Israel Active

The City of David organization has revitalized the Valley of Hennom, on the outskirts of Jerusalem into a brand-new park. The valley is mentioned in in the Book of Joshua and is said to be the origin for the concept of hell.  Israelis transformed it, just as they did to the once desolate Land of Israel.

225 new immigrants from the USA and Canada have just arrived in Israel. They included the 75,000th Oleh brought by Nefesh B’Nefesh, together with 27 medical professionals and 40 future lone soldiers. Earlier, 100-year-old Judy Neiman made Aliyah, joining her son’s family in Beit Shemesh.

Assuta Medical Center in Ashdod has opened a pediatric playroom. Thanks to Brooklyn-based Toys for Simcha, it features a lounging area, a video game corner, a reading library, a foosball table, a play kitchen, toys and tech for patients and their families, from toddlers to teens.

Shalom, an EMT with Israel’s United Hatzalah was in the vicinity of the recent fatal Jerusalem bus crash but had no medical equipment at the time. He saved a young victim with severe injuries by stemming the blood flow from one of her legs by tying his tzitzit (small prayer shawl) around it as a tourniquet.

Israel’s SavorEat has finally done it. It has just launched kosher 3D-printed, plant-based vegan, gluten-free, allergen-free pork patties. They contain pea and other plant-based proteins with sunflower and coconut fats.  (Ed - I wonder if they will be as popular as the facon-burger!)

Many Rabbinic texts are difficult to read, even for Hebrew speakers. Rashi script, no punctuation, and abbreviations are just some of the issues. Israeli-American computer scientist and Talmud scholar Prof. Moshe Koppel has launched Dicta Maivin (dictation expert) to resolve those problems.

Archaeologists have found a rare collection of knuckle bones used for gambling and divination in Southern Israel, dating back approximately 2,300 years to the Hellenistic period.

Five intact large storage jars have been unearthed at Shiloh in Samaria, under the floor of a building from the Talmudic period (200-400 CE). Previous finds date from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Early Muslim periods. Shiloh was the site of the Tabernacle c.1250 BCE.

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) brought 84 new South American immigrants to Israel. Originally from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru, their reasons for Aliyah varied, but for most it was to have a better quality of life.

Israel is just a sliver on the map in the Middle East, but has earned a global reputation for effectively and sacrificially helping other nations in times of crisis - even enemy countries like Syria. Judaism emphasises giving help to others, so a Jewish state will always make it a priority.