Funniest Israeli Commercials (Third of a Series): Flirting in the Bookstore

Jews are known as People of the Book and the Steimatzky book stores have had a virtual monopoly on book selling in Israel since Yechezkel Steimatzky, a Russian-born immigrant from Germany, opened his first store on Jaffa Road in 1925.  The company now runs 150 stores in 68 cities in Israel, London, and Los Angeles.

Steimatzky has been running a series of funny TV commercials on Israeli television.  Here's one that shows just how unnecessary words are in conducting a conversation, or in flirting.  Why not just use book covers and let the titles speak for you?  (Note to slow Hebrew readers:  Be sure to watch the subtitles every time a book cover flashes on the screen.)

If the background music seems familiar, it's Carlos Gardel's Por Una Cabeza, the same song used to accompany the tango scene in Al Pacino's Oscar-winning performance in Scent of a Woman.  If you liked the movie or just the music in the commercial, here's a video clip from the movie with the whole song being played.  Enjoy!