Israel Active

The renowned international Lego Art Exhibition, “The Art of the Brick,” returns to Holon Israel (Jul 25 to Aug 31). It will feature large scale, 3D Lego sculptures by US award-winning “Brickartist” Nathan Sawaya,. Simultaneously, Tel Aviv’s Lego Space park includes a life-size replica of SpaceIL’s Beresheet lunar lander.

Jerusalem’s overall character was the idea behind “Overall,” a festival celebrating the culture of contemporary fashion at Jerusalem’s Tower of David Museum. The free, three-day event included a fashion show by graduates of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.

Netflix has made a new film, telling the story of the Mossad operation to rescue Ethiopian Jews from Sudan in the early 1980s and bring them to the Jewish State.  The spy thriller, “The Red Sea Diving Resort,” is inspired by real events and will be released on July 31.

This week there was gold for Judoka Ori Sasson in Budapest; two golds and a silver in the World Rowing Cup; Israel’s under-18 baseball squad qualified for Europe; and Selamawit Dagnachew (5km) and Marhu Teferi (marathon) will be the first married couple to represent Israel at the Olympics.

Budding tennis professionals (and even top stars) can now examine their progress and improve their game using the results data analysis app from Israel’s LVision.   Its AI system converts videos of matches into statistics, including speed and distance covered of balls and players.

Here are some tips to help enjoy Israel’s summer like a local. They include sunshades, water fountains, white shirt over your head, sunscreen and sunglasses, loose clothing, free water parks, fruit shakes and ice pops, avoid peak sun, avoid oven cooking and finally – conserve water.

US “experiential” pianist Murray Hidary’s 3 Israeli performances this week should be exciting. He feeds off the different natural ambience of each location and his Beit Guvrin show will be in a huge beautiful cave. He also performs at HaYarkon Park and Apollonia National Park.

I reported previously when ex-lead guitarist of “Guns & Roses” played in Israel. Slash returned to perform to an enthusiastic crowd at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Center with his backing band Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. He played many rousing guitar riffs and solos.

Aged 77, Paul Anka’s 4th Israel concert was an amazing success. He had no warm-up act and took no break during a 2-hour performance. He sang, played piano, guitar and conducted hits like Puppy Love,” “Diana,” and of course “My Way” - the lyrics he wrote for Sinatra. The crowd loved him.

Israel’s leading dance venue, the Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre, is celebrating its 30th anniversary. From July to November, Israeli-born international artists and choreographers will return to Tel Aviv to give Israeli audiences a glimpse of their creations.