Israel Active

As part of the May 14 ceremony to mark the official opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, a mezuzah will be affixed to the embassy building. The U.S. embassy will initially be situated in what is now the U.S. Consulate building, whilst a new building is being constructed.

Quite amazing to see what Israel has achieved in such a short time.

Professor Efraim Inbar is President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies. He analyzes Israel positively in terms of its security, economy, society, democracy, and international relations.

To celebrate Israel’s 70th birthday, writer Robert Sarner has prepared a list of notable things Israel has done over the past 12 months. He admits that it’s only a small sampling of what the country has accomplished since Independence Day 2017. Apologies if I’ve missed reporting any of these.

Thousands of Israeli school pupils and volunteers have prepared a new public 70km path in the Galilee called the Sanhedrin Trail. Tourists will learn the archaeology, nature and history from hi-tech milestones that transmit data directly to smartphones. Many Jewish relics were also found along the trail.

Shmuel Rosner says it for me - in the NY Times no less. “I am the Jew who gets to see Jewish ingenuity unapologetically celebrated, Jewish material success flourish, Jewish might acknowledged and the Jewish language rejuvenated. I am the Jew who after 2,000 years gets to witness Jewish political independence.”

Joseph Puder writes that the number 70 has significant meaning in Jewish tradition.  It recalls the 70-year Babylonian Exile that led to the start of the 2nd Jewish Commonwealth in 530 BCE. Puder highlights similarities between the returnees from the Babylonian Exile and Israelis today.

Former NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire has long claimed to have “Hebrew roots”, studied Judaism and practiced its cultural customs. Now he is formally converting to the Jewish religion. Stoudemire partly owns hoops team Hapoel Jerusalem and has his own brand of Israeli wine.

Israeli law currently prevents Jews from praying on Temple Mount. However, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s court has ruled that it is permitted for visitors to the Temple Mount compound to call out, “Am Yisrael chai” (“The people of Israel live”), because it is a patriotic slogan rather than a prayer.

Lovely 10-minute animation highlighting the last 2000 years of Jewish history and the return to the Land of Israel.