To the house I lived in, to those beginnings… (Shlomo Artzi)
Stories of romance, pioneering, vision and an underground art scene are the kind of spices that spice up a playful day off. It is recommended to spend the day with a surprising Italian meal, in a place where you never thought you would find a particularly fine tiramisu. All this and more are waiting for you in her room.
● Legendary hummus, secret botka and a hundred other recommendations for a vacation from north to south
● A trip of a thousand steps in the most intriguing city in Israel, and a brunch that only locals know
● We found the best ice cream in Israel, and it is in a particularly surprising location
10:00 | A house of love, story and creation
Just like in Shlomo Artzi’s poem, I passed by Nechama and Rocham Zilberman’s house, quite by chance. “Classic grandmother’s house” built at the end of the 40s of the last century, in the treasure neighborhood of Hadera. If they hadn’t told me, I would never have discovered a real treasure trove. A house that has a story, vision and art. A house whose residents’ spirit still echoes in its rooms, preserving sweet memories of innocent days that will never return.
Nechama, Yeruham and their four children lived in the house of the Zilberman family. Bina Zilberman, their daughter, was born in the house and tells about a happy childhood in the home of Holocaust survivor parents, from these stories, which we all know. Parents who came from hell, and built a new life for themselves with determination and a sense of survival.
Beit Nechama and Rocham / Photo: Danny Peled
Yeruham was a mechanic who loved creativity and art. In his spare time he used to collect objects, weld bars into works of art and create from whatever came to hand. Nechama took care of the garden, planted, pruned and nurtured.
Three years ago, Nechama and Yeruham passed away, ten days apart. “Seven of us were sitting at home,” says Bina, “and suddenly I realized that I had to leave the house intact. As it is. To preserve the legacy of my parents and the house, the objects they collected and created.”
She didn’t have an organized business plan, but it was vision, love of art and creative joy that guided Bina to turn the house into what it is today – a welcoming home for artists, creators and the non-profit community. An underground theater group is held in the living room, sometimes a series of musical sessions or lectures.
In a cynical world of rampant housing prices, every piece of land becomes prey for real estate sharks. Bina bravely resisted the temptation and preferred to leave the house as it is, with its belongings and furniture, thus preserving the memory of her parents.
The garden houses artists’ creative spaces and, in general, Bina allows anyone whose heart desires art and is armed with human love to use the house as a platform for creation. The house is open for visitor tours, and after walking through its rooms and hearing its story, you go out into the yard, which these days gives off autumn fragrances.
In the yard is the studio of Or Forbin, a Shankar graduate who creates amazing collages and next to it is the studio of Hadas Shalom, a potter and jewelry maker whose hallmark is a gold heart.
12:00 | The loco pasta
One of the famous ones is that culture and cuisine go hand in hand. So what do you eat in her room? Here, too, a real pleasant surprise awaited us, in a location that if I had passed by without prior knowledge, I would not have batted an eyelid and certainly not bothered to look for parking, a task that turned out to be challenging even in Downtown Hadera.
Loco pasta / Photo: Danny Golan
In the early afternoon, the space of Pasta Loco was bustling with women and men. We sat down at the bar and scanned the place with, it must be said, a little suspicious eye. The restaurant is Italian and kosher, we were told, and the distance between Hadera and Naples has never seemed greater.
Half an hour later, eating our hearts out with calzones made from dough touched by an angel’s hand and pasta that saved us from fakes of au sola mio, we realized that this is a restaurant that is truly a treasure.
Similar to Bina’s house, it is a family story of a young, local and ambitious couple whose love for people and food pulses in their veins.
Adi and Gilad and Zena started their journey in a small Italian restaurant across the road, he cooks and she manages it. A few years ago they moved to the spacious and pleasant space, and since then they have not stopped feeding and exciting the diners with some of the finest Italian food available.
Order whatever you order, because everything is delicious and meticulous, but don’t miss the pasta loco (crazy in Italian), which is a surprise pasta prepared by Gilad according to his mood, and the tiramisu – oh the tiramisu – just for that it’s worth coming.
14:00 | Supermarket of art
It turns out that Hadera contains more surprises in its gray streets and buildings at first glance. On the other side of the city, right under our noses, there is one of the craziest art and collecting scenes going on, and we, with our chairs lined with the same crazy Gilead pasta, felt that we had the power to contain another craziness. The reality exceeded all imagination.
ARTOGET, art supermarket / photo: Lilac Robin
Although the words are lacking, I will still try to describe the project of Udi Moshe Yfarah, an interior designer, who for years collected, collected and created hundreds of items and objects and arranged them room by room, as if it were at least in the Palace of Versailles.
The experience of visiting the place requires breathing and time. Yefarah greets the guests in one of the spaces, and asks in a quiet voice to take their time, walk around the two floors full of material and color, open their eyes and conquer the urge of curiosity. Questions at the end. And they are many.
After the eyeball gets used to the dozens of objects and items, a broad picture of a work begins to become clear. One based on a worldview of sustainability, a creative home for the community of local creators and an unusual point of view on what art is.