This makes me smile really big!

Cute. I would be really nervous standing there and just hugging anyone who wanted - what if they got some real weirdo coming up? Takes some guts.
That said, I have a really sweet friend who tends to be a bit down but actually gets a lot of pleasure in helping others and volunteering for this is perfect for her, is there some contact you could pass on to me? She lives in Jerusalem (where hugs are sorely needed but probably would be rebuffed) but is in Tel Aviv on occaision.

I really, really need a hug right now. Actually, I'm desperate, and there's no one around who could provide one.

Ugh...

A very disappointing day that will effect everything I do for the next few months and the rest of my life. (I got my LSAT score back, and it's not horrible, but it's not as high as I would have liked).

Lisa,

The web site said the organization was started in Miami, not Australia.

This really is a great initiative. Sometimes in this massive electronic and rusharound world, I think we neglect body contact of a non-sexual sort. That's my theory why spas are so wildly popular.

(Haven't forgotten our coffee date; just back from a vacation abroad and am dealing with a massive head/throat cold.)

Interesting!

Mmm I have few in my mind I would love to hug lol, just kidding.
Seriously now, I like the idea and initiative :D

wow that is soo cool.. i remember a lady asking me for a hug in london a few years ago.. like in the middle of nowhere.. it was so funny..

FREE HUGS for everyone, every tuesday, 17:00-20:00, at kikar Rabbin, Tel aviv.

Everyone is invited!

more details and updates - shai.t1.rose@gmail.com or (hebrew:) http://blog.tapuz.co.il/pathoftheone

The fact that this movement is taking place in Israel demonstrates that there IS a post war failure within Israeli society.



The reason is because it just plays into this "normalcy" thing that is plaguing so many in your society. Tel Aviv isn't Miami, Toronto, or Sidney Australia . Its citizens can't afford the mentality of "normalcy" you find in those cities (perhaps not even the citizens of those cities can even afford such a mentality).

It is not that in and of itself hugs are bad. They aren't. But for everything there is a season. And it is simply not the season for this. Not under the current situation Israel finds itself in. Israel simply can't afford to think itself as being just like other Western Nations. Perhaps the other Westen nations can't afford to keep on behaving the ways in which we are behaving as well, but for Israel the costs will be much more immediate and devastating.

One of the reasons Israel thrived in the past is because Israelis embraced the fact that they were abnormal. For if the people who emigrated to Israel wanted "normalcy" they would have stayed in whatever Western country they came from.

You can't afford to be like us. Perhaps we can't either but we aren't surrounded at every side by people so focused on our extinction like you are.

Just ran across your site and it is awesome. You have done a great job here!
Michael
http://www.mikeysgblog.com