Israel Active

The Dona Gracia Hotel & Museum in Tiberias is the only hotel museum in the world. It tells the story of the remarkable Dona Gracia (1510-1569), a courageous, politically influential female philanthropist who saved hundreds of secret Jews from the Inquisition and much more.

The Waterpieces International video and contemporary art festival, in Riga, Latvia, featured eleven videos focusing on Israel’s culture, nature, science, and identity. They were curated by ​Drorit Gur Arie, director of the Petach Tikva Museum of Art.

Three pink whiprays over 100 cm long were sighted off the coast off Eilat. Whiprays are an endangered species of stingray. Earlier this year a rare guitarfish, an even more endangered species, was spotted off Eilat’s coast.

Israeli Lonah Chemtai Salpeter has finished second place in Sunday’s New York City Marathon, seven seconds behind the Kenyan winner. It is the best final result for an Israeli man or woman in the history of the race, which is in its 51st year.

Charter flights will allow Israeli Jews and Arabs to fly direct from Tel Aviv to Doha Qatar for the duration of the FIFA World Cup beginning on 20 Nov. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said “Football has the power to bring people together…”

Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko won a second bronze medal in a row at the World Cup competition in Berlin, finishing third in the 50 meters breaststroke. The previous day she finished third in the 100 meters event.

You can now book a fascinating tour of the Israel Diamond Exchange in Ramat Gan, the world’s leading center for buying, selling, cutting, and polishing large diamonds. Wine and lunch are included.

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Tzofim Friendship Caravan, a song-and-dance performance program from Israel, is returning to the U.S. next summer as part of its 50th anniversary celebration. The Tzofim Scouts perform songs in Hebrew, English and Yiddish.

An exhibit merged art with archaeology, in a cistern 20 feet under Jerusalem’s Western Wall. “Arteology: The Power of the Ancients in Contemporary Form,” featured 27 ceramic pieces (vases, plates, disks, and seals) by Israeli Canadian artist Nicole Kornberg Jacobovici.

Azizo on Moshav Kanaf is one of several lavender farms situated on the Golan Heights, near a 6th-century excavated synagogue. Deep purple Lavendin Grosso covers the 60-dunam (14.8 acre) farm, which conducts tours and produces lavender oil, lavender honey, and more.