Israel Active

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.

Over 100 musicians (Jews, Moslems and Christians) performed a concert of broken instruments at “Shalem” (whole), in Jerusalem’s Gan Mitchell as part of the Mekudeshet (Sacred Music) Festival.

The annual Oud Festival marks its 20th year with ten days of 13 events, from Nov 21 - 30, in a number of Jerusalem venues. Performers include musicians from Turkey, Armenia, the USA, India and Israel, many of whom have roots in Arab countries.

Israeli artist Boris Shpeizman’s childhood dream was to own a motorcycle. Now he has built one - entirely out of glass. Shpeizman works with “hot glass,” a technique where glass is heated to a liquid so it can be blown into shapes like the wheels and handlebars of a motorcycle.

New Israeli stamps issued for September 2019 include Honey flowers (for Rosh Hashana), the Sehrane (Khurdistan Jews) festival, Fighting breast cancer, Autumn flowers, 25-years of Israel-Vatican relations and Israeli Air Force jets.