Israel Active

In a dramatic 3-2 overtime win against Estonia, Israel’s women’s national ice hockey team secured a medal at the IIHF World Championships in Sarajevo. “This is a huge step forward for women’s hockey in Israel,” said head coach Melissa Wronzberg. Hear the National Anthem.

To celebrate the Jewish holiday of Tu Bishvat, the National Library of Israel conducted four sustainability tours (in Hebrew) all week of the museum’s “green” design. Highlights included the Rock Store’s 270,000 stones that store cool air at night, and the museum’s Mediterranean gardens.

Israeli musician Dan Pugach won a Grammy award in the category of Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album with his compilation title “Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence.”

The song that all Israel is singing.  Tamid Ohev Oti (Od Yoter Tov).  

Major feature article about Israel’s Tomer Margalit (see previously) who didn’t let paralysis prevent her from becoming a world class dancer.

February in Jerusalem is full of color. A new lion, the Botanical Gardens, purple irises, white roses, lemon trees, Jerusalem Theater art, and (of course) yellow ribbons.

The US publication Wine Spectator selected White Label Judean Hills 2021 from Israeli winery Flam for its Top 100 Wines of 2024 list. “full-throttled core of red currant, blackberry, dried flower and dusty earth flavors…shows a spine of graphite that brings focus and drive to the round, lush palate…” and more!

El Al has flown two young rare Persian leopards to their new home at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem from the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic where they were born. There are fewer than 1,000 Persian leopards in the world – the last one in the Upper Galilee was seen in 1960.

In Beersheba’s new Midbarium experiential animal park (aka “zoo”), 15 interactive experiences enable visitors to “walk in the shoes” of the animals to understand how they survive and thrive in their habitats. E.g., to fly like a bird, lurk like a crocodile, or navigate in the dark like a bat.

The Jerusalem Capitals and HC Tel Aviv, two leading clubs from the Israel Elite Hockey League (IEHL), will face off at New York’s UBS Arena on 23 Mar. It marks the first time Israeli professional hockey teams will compete on North American ice.