky Judean Hills surrounding Jerusalem, all the way to the arid land of the Negev desert in the South of Israel, a rich selection of Israeli wine awaits you in Tel Aviv’s wine bars.

5) Shoko - this one is a bit off, but don’t overlook the quirky pleasure of getting “Shoko besakit” - literally, chocolate milk in a bag (Shoko = "chocolate milk”, besakit = “in a bag"). Every schoolkid’s favorite morning drink, traditionally handed out in summer camps, it remains nostalgically beloved also among adults reminiscing on their youth. I recommend visitors from abroad try out this endearingly bizarre cultural touchstone with which every Israeli child grows up. You can get it at local grocery shops and kiosks. The drinking ritual is part of the appeal - bite off a corner of the plastic pouch and drink directly from the bag. Another way to enjoy this one is mixing it into a bowl of cereal. Complete this challenge to be ever more connected to the Israeli experience, and the child within you.

There’s so much to talk about when it comes to Israeli drinks, I’ll have to continue this list in the next episode. I think that already you start to see the uniqueness of Tel Aviv’s drinking culture, but there’s even more to it.

Thanks for listening and you’ll hear from me again when the next episode comes out next week.Until then - I am Tel Aviv tour guide Tomer Chelouche, signing off and hoping to see you soon in Tel Aviv.

Show note:

• telaviv.tours

• The Trail of Independence: Tracing the origins of modern Tel Aviv

• Elkonin Hotel (Booking.com affiliate link)