Yesterday, I began my “So
Long, Israel” post, discussing some of the highlights of my trip. I guess it’s a good thing when your
trip has so many memorable moments that you have to divide them into two
separate posts.
One of the very best parts of the trip was the weekend I
spent in the countryside heading out toward Galilee with Yehuda Adar. Meeting Yehuda’s family and hiking
through the beautiful countryside while discussing Yehuda’s new project on
relational contracts made for a fabulous day. I wish that I had some photos to post for you, as this was
one of the most beautiful areas of the country, I thought, but we forgot to
charge the cell phone that day. I
do have more than just memories, though – in a little while I’m going to make a
salad, dressed with olive oil pressed from Yehuda’s olive trees. Every time I use that oil, I’ll
remember that weekend.
I was especially lucky to get to know Michal Gal
while I was at Haifa. Michal’s research focuses on competition law and policy,
including oligopoly pricing, the conditions for antitrust in developing
economies, the political economy of antitrust, and the globalization of
antitrust. Michal was the excellent commenter on my paper at the Behavioral
Analysis of Law: Markets, Institutions, and Contracts conference that first
brought me to Haifa, and was at my birthday dinner, but without me (that will
teach my significant other to plan a surprise party again!)
The crowning touch of the whole trip was the final farewell
dinner with Orna
Rabinovich-Einy (ADR, dispute resolution and technology, civil procedure), Faina
Milman (International Labor Law, Labor Law, ADR), and Mordehai
Mironi (Labor & Employment, Negotiation, ADR) at Manta Ray
on the beach in Tel Aviv. The
setting is amazing, with waves crashing practically at your table, and the New
Year’s lights, the bottle of Cava, the fresh seafood, and the toasts to new
friends made the occasion a truly festive one. We laughed and gossiped as if we had known each other for
years, rather than for a few weeks.
I’m especially looking forward to seeing Faina’s forthcoming work on
prison labor.
I’ll miss learning about axiomatic theories over excellent
hummus and kebabs with Alan
Miller, exchanging prediction markets reading lists with Tal
Zarsky, learning about organ donation under Jewish law from Yehiel
Kaplan, discussing women’s rights, law and society, and other issues with Sagit Mor
and Ronit
Haramati-Alpern, and lamenting the deficiencies of the U.S. law
review process with Ronen
Perry.
That wraps up pretty
much the whole trip. Lounge
readers sick of hearing about my travels will get a break for a while. Next stop: Miami, for the 2nd World
Conference on the Hormonal and
Genetic Basis of Sexual Differentiation Disorders and Hot Topics in Endocrinology. More on that later. . .
Above image: Haifa
from the Bahá’í gardens, as seen through my iphone