“The diamonds are in our hands”
In one of the most daring operations since Oct 7, Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrei Kozlov, who were kidnapped from the Nova party, were rescued in “Operation Arnon.” This is how the action unfolded, minute by minute. Some other very good links below.
A Filipino singer’s journey to Judaism
Howie Danao, 23, came to Israel inside his pregnant mother – a Filipino care worker. He was adopted by an Israeli family; started writing songs at age 8; a semi-finalist on Israel’s “A Star is Born”; drafted into the IDF and converted to Judaism. Now he performs for Oct 7 survivors.
Celebrating Jerusalem Day
Exciting scenes as Israelis unite to sing and dance on the anniversary of the unification of the eternal city.
Wedding at last
A year and a half ago Nadav took two bullets in the stomach, was seriously injured but managed to neutralize the terrorist who shot him and his father while they were spending Shabbat in Jerusalem. Thankfully, he recovered, rejoined his unit, and on Jun 13 he got married! Mazel Tov!
Still recycling
Jack (Tato) Bigio is co-founder and CEO of Israel’s UBQ (see previously). He describes the purpose of his garbage recycling company, and about the loss of key employees on Oct 7. It hasn’t affected his desire to protect the environment or his determination to avoid being taken-over.
Israelí hero – Arnon Zmora
Just a few of the tributes to Arnon Zmora who led the elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit that rescued 4 Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Israelis never miss an opportunity
What do you think Almog Meir Jan did during his 8 months as a hostage of Hamas? He learned two languages of course. Arabic from watching Al Jazeera, and Russian from speaking with his fellow captive Andrey Kozlov. He also had been able to keep a journal while in captivity.
Jerusalem’s population tops 1 million
As the Jewish world celebrates Yom Yerushalayim – Jerusalem Day, the Jerusalem Research Institute published its annual survey, showing that the population of Israel’s capital - the eternal city - has just exceeded one million inhabitants. It grew by 13,400 residents since last year’s survey.
Using AI to analyze the Talmud
Researchers from Tel Aviv and Ariel universities have used a Machine Learning algorithm to find places in the Talmud that contain unusual language variations. They confirmed the theories of Rashi and other Torah scholars that these “special tractates” may have come from different sources.
Jerusalem’s Herodian quarter is open
After two years of renovations costing $5 million, Jerusalem’s 2,000-year-old Herodian Quarter in the Old City is reopening to the public. The 2,600sqm area contains luxurious homes, mosaics, paved streets and numerous ritual baths for the priestly families that served at the 2nd Temple.