New Year's isn't really a big deal in Israel. We know the date is changing, and of course we live our everyday lives by the Gregorian calendar, but there's no sense of significance on December 31. In Tel Aviv it's simply another reason to have a party, not that we need one, and I went to a couple - but they were just normal Tel Aviv parties; there was no singing of auld lang syne, no countdown to midnight, no champagne, no greetings of happy new year and none of that blah-inspiring forced drunken merriment. Just music, good food (c'mon, we're Jewish - if there's no food, it's not a party), dancing and the pleasure of being with good friends.

While walking from one party to another, my friend Alon and I noticed for the first time the poetry banners that the municipality has strung up on the boulevards.



We stopped to read them - poems in medieval Hebrew, formal early-twentieth century Hebrew and contemporary spoken Hebrew. Some were so famous that we knew them by heart; others were by poets few non-Israelis have heard of - like Ronny Someck. Someck was born in Baghdad in 1951, and he and his family emigrated to Israel when he was a child. He's a prize-winning poet who is also a professor of literature, but his background includes a stint as a soccer player and outreach work with street gangs. I've translated the poem that appears on the banner below, which was published in a volume called "Songs of Joy."

We are placed on the cake
Like groom and bride dolls.
Even if the knife comes
We'll try to stay on the same slice.

And since I'm still giddy with the novelty of being able to post photos, here are a few more taken on this quiet Saturday - that also happened to be New Year's Day - in Tel Aviv.