The annual Jerusalem Tourism Summit has brought this year delegates from around fifty countries around the world who all came to learn from Israeli model of success in tourism and also share some of their own tricks. 2013 promises to be a record year in Tourism for Israel as tourism official’s work around the clock to attract tourists from new countries to join the millions who have already visited the holly land.
She is known as the Queen of Kosher around the world and almost 10-months ago she did the unthinkable and decided to move with her family from NYC to Israel. Ron Jacobsohn got to talk exclusively to the Jewish Martha Stewart, Jamie Geller, at her new home in… Beit Shemesh.
Ron Jacobsohn, JN1 Correspondent:
She is known as the Guru of Kosher Cooking around the world and almost 10-months ago she did the unthinkable and decided to move with her family to Israel. JN1 got to talk exclusively to the Jewish Martha Stewart, Jamie Geller, at her new home in Beit Shemesh.
Jamie Geller, Kosher Cooking Guru:
I was the bride who knew nothing, my first book was called “Eating Kosher from the Bride who Knew Nothing”, and that was me, I got married and I didn’t know the difference between a spatial and saucepan and I didn’t really care. I became religious and I got married and my husband wanted dinner so I had to figure out, you know, how to do this. So I think like just really learning with everybody else has somehow made me, ‘the queen of kosher’ but, you know, its I am just like everyone else, I just, I love to serve my family and just write a lot about it, so that’s how I came to be.
Jamie Geller is probably one of the more uplifting positive people you would meet in life. She is a self-made woman who has done it all with her own two hands.
Jamie Geller, The Queen of Kosher
I started my career at CNN working for an entertainment show and I covered everything entertainment for CNN both domestically and internationally. I really thought my life was totally perfect and amazing and I loved it and my mother was so nervous I was going to meet the wrong guy in the wrong place , you know, a non-Jewish man so she started sending me to weekly Torah classes, which were like young successful Jewish singles very professional but trying to connect them both to the religion and you know mingling with other singles and that was the beginning of the beginning.
Today Geller is already a mini-media-empire publishing magazines, books, producing TV shows and web series all around the web.
Jamie Geller, Kosher Cooking Guru
They have called me, you know, ‘The Queen of Kosher’, so I have been in the New York Times, The Miami Herald, The Chicago Tribune, I have been on ABC, NBC, Fox, Martha Stewart Living Radio and magazines all over and its incredible. The brand is called ‘Joy of Kosher” we have a website: joyofkosher.com, we have magazines, “Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller”, I have a book coming out in the fall with Harper-Collins called “The Joy of Kosher”, which is one of the top 3 publishers of the world and my new show is called, “Joy of Israel” and I did a show in the middle called “Joy of Aliyah”. So you see I really just love life and I really love everything that I do.
They famous saying says “the shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot”, so we wanted to know from Jamie if this works for her kids too?
Jamie Geller, The Queen of Kosher:
My husband cooks a lot in the house, my kids cook with me, we have frozen pizza at night just like everybody else, it’s a combination just like everyone else’s doing it, in the show we cook dinner and we like to cook together a lot and for Shabbat we cook a lot and we love to have people and have guests so that’s certainly the time when like I am working on all four burners.
So at the peak of her career Jamie Geller decides to do the most unexpected and immigrate to Israel with her family.
Jamie Geller, Kosher Cooking Guru:
So I have this theory when you come to Israel as a tourist every cab driver, every Israeli will stop you and will like ‘nu what’s wrong with you why don’t you live in Israel?’ so now we moved to Israel and I can not tell you everybody from the neighbor to the cab driver to the producer that I am speaking to today ‘so why’d come here?” you know like you can not win!!!
Being she is a limitless resource of recipes, we wanted to get the low down where does she get her inspirations?
Jamie Geller, The Queen of Kosher:
I get my inspiration from everybody around me, from regular people. Every once in a while, sure, I’ll go to a restaurant and I’ll taste something and will go ‘ok, how can I maybe make this at home, make it easier?” but the home cook is the most important thing to me. When I go to people’s tables, I ask everyone almost, I never almost leave without asking for a recipe. I am about let it look gourmet, let it taste gourmet but I am not about slaving in the kitchen, I am like slavery is so yesterday.
Stand-Up Outro
What an inspiring story. These days Jamie is putting her finishing touches on her new cookbook and continues to shot new episodes of her popular web-series all while being a full time mom for her five children. For JN1, I am Ron Jacobsohn in Beit Shemesh
Clips Courtesy of Kosher Media Network
A red carpet premiere for a Hollywood blockbuster in Tel-Aviv is something we rarely get to see, however when one of the stars of the movie is an Israeli this is a completely different story…
Ron Jacobsohn, JN1 Correspondent:
A red carpet premiere for a Hollywood blockbuster in Tel-Aviv is something we rarely get to see here, however when one of the stars of the movie is Israeli this is a completely different story… So join us for the Tel-Aviv world premiere of Fast and Furious 6 in Tel-Aviv.
Sandra Ringler, Stylist:
It feels like a Red Carpet in Tel-Aviv, if were in Hollywood I guess I would wear an evening gown. And yeah, you know, we’re in Tel-Aviv its very different, I guess, you know, but still we have a very big star here whom we love, she’s a good friend of mine.
So who is Gal Gadot? She first drew attention to herself when at 19 she won the Miss Israel pageant in 2004 and went on to represent Israel in the Miss Universe competition that year.
America first took notice of her when she was featured in the Maxim Magazine photo shoot, “Women of the Israeli Army”, which showed models who served in the IDF.
Gadot’s photo attracted New York Post’s Page Six in the week it came out and was also the photo of the invite to the opening of the exhibition of the photo-shoot.
A year later we already saw Gadot on the big screen in Hollywood in the blockbuster, Fast & Furious.
Since then she has starred alongside such big Hollywood heavyweights like Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Vin Diesel and Tina Fey. Now into her third movie in the Fast and Furious franchise she is bringing home the world premiere of the movie to Tel-Aviv.
Gal Gadot, Actress:
Amazing, I am so excited right now, this is home, this is heart, this is where my heart is, this is my soul and the people who care here are people who I really care about and its really important for me to make sure that they like it and its really important for me to know that, you know, they are going to be happy with what they see. So I am most excited in Israel.
We wanted to find out from Gal if she also talks about Israel to her Hollywood friends.
Gal Gadot, Actress:
While we were shooting this one when Pillar of Defense happened in Israel, there is a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to Israel because sometimes what you see on TV doesn’t really reflect the reality. So, I was there and I talked with all of my cast friends, you know, and its not only on the situation basis that I speak to them about but it is that Israel is such a beautiful place to come visit and the people are great and the culture is great. You have Tel-Aviv and you have Haifa, and you have the Dead Sea, and I think Israel is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen and it needs to be said, you know what I mean? So I talk a lot about Israel.
Ron Jacobsohn, JN1 Correspondent:
So for a little moment Tel-Aviv felt like Hollywood thanks to Gal Gadot and all the stardust rubbed off on us just for a little bit.
For JN1, I am Ron Jacobsohn in Tel-Aviv.
The Globes 2013 Capital Markets Conference is bringing together some of the financial leaders in Israel from both the private and public sector to discuss Israel’s economic future.
It seems although the finance minister came under fire for his budgetary cuts and tax increases, at least the audience, here at the conference, of around 500 finical leaders were won over by Lapid’s explanation of why he did what he had to do.
Meretz MK Nitzan Horowitz has decided to throw the hit in ring and run for mayor of Tel-Aviv against incumbent three-term major Ron Huldai calling for a change in Israel’s most popular city. Horvitz’s announcement for his run for mayor of Tel-Aviv already made waves way beyond the boarders of Israel as the world media has already heralded the campaign as “the pilot vs. the gay guy”.