Israel Active

Jews around the world, including Israel, will be interested in this. A recent follow-up to a 2018 pilot Cincinnati study has confirmed that people who wear tefillin (phylacteries) every weekday, are less likely to suffer heart attacks. Will tefillin be added to the Israeli health basket?

Several Members of the Knesset have submitted a bill proposing that all banknotes issued by the Bank of Israel include the Hebrew phrase for “In Hashem we trust.” They claim that the phrase would be “a talisman for the economic success of Israel.”  A similar phrase is on all US banknotes.

This video from NGO Stand With Us briefly features Jerusalem’s Western Wall Tunnels - a well-engineered system of ancient passageways and cisterns that reveal hidden parts of the Kotel. A longer visit provides a glimpse of Jerusalem during the Second Temple period and immediately afterwards.

Archeologists have discovered a 133CE bronze coin at the Nahal Darga Nature Reserve. One side has “Shimon” in ancient Hebrew, referring to Shimon Bar Kokhba, the leader of the Jewish revolt against Rome. On the reverse is the inscription “Year Two of the Freedom of Israel.”

The Mesha Stele is a basalt stone containing chronicles by Mesha, King of Moab during the late 9th century BCE. Photographic technology has verified that references to events about the “House of David”, recorded on the stone, correspond to the historical account in the Book of Kings.

As usual, the media missed most of these. Nefesh b Nefesh’s Living Financially Smarter in Israel 2023; a shop for Ukrainian refugees; 30 years of the Naale educational program; five new foreign Ambassadors to Israel; the InPrint Art Book Fair, and a beautiful rainbow.

A study of 500+ Israelis has determined that 42% of the population regularly volunteered, mostly in welfare, with the disadvantaged or in education. Among the ultra-Orthodox, this rose to 60%. Israel ranked 5th of the list headed by Canada (79%), the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

This photo, of the new IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi and his wife Sharon at the Western Wall Plaza, has gone viral. The mechitza [partition] that separates women and men cannot separate their smiles and love. A picture is worth a thousand words. It also tells a thousand stories.

A new archeology garden was inaugurated at Kibbutz Kfar Aza. It replaces an orchard that Gaza terrorists burned down. A crowdfunding campaign and individual donors raised funds for the new garden to serve as a community gathering spot, displaying artifacts from the State Treasure collections.

La’aretz is a new non-profit organization with the mission to help Israelis and Jews overcome bureaucratic and financial obstacles to immigrating, returning, visiting and traveling to Israel. La’aretz complements Nefesh b’Nefesh by facilitating complex cases and funding those in need.