Israel Active

Now that Jerusalem’s Yitzhak Navon railway station is open, this article nicely describes the man who served as Israel’s fifth President from 1978 to 1983, passing away in 2015. His family had lived in Jerusalem for over 300 years and he was fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, Ladino, French and English.

President Reuven Rivlin hosted the heads of the Conference of European Rabbis - the main Orthodox rabbinical alliance in Europe, comprising over 700 communities. The Chief Rabbi of Moscow presented the Israeli President with a new Talmud, in Russian.

Here is a great site for everything you want to know about Israel’s National Anthem – Hatikva.  It includes Hebrew lyrics with English transliteration and translation, plus links to its historical background and 15 unique videos.

I reported previously about the Friends of Zion Museum which opened its doors in Jerusalem.  The FoZ now has 50 million supporters and is launching a $100 million project to help educate pro-Israel supporters around the world about the Jewish state, its challenges and achievements.

28,000 public-domain pre-1947 photos extracted from public and private archives in Israel are now available on Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia Israel developed automatic tools to scan through the previously unsearchable online Israeli archives.

Israel's Ambassador in Prague Daniel Meron, accompanied Czech Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček to the Western Wall in Jerusalem - the first time a European foreign minister is joined at the wall by an Israeli diplomat.

Canadian-Arab Fred Maroun has advice for supporting the Jewish State. Be informed. Put ethics ahead of partisanship. Speak up for Israel among your peers. Speak up wisely on social media. Support Israel’s economy (with links). Be a role model in respecting Israel’s democracy.

One hundred Christian Zionists visited Israel, led by Pastor John Hagee of Christians United For Israel (CUFI).  Whilst here, they visited the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem where its founder Dr. Mike Evans presented Hagee with an award for his steadfast support of Israel and the Jewish people.

Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin sang “Jeena, Jeena, Ierusalem, longing, longing for Jerusalem” at celebrations marking the Sigd holiday of the Ethiopian-Israeli community. He praised “those ancient, wonderful prayers that you kept hold of and held dear to you and learned by heart and taught your children and passed down the generations.”

London-based Jewish philanthropists Gillian and Irving Carter, of the Locker Foundation trust, opened the Sylvia Carter Medical Clinic at ALEH Moriah, a treatment center for Israeli children with severe, complex disabilities.