Israel Active

US Grammy award-winning pop band Maroon 5 has added a second concert in Tel Aviv this spring after quickly selling out their Israel debut in Hayarkon Park. They will now perform on May 9th and 10th. They arrive in Israel following their first show in Abu Dhabi.

Israeli social drama series "The Lesson," won the prize for best long series and the prize for interpretation at the Canneseries festival. Maya Landsmann, who plays one of the show's main characters, received the prize for best performance.

Dasha, a Russian new Israeli immigrant has opened an art exhibit at a South Tel Aviv nightclub to raise awareness and funds for Ukraine. 90% of the exhibits in “Vse Bude Ukraina״ (“Everything will be Ukraine”) is by Ukrainian and Russian Israelis.

Valentyna Veretska, who fled Ukraine along with her daughter, won the women’s race in the 25th March Jerusalem Marathon. Celebrating her victory, Veretska held up the flags of both Israel and Ukraine.

There are at least 10 big name concerts to enjoy in Israel this year.  They include Justin Bieber (Oct 13), Jethro Tull (Apr 19-20), Air Supply (May 27-28), Deep Purple (May 22), Nick Cave (Aug 23) and Pixies (July 11).

I was pleased to read this article prior to my easyJet flight to London to see family.

Jacob Richman has added new song pages to his hot-sites. This one features several versions of Lecha Etain et HaAretz Hazot (I Will Give You This Land) featuring historical and interesting videos. My favorite is the 2022 Bnei Akiva version (see YouTube below).

Israelis have again displayed a high sense of well-being. Israel rose to ninth, in the annual UN-sponsored World Happiness index, its highest-ever placing. It was 12th in 2021 and 14th in 2020. The index also takes account of GDP, social support, personal freedom, and corruption levels.

Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo held a photo exhibition of the works of recent Israeli immigrant Gavriel Rosenfeld entitled “Animal Equilibrium”. At age four, Gavriel was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and is confined to a wheelchair. It has not restricted his achievements.

As the nation marks the Jewish festival of Purim, Israel’s National Library provided a rare glimpse of its huge collection of Megallot Esther – the scroll of Esther.