Named after the same guy who brought us the C-section, czars, kaisers, czars, kings, and the month of July, Herod named a city after Caeser in Israel about 2,000 years ago, not to be outdone for having a city named after a narcissistic foreign power until Ramat Trump.

Situated along the coast of Israel in what was a Roman-era city with port over the ocean, today magnificent ruins remain along with a modern peer, beautiful beach, shops, restaurants, and hotels. It’s all tasteful. Kind of reminds me of Pier Village in Long Branch, NJ, only, less crowded and more spacious.

At the northern end you have a public beach, waterspouts to clean after going in the water, and an ancient roman aqueduct. In 2,000 years no one was like … “hey, let’s deface this thing or blow it up just for funziees.” In another 2,000 years, I think some of our highway overpasses with survive as our current overhead transportation is for cars and trains whereas water has moved underground.

Roman aqueduct – now we make them for cars and call them overpasses

Move a little south to the national park and for a fee you can enter to more ruins, more beach, and more stores and restaurants – some which are kosher and some of which overlook the water. Two weddings were taking place the day we were there, not far from where Romans were busy fighting animals and each other to the death. Look how Jews have transformed the place into a place of beauty and matrimony.

Highly recommend getting a yearly national park pass – not expensive and you feel like a boss waiving your card and walking through while others pull out their wallets. It’s like a Disney FastPass which costs about the same is good for entire year, instead of for eight fake rides for a day.

Fake Experiences When You Don’t Have Real Ones

I came from a place less than 10 miles from a major sports stadium where our gladiators wore helmets and pads and had all these regulations about how and when to move a synthetic rubber ball that can’t really roll from one end of a field to the other. They even call it football despite only one guy on each team ever using his foot against the ball – though no worries … the players’ brains turn to mush anyway from years of being hit on the head.

Next to the stadium, a Greek word, is the mallstrosity which is the biggest indoor mall in the world complete with large Xanax pill containers for sale. While amused at the absurdity of hedonism making fun of itself, I did enjoy the water park (with men’s hours) and there are a lot of fun (and overpriced) things to do there. Everything is ‘just right’ indoor temperature and humidity-controlled conditions and many of the fast-food eateries are kosher (Krispy Kreme, Häagen-Dazs, and a section of the candy store). Perhaps like going to Achashverosh’s banquet of hedonism with kosher food. It’s also overwhelming and extra sucking.

Israel is just – is real. The stones aren’t fake – they’re real. No need to for plaster covered metal netting with doors leading to backstage, made to look like a planet in the Star Wars universe where geeks wearing black t-shirts with silly Star Wars puns are gawking at plastic figurines to feel part of something greater. We all aspire to be part of something greater. A Jew feels like that in Israel. We worked hard to make Israel what it was in the past and we work hard to make it what it is today. Sometimes I think our enemies attack just out jealously. They’re not going to win – they’re like lawyers. They bring others down for you to make them feel better about themselves rather than going to a therapist to fix themselves and bring themselves up.

Roman statutes and gods are now Israel’s museum pieces whereas our places remain holy and important to us. We need not manufacture experiences and take Xanax. We feel joy in our actual contributions to each other and overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles. Walking around places like Casearia, one finds naturally moving water splashing on to you rather than those Disney streams of water passing from pad to pad … which is fine. It’s just not the same as experiencing this by accident:

We are among the happiest people in the world (the weather helps) and our enemies just remind us what we’re fighting for and keep us together.

The Entire Aliyah Diary

Arrival

01. Aug 19, 2024: Preparation In America
02. Aug 25, 2024: First Few Days
03. Aug 29, 2024: Moving In
62. July 17, 2025: I MADE IT

Cultural Adjustment Fun

Cultural Adjustment Difficulties

On The Roads

Shopping

11. Oct 13, 2024: Packages. (חבילות.)
34. Feb 17, 2025: Finding Obscure Things
41. Mar 23, 2025: New Shopping Habits
44. Apr 6, 2025: Pesach Shopping & Osher Ad

Government and Bureaucracy

Politics and Thought

Travel: South Israel

Travel: Central/North Israel

Travel: From Israel to …

54. June 4, 2025: Marseille and Avignon

Aliyah Blog 50: Caesarea

Fake Experiences When You Don’t Have Real Ones

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