There are many ways to mark International Women’s Day. I spent the daytime hours writing, and at night made my way to the Beit Tami Community Center on Shenkin, where I’d been invited by Gitit Wainer, Culture Coordinator, to join the festivities. The evening long “Happening” included a fair of crafts by women from Tel Aviv, with jewelry, knitting, designs for the home and baked goods – all this in the spacious foyer in the entrance, with workshops scheduled throughout the evening on heart health, self-defense, makeup and Zoomba – a dance exercise session to conclude the night with music and good spirits.
Despite the rainy night, all the rooms in the building were full and busy. I even encountered the Mayor of Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai, who came to visit.
I made it just in time for the third workshop, on make-up, conducted by Tal Garber. Tal worked with a woman from the audience, Rina Davidi, who volunteered to be made up for the benefit of the viewing audience, and explained the process as she went along in an informative and friendly manner. The makeup process generated great interest and non-stop questions from the audience: how to match colors, brush vs. sponge, what is the chemical composition of different kinds of makeup and which is best, moisturize first or just apply makeup…But the focus on makeup also raised other issues – both personal and political.
Watching Tal apply foundation (attention ladies of all genders: work downwards with the brush to minimize wrinkles) to Rina’s face, one woman commented, “Bibi also applies layers of makeup before he goes on TV.”
The act of putting on makeup touches on so many issues – practical, political, philosophical – that the session could have continued for hours. Almost every comment made could have developed into a separate workshop. One woman commented, looking at the lovely Rina, “She’s so beautiful, she must have been planted in the audience. You should have picked someone ugly.”
Another woman, who had been quietly knitting in the back row, immediately responded with the calmness of convicion, “There’s no such thing as an ugly woman.”
Talking to her after the workshop, I learned that Shulamit Artzi is a librarian at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai. She had been looking for International Women’s Day events and read about the Beit Tami Happening in the Haaretz newspaper. Currently attending a three day conference at Kfar HaMaccabiah, she arranged her schedule so she could participate in the event at Beit Tami, where she said, “I was glad to see that there was such a beautiful community center here. I enjoyed the stands with crafts, especially the knitting, which was very original.” When I asked about her comments on beauty, she said, “A woman’s appearance reflects her inner self, if she is not beautiful; it means that something is not right within her. I don’t really spend my time on makeup; I put my time and effort into living joyfully.”
What better way to live joyfully than to dance? Zoomba was a lively and fun way to end a great evening. All the workshops were conducted by professionals who volunteered their time and energies to make this community evening open and free to the public, and the Tel Aviv/Los Angeles Partnership donated a gift bag to all participants. Midnight East is looking forward to next year’s event.
Thank you so much for visiting us! It was a great evening indeed, looking forward for next year!
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