Lior wears old-man sweaters. I feel like that’s the kind of thing I should just get out of the way as fast as possible, because it’s the first thing a girl would notice if she went on a date with him. They’re usually expensive sweaters … just not particularly hip. He’s set in his ways, but a stylish girl could fix that situation pretty quickly. Just don’t try to turn him into a hipster, because it’ll never happen.
He was raised in an Israeli family in Beverly Hills. His father builds upscale condos, and Lior works in the family business. I met Lior through a group of Israeli friends, and, before most of us settled down with our wives, we would spend a lot of time together going out to clubs and taking trips out of town. I remember one trip to Vegas, more than 10 years ago. We were walking through the casino, the Israeli boys dressed up in suits and bad shiny shirts, picking up girls and pretending to be gangsters. Lior was quiet, going along for the ride, but never instigating. I usually played the “nice American,” as the guys called it, trying to make the girls laugh so they’d be less inclined to run from a group of swarthy Sephardic Israelis, one of them more than 300 pounds. I was just getting to know Lior then. As we passed a poker table, I saw Lior wave to where a good-looking Israeli man sat in front of an enormous piles of chips. The man lifted a couple of fingers in Lior’s direction and went back to his game. Next to the man stood his bodyguard, with an odd tic that caused him to repeatedly blink his eyes. A strange sight. I turned to Lior and asked, “Who is that guy?” He said, “My dad.” As we neared the casino exit, my 300-pound friend whispered to me, “We walk around pretending to be machers [big shots]. That guy’s the real deal.”
Although his father’s actually not a gangster — just a very savvy businessman — at the time I loved the irony of the “gangster’s son” being the quiet one in the group, wearing the old-man sweater, while the loudmouths — me included — barely had two nickels to rub together.
Lior’s really social, loves to have drinks with friends and loves traveling — whether it’s a rugged camping trip or all five-star hotels. He’s a good guy, from a good family. They’re extremely close, and they take care of each other. They’re also not exclusive, and love the wives and girlfriends of their sons. As long as they’re good to them. If you mess with Lior, expect to have a lot of trouble from protective friends and family. But we’re not going to have trouble, are we?
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Seth Menachem is an actor and writer living in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. You can see more of his work on his Web site, sethmenachem.com, and meet even more single peeps at mysinglepeeps.com.
