Israel Active

Georgia has announced plans to open a cultural center in Jerusalem, joining the embassies of the US and Guatemala and trade offices of Honduras, Hungary, Australia, Brazil and the Czech Republic. Slovakia and Ukraine are also expected to open such offices.

Another article about Israeli non-profit Yedidim (Hebrew for “good friends”) whose 20,000 volunteers help any motorists who have problems with their cars. Last year they attended hundreds of thousands of incidents, including rescuing 1,500 infants from locked cars.

A new photo exhibit entitled “One to Ninety” at Ben-Gurion airport depicts the story of the Jewish Agency for Israel as it celebrates its 90th anniversary. These photos will welcome those flying to and from the Jewish State until 30th March.

34,000 people immigrated to Israel during 2019 – the largest annual figure in the past 10 years. Over the decade Israel received 250,000 immigrants from 150 countries. More than three million people have immigrated to Israel since 1948, with around 44% of them arriving after 1990.

Here are some of Sharon’s photos of this year’s biggest and best Chanukah happenings this year in Jerusalem.  And her photos show that Jerusalem is for all religions.

Geula Cohen, who passed away recently aged 93, joined the Jewish underground at 17 years old as a radio announcer during the Mandate period. She escaped twice from the British – including from prison.  After Israeli Independence, Geula became a Member of Knesset and won Israel’s highest civilian honors.

Eurovision song contest winner Netta Barzilai and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin sang to Bar and Bat Mitzvah boys & girls who had been bereaved or injured in terror acts. A separate ceremony was held earlier for the children at the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem.

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman joined volunteers at Israeli charity Colel Chabad's Pantry Packers center in Jerusalem to prepare packages for Israel's needy. They also re-packed rescued food for 200 elderly Israelis and gifts for 150 orphans.

At Israel’s JNF Alexander Muss High School, students learn 4,000+ years of Jewish and Israeli history in a matter of months. The school uses experiential learning, teaching history chronologically at an advanced level, utilizing the Land of Israel as an immersive classroom

The reason for Israel’s incredible transformation over the last 10 years is its people – too many to mention here. 14 individuals, though, are highlighted in this article as being particularly inspiring. They include my own favorites, Navonel Glick (IsraAID) and Sivan Ya’ari (Innovation: Africa).