Shana Tova! Thank you for all of your support in 5786. Your generosity has allowed me to push out more content and even hire, yes, a real, human editor (you’ll see no AI slop on this Substack). To celebrate the new year, I’d like to offer 36% off paid subscriptions, now through the end of September. Paid subscribers get access to Notes From Tel Aviv, my weekly series of personal dispatches from Israel. I’m excited to see what we can do at the Middle Ground in 5787.
— Eli
On Wednesday I was sitting at one of my favorite hummus spots, Abu Hasan in Jaffa. I had just taken my dog for a vaccine, and we sat down so I could eat a quick mana.
Abu Hasan is an institution. Ali Karawan started selling hummus from a cart in Jaffa in the 1950s, and his family has run the place on Dolphin Street since the 1970s. We used to live around the corner, and I’ve been there dozens of times. I’ve always seen it as a symbol of coexistence in Jaffa: an Arab family serving hummus to a mostly Jewish crowd, everyone crammed together at the same tables.
The hummus is delicious, though I know the question of favorite humusiot is a contentious topic in Israel. It has the perfect balance of tahini and lemon. I usually go for half masabha and half ful, which is fava beans. I literally eat it like soup sometimes. It’s that good.
I was in Abu Hasan, minding my own business, mowing down my mana, when I heard him.