Israel Active

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).

Member of Knesset Pnina Tamano-Shata lit a candle at a Chanukah ceremony in London’s Trafalgar Square. She said, “Hanukkah symbolizes …. the ability to change our world for the better together.”

The recent wave of new Israeli citizens from France has made a huge difference to the quality of Israel’s Chanukah donuts (sufganiyot).

Hundreds of ultra-religious IDF soldiers have just participated in the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Haredi combat units. They include "Netzach Yehuda" (Kfir brigade) "Tomer" platoon (Givati ​) "Chetz" platoon (Paratroopers) plus "Defenders of the Negev" platoon (Air Force).

As reported previously Israeli non-profit Ayalim builds student villages to increase the Jewish presence in the Negev and Galilee, plus help those living in the social periphery. It is now using “social impact investing”, to enlarge some of its 22 villages and build new ones.