Israel Active

For the 13th consecutive year, all 13 beaches in Tel Aviv were recently honored with the annual Blue Flag Award. It ensures that they meet a host of stringent environmental, educational, safety and accessibility standards. The city has also banned disposable plastic bags and utensils on its beaches.

Israel’s Ze’ev Buium (see previously) helped Team USA to win the Ice Hockey World Championships for the first time since 1933. Buium impressed throughout the tournament, recording two assists and a critical goal in the 5–2 quarterfinal win over Finland.

Celebrity chef and cookbook author Jamie Geller set out on a quest to find the best cheesecake in Israel’s capital city. Cheesecake is the delicacy that most Jews enjoy especially on the Jewish festival of Shavuot (Pentacost), as well as at any other time of the year!

A visitors center telling the story of the mystery of the biblical blue dye (tekhelet) is being launched at the end of May. It will be located at Ptil Tekhelet’s factory, located a 20-minute drive east of Jerusalem in the Judean Desert. The snails to make the dye are now imported from Europe.

The colorful 1,600-year-old Be’er Shema mosaic includes 55 medallions decorated with scenes of hunting, animals and everyday life. Discovered in a monastery 35 years ago near the border with Gaza it recently underwent conservation, is now on display in the Merhavim Regional Council HQ.

The illustrated Shem Tov Bible, a.k.a. Sefer HaYashar, was written in 1312 in Spain by Rabbi Shem Tov ben Abraham Ibn Gaon. Ibn Gaon took it to Jerusalem and it was sold overseas several times after Ibn Gaon’s death. It is now back in Jerusalem at Israel’s National Library.

Israel’s Yuval Raphael won the global public vote at the Eurovision Song Contest to earn overall second place after the judges only placed her 14th. The truth-loving majority certainly made their voices heard. Thankfully, by coming second, Israel does not have to host the 2026 event.

Israeli-born Robert Shwartzman the first rookie in more than 40 years to secure the top starting position at the iconic Indy 500 race. Shwartzman, who drives for Prema Racing, posted a four-lap average of 232.790 mph. “I’m proud to represent Israel”, he said.

The Malka Brewery in the Western Galilee is one of Israel’s many successful craft beer breweries. At Kibbutz Yehi’am everything was produced naturally; herbs, fruit and clean water from the nearby Ga’aton Springs. In 2018, production moved to a state-of-the-art brewery in the Tefen industrial zone.

Jerusalem’s Israel Museum is celebrating its 60th birthday with eight new exhibits. They include “A Live Conservation Lab”, “Discover the Collections” display, “Israeli Art: The Swing of the Pendulum”, and 60 Years of Exhibition Catalogues. The museum had 855,157 visitors in 2024.