Israelis mark centenary of Hannah Szenes
On the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hannah Szenes, eight IDF paratroopers joined a multinational re-enactment of Hannah’s parachute jump into Slovenia during WW2. Ceremonies were also held on Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl and the Hannah Szenes Museum in Kibbutz Sdot Yam.
Huge increase in Aliya from France
Israel has seen a 137% jump in the number of new immigrants from France so far during 2021 compared to the same period last year. 160 new French immigrants to Israel arrived on a special flight from Paris. They included doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers and 42 under-18s.
From sadness to love
Within the space of six days, the Jewish calendar moves from the saddest day (9th Av – Tisha B’Av) to the most romantic day (15th Av – Tu b’Av) which this year coincided with Shabbat and 15 years to the day that Sharon made Aliya to the “Real Jerusalem Streets”.
Wrong address – neighbors help out
United Hatzalah EMT Yaeir was desperately trying to locate a woman whose son had requested emergency help but had given an incomplete address. Thankfully, local residents spotted Yaeir running up and down stairs and within 10 minutes he was administering life-saving treatment.
The IDF’s first Haredi Negev Commander
First Lieutenant Shmuel Kirsch has been promoted to Company Commander in the Negev Battalion at the Nevatim Air Force Base. Kirsch is a member of the Chabad Hasidic movement and the first Haredi commander of the Negev Company.
Underneath the Temple
Although the Jerusalem Temples have long been destroyed, some 49 underground cisterns and 42 channels beneath Temple Mount still exist. A new book by journalist and Temple Mount researcher Arnon Segal, “Habayit” (“The Home”), provides a near “virtual” visit to the cisterns.
The Eastern wall of Jerusalem
Just in time for Tisha B’Av – the 9th Av mourning for the destruction of both Temples. 30 meters of the Jerusalem wall (1st Temple period 1000 BCE) has been exposed during excavations in the City of David National Park. The wall is on a slope too steep for the Babylonians to destroy in 586 BCE.
President Herzog the 2nd
Isaac Herzog is the 11th President of Israel, replacing Reuven Rivlin. The President was sworn in on the same Bible used to swear in his father Chaim, Israel’s 6th president. His grandfather (later Israel’s Chief Rabbi) Yitzhak Halevi Herzog took it to Europe after the Shoah to rescue hidden Jewish children.
The nation state of the Jewish People
In a landmark ruling, Isael’s Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the Knesset in passing the nation-state law. As one judge wrote, its recognition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish People, “does not hurt the individual rights of any Israeli citizen,” regardless of faith or ethnicity.
Jewish revolt coins found in Samaria
A coin unearthed in the Binyamin region of Samaria shows that Jews continued to live in the area decades after the Romans destroyed the 2nd Temple. The coin, minted around 134-135 CE, bears the inscription LeHerut Yerushalayim (for the freedom of Jerusalem).