Israel Active

Interesting article celebrating the 81st birthday of singer/songwriter Bob Dylan – born Robert Zimmerman. It describes his 1983 song “Neighborhood Bully” as a Zionist anthem. “He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth, took sickness and disease and turned it into health.”

“Tel Aviv Eats” is Israel’s largest food festival, showcasing top restaurants, chefs, and live performances. Admission was free, with dishes ranging from gourmet to street food at a maximum price of 40 shekels each. Tourists and locals came to enjoy the excitement and the food.

The UNESCO World Heritage site of Beit She’arim has been updated. It is well worth visiting its remnants of an ancient city, mysterious inscriptions, caves and catacombs, and a six-feet high stone menorah. The city became the center of Torah study in 165 CE after the Romans quashed the Jewish revolt.

Good article featuring several creative arts experiences and shops that should attract many of the visitors returning to Jerusalem’s Old City. They include The Jerusalem Scribe, Chabad Street, the Museum of Psalms, Hadaya, the Cardo Charm, Guitart, and Rina.

Loai Sakas, an Israeli Christian Arab won the under-75 kg kickboxing gold medal at the world championship kickboxing championships in Turkey. After his victory, Sakas draped himself with the Israeli flag, saying that his goal in representing Israel is to promote coexistence.

Israel’s Yaturu, in partnership with the Aspaklaria Theatre, have opened a new VR interactive experience at the First Station in Jerusalem. It tells the story of Jerusalem throughout the generations and includes an interactive game.

Matti Friedman discusses his new book on Leonard Cohen’s extraordinary tour for IDF troops on the Yom Kippur War front lines in 1973. The event will be held on Tuesday, May 24 at 19:30 at Jerusalem’s First Station (Tachana Rishona) and will be accompanied by a live band playing Leonard Cohen standards.

It was a lovefest for Adam Levine and the crowd at the first of their two Tel Aviv concerts, with the Maroon 5 lead singer raving about his reception by the estimated 55,000 concertgoers.  “I’ve never been in Tel Aviv and Israel and I have to tell you, this place is amazing.”

Eliran Shilon Rahav is considered the greatest Israeli promise in the field of chess, with a historic victory in the world championship up to the age of 10. His coach, Moshe Katzir, said of Eliran, “he is a chess player at a level that Israeli chess has never known”.

16 European soccer teams including Israel are competing in the Under 17 European soccer finals in Israel. There will be 31 games involving 345 soccer players beginning May 16 at stadiums in Ness Ziona, Lod, Ramat Gan, Netanya, and Rishon LeZion.