Israel Active

Over a million Israelis participated in planting trees during the festival of Tu Bishvat. No wonder that the Land of Israel was one of the few countries to start the 21st century with more trees than it had 100 years earlier. Also (TY ) Tu Bishvat as experienced in Jerusalem.

A couple who made Aliya from France ten years ago have “hit the jackpot”, winning NIS 30 million ($8.1 million) in Israel’s first lottery of 2019. The religious couple kept their secret from the guests they entertained over Shabbat. After giving to charity, they intend to buy apartments for their children.

Recent heavy rains have revealed two beautiful clay figurines of horses in northern Israel. The first, from the time of the Kingdom of Israel (about 800 BCE), was found near Kfar Ruppin in the Beit Shean Valley. The other dates to the Hellenistic period (around 200 BCE) was found near Tel Akko.

To mark the Jewish festival of Tu Bishvat, World Mizrachi made this inspiring video to highlight the love affair between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.  With Zo Artzeinu they are planting 11,000 new fruit trees in Israel. The subsequent sites promote their “Trees of Life” Project.

Almost 30,000 Jews made Aliyah (immigrated) to Israel this year compared with 28,220 new immigrants in 2017, a 5% increase. 10,500 came from Russia - a 45% increase from 2017. Over 3,500 Americans made Aliya in 2018, boosting Israel’s population to nearly 9 million.

Wednesday’s storm brought some vital rainfall to increase the level of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). It also turned to snow in the Jerusalem area – bringing delight to many schoolchildren and inspired some visitors to the Kotel (Western Wall) to join hands and dance.

Useful information about the Jewish New Year for Trees, including vocabulary, activities, graphics, clip art, greeting cards, photos, recipes, songs, quiz, games etc.  Also an article on the significance of the festival from Between The Lines

  YU hub for Israeli startups. (TY Mechal) Yeshiva University is launching a hub based in New York City for Israeli startups to jump-start in the US. The initiative coincides with 20 undergraduate students from Yeshiva University visiting Israel to see successful hi-tech companies and get an understanding of the start-up culture.

Adam Neumann – Israeli co-founder of multi-billion-dollar company WeWork - delivered a great speech at a UJA Federation event on what being Jewish means to him.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s daughter, Noa Netanyahu-Roth, has just given birth to a baby girl - her fourth child. Noa lives in the Mea Shearim district of Jerusalem. Her husband is one of the many ultra-orthodox Jews working in the hi-tech sector. (2015 video of Netanyahu’s grandson’s brit)