Israel Active

Omri Casspi’s phone rang at one-minute past midnight on the day that the Israeli basketball star became a free agent. It was the owner of NBA champions Golden State Warriors in California, offering Casspi a one-year contract.  It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Tens of thousands took part in the Jerusalem Maccabiah Night Run – not just those participating in the Maccabiah Games.  Many of the streets in Jerusalem were closed whilst the runners completed the 5 or 10 km routes or the half Marathon.

US pop star Britney Spears gave her first-ever concert in Israel, performing in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park in temperatures of around 28° Celsius (82.4°F). With 60,000 tickets sold, it was the largest concert ever for a female artist in the history of Israel.

The Maccabiah is the world’s largest Jewish athletic competition, taking place every four years in Israel.  The 2017 Maccabiah is from July 4 - 18 and features about 10,000 athletes from more than 80 countries, plus around 22,000 additional fans.

18 Pro Football Hall of Famers came to Israel on a weeklong goodwill visit sponsored by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. They attended the dedication of Kraft‘s sports complex in Jerusalem, with a regulation-size football field, and visited the Old City, Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea.

This Newsletter’s editor was interviewed on the Radio Rabbi (Barbara Aiello) program, broadcast in Florida USA on 9th July at 08:30 EST.  Please check the link below for the July 9th show later today, during the week or afterwards.

Nice video of Israeli 3-year-old Matan Shaulov doing trick shots with a soccer ball. He could be the next Ronaldo, Yossi Benayoun or Eyal Berkovic.

‘Interactive’ was the theme of this year’s Jerusalem Light Festival. There were 39 installations, some with live musicians. Highlights included the Hurva synagogue, Horizontal Interference, Impulse seesaws and Interactive Shadows where images changed when visitors moved.

To mark Jerusalem’s 50 years of reunification, a three-meter-high solar-powered Panasonic digital radio has been installed on Jerusalem’s Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall. Broadcasting from 10am until 10pm, one of its five channels features recordings from the 1967 six-day war.

Weizmann House in Rehovot, home of the first president of the State of Israel, has re-opened after extensive restoration and conservation. Due to its unique features, the international organization “Iconic Houses” has added Weizmann House to its ranks – the first Israeli building to be included.