Israel Active

Since 2012, the Or Movement has built 8 cities in the South of Israel. Its Equitable Cities program aims to reduce gaps between development towns and the cities in the center of Israel; to strengthen the cities in the periphery and to support the sustainability and success of the Negev and Galilee.

37 members of the Peruvian Jewish community flew to Israel on a charter flight for new immigrants, organized by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Peru is suffering from high rates of COVID-19 infections, plus riots due to the scarcity of food and medical supplies.

May 2020 ended with a 100 percent increase in North American interest in Aliyah compared to May 2019, with a record-breaking number of immigration applications. Many of the 800 applicants said that the coronavirus helped prompt a decision they long had in the making.

Ruth and Bezalel come from two families who were infected with Covid-19 and taken to a hotel converted into a coronavirus recovery ward. Ruth was impressed that Bezalel had organized Torah activities for the yeshiva students at the hotel. A friend organized a date and the couple soon got engaged.  

Listen to what converted black Jew Elton says at 21:20 on this ILTV video. (Relevant extract begins at 17:30)

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Birthright is going ahead with its Excel summer internship project, virtually. It places Jewish university students from the US, Canada, Mexico, Israel and the UK with Israel’s top tech and finance companies.

Some remarkable scenes of Israel’s capital city. Green paths, speedily completed roadworks, hotels opening for guests, streets closed to accommodate eating outside restaurants, the Unity Prize winners and three contrasting volunteer medics for United Hatzalah.

Now that Israel’s bars are no longer locked down, Weizmann Institute professors are giving their 11th annual “Science on Tap” talks. This year the venues are 32 bars in villages and towns on Israel’s border with Gaza and in nearby Ashkelon and Netivot.

Weizmann Institute scientists used new radiocarbon-dating techniques and micro-archaeology to accurately date the construction of Wilson’s Arch, which supported one of the main pathways to the Second Temple. It was built in two phases, around 35BCE and then extended in the first century CE.

In this powerful video clip, a father from Argentina cannot hide his emotions as he is welcomed into the Jewish State by singing youth and IDF soldiers.