Israel Active

Israel’s Naomi Shiek of Woodland Papercuts designs beautiful, intricate paper ketubahs (Jewish wedding contracts). She was one of several winners of the very first international design awards by Etsy, the e-commerce site for handmade or vintage items and goods.

At the Jerusalem Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art (10th Oct – 28th Nov) 200 artists from 15 countries will display their works in 12 city center venues.

Team Israel Baseball is the first Israeli team to reach the Olympics in four decades - one of only six baseball teams to play in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Israel won the Europe / Africa playoffs, beating Spain, Italy, South Africa and the European champions Netherlands.

Israeli rhythmic gymnast Linoy Ashram won 6 medals (4 silver and 2 bronze) at the F.I.G. 35th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championship in Pesaro, Italy. Her achievement qualified her for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Israel’s Nicol Zelikman also qualified for Tokyo.

Israeli NGO Ezer Mizion cannot cure cancer, but it can help make young cancer patients happy.  It arranges for balloon artist Barak Dagan to twist balloons into fantastic shapes, twisting the saddest face into one of joyful laughter. He revitalizes the youngsters’ spirits, encouraging their bodies to recover.

Life in Jerusalem continues with movies, new buildings, beekeepers meet the President, the Jerusalem Theater festival, music on the plaza and at First Station, Selihot (penitence prayers) services, café life, skateboarders, wedding parties, book launches and the NbN Bonei Zion prize ceremony.

The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) begins sundown 29th Sep and ends sundown 1st Oct. Most businesses will be shut, so here is brief guide (spot the flaws) to the festival, its symbols and some local events.

Israel’s Mark Malyar, who has cerebral palsy, broke the world record in winning the 400m freestyle S7 at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships.  The event took place in London after Malaysia was removed as host for refusing to let Israelis compete.

Bezzo Pizza in Tel Aviv ranked seventh on Big 7 Travel's list for "The 50 Best Slices of Pizza in The World". Big Travel 7 said, “they are also melt-in-the-mouth good. Bezzo Pizza is up there with the best pizza slices in the world." Bezzo’s original recipe stems from Yemeni culture.

Israeli news site ILTV have begun a weekly video featuring good news stories from Israel.  Here is a link to its first edition.