Text & Photos by Holly Stein

Tel Avivians are having a love affair with cats. This is no fling or infatuation.

I first noticed this amour when I came to Tel Aviv for a visit last year before making aliyah. At first I thought I was just seeing cats everywhere because I was missing my own which was waiting for me in Los Angeles. But as I walked around the city, with my camera of course, I could see dishes outside of stores, cat food scattered in schoolyards, people bringing food to places where they knew there were cats. I watched as cats would start to flock to a certain area at a certain time each day, knowing that someone was coming with a bag of food. It is rarely that I have come across a skinny cat in Tel Aviv. “Eat! You’re too thin!” It’s the Jewish mother’s mantra!

It is this affection and kindness that makes me love this city and the people who live here even more deeply.