Israel Active

Strengthening Jewish identity one page at a time was the theme of the first-ever International Talmud Israeli Competition on December 15 at the Jerusalem Theater. Of the 1000 parent-child teams, 15 made the final including 3 from the US. An Israeli team won with 150 out of 150 points.

The Israel Antiquities Authority has uncovered 2000-year-old vats in the southern Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon, used by the Romans to produce a fish sauce. Historical sources refer to the production of special fish sauce, but few vats have been discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Thousands of Ethiopian-Israeli Jews traveled from across the country to the Haas Promenade facing the Old City of Jerusalem to celebrate the Sigd holiday. With its roots in the biblical Book of Nehemiah, Sigd rededicates the community’s links to Torah, Jerusalem and Jewish unity.

A previous newsletter article highlighted Israel’s animal sanctuary at Moshav Olesh, which was caring for a 3-legged donkey. Here is website for an Israeli sanctuary that looks after unwanted and abused donkeys. Its mobile clinic also treats hundreds of working donkeys in the PA territories.

In a joint operation, the IDF and Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, extracted a badger, one of Israel’s rarest predators, from the metal border fence between Israel and Syria on the Golan Heights. It had been trying to escape from Syria and was released near a water source on the Israeli side.

When Daniel was fired from his job, in a lapse of sanity he tried to take his own life. After going missing for two days he was found unconscious by Eishela from the Israel Dog Unit.  Daniel made a miraculous recovery and was finally able to thank Eishela and her handler.

Please read this article about Egyptian-born Hussein Aboubakr who searched for information about Israel and discovered much of what he had been told previously was a lie. He is now a pro-Israel advocate, living in the United States.  If only there were a lot more people like him.

Michael Okunieff fought the Nazis and rescued 75 Jewish children from Poland during WW2. At the age of 96 he has just fulfilled his dream of making Aliya from Chicago, with a little help from the Ministry of Aliya and Integration and the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization.

Rare colorful mosaic fragments dating back to the third century CE have been uncovered in an ancient synagogue at Majdulia in the Golan Heights. They shed light on the transformation of synagogues, after the Temple was destroyed, from places of study to prayer centers.

This video highlights the excavation in Israel of a 7th century BCE (First Temple) Biblical seal found in Jerusalem; a 5,000-year-old Canaanite city at Ein Azur, Harish; a 6th century CE Byzantine church in Bet Shemesh and a 1,400-year-old hammer and nails at Usha in Kiryat Atta.