Israel Active

The Jewish National Fund-USA’s Build Together plan has brought volunteers from around the world to help rebuild communities following Oct 7. One such is Moshav Mivtachim where some two-thirds of the 450 residents have now returned home to the pleasant surprise of a refreshed town.

Yedidya Harush has literally fought his way through combining IDF reserve duty with running a matzah-baking factory. Using personal loans, crowdfunding, and a generous JNF grant, he provides a livelihood to his 50 employees, and hand-baked matzah to IDF soldiers and evacuees.

Ari Spitz, a Givati Brigade soldier, has regained full consciousness one and a half months after being severely injured in Gaza. He is considered one of the most severe casualties of the war.

Danielle graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Music. She started a bureaucratic job with the UK Government. Then she went to The UK Limmud Conference, and now she is executive director of Israel’s Volcani International Partnerships, repairing devastated farms in southern Israel.

Israel’s President Herzog and Ukraine’s President Zelensky both wrote a letter in a new Torah scroll for Kyiv’s Great Synagogue, dedicated to peace and unity. Other writers include Israel’s Chief Rabbis, Ukrainian soldiers, relatives of Israeli hostages and bereaved families.

“Hashoteret Az-Oolay” (Policewoman Then-Maybe) has been a regular fixture at Israeli street demonstrations for the last three or so years. In her big shoes, old-fashioned police uniform and red nose, she aims to connect with all the different kinds of communities in Jerusalem.

Some very unusual animals have appeared in Israel recently. Red Heffers, and now this.

Israeli archaeologists uncovered a 6,000-year-old “amphoriskos” (small oil jar with two handles). Made from an elephant tusk, it is the first of its kind to be found in the region, highlighting its skillful manufacture, plus its trade route location - Horbat Raqiq near Beer-Sheva.

Ubeidiya Jordan Valley national park has three features. First, a prehistoric site. Then adjacent, is Tel Ubeidiya where an inscription of the time of Pharaoh Merneptah (c.1210 BCE) was found mentioning Israel. And finally, Moshav Menahemia, an early Zionist village, was established here in 1901.

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is distributing over NIS 18 million to support 100,000 needy Israelis over Passover. It will focus on war-impacted families, especially the bereaved, families of hostages, wounded soldiers, and evacuees. IFCJ has already distributed NIS 25 million.