My father published a long story today in the Ha'Aretz newspaper about the unknown history of Tel Aviv as a bastion of religion. Surprisingly, when many religious leaders moved from the "old world" to Israel, they decided to set up shop in Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem. Also, its interesting to note they lived in complete peace with the secular population of Tel Aviv (no throwing stones at people for driving cars on the Sabbath). This is all but gone, however, you can still find peaceful, religious-secular coexistence around Shenkin street.

Its a fascinating article, available in Hebrew and English. The English isn't a complete translation. In the Hebrew version you can actually learn about my own family history and my grandfather, whom I am named after (second to last paragraph).