Israel Active

Israel’s Police Commissioner Roni Alshich lit the flame for the first night of Hanukkah at the Kotel (Western Wall). He said, “The lighting of one Hanukkah candle creates and symbolizes the unity of the Jewish people. One nation with one heart."

On Chanukah, 11 cyclists lit candles in Metula on the Israel-Lebanon border and then cycled over 500km to Eilat to light candles the next evening. In doing so, they hoped to raise NIS 500,000 for Israeli emergency rescue charity United Hatzalah. Please help them if you can.

For the first time since its founding, a limited number of Birthright Israel trip options for 27 to 32-year-olds will be introduced this summer in addition to the standard programming available for 18 to 26-year-olds.

It was a historic moment, just past 8pm Israeli time on 6th Dec when US President Donald Trump announced US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish State and began the process of moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Czech Republic also announced recognition.

An Israeli bride and groom were on the way to their wedding on Route 4 when their car broke down. A patrolman for Netivei Israel - the government-owned company in charge of Israel’s roads – chauffeured the couple to their wedding himself. He even decorated his car for them.

One of the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project (JWRP) groups is Media Magnets - Jewish women with millions of social media followers. 30 Media Magnets recently visited Israel and will certainly be letting their audiences know about the Jewish State.

In the largest gathering of its kind, some 150 young Jewish leaders from German-speaking countries gathered in Jerusalem for an annual event hosted by the Jewish Agency for Israel. Their tracks included hi-tech, archeological discoveries; the social fabric; and education.

Avraham Takacz, a native of Donetsk and a Holocaust survivor, arrived in Israel as a refugee in 2014 from the battle zones of the Ukraine. For his 90th birthday, he fulfilled a dream and visited the Western Wall for the first time in his life.

Hanukkah - the Jewish “Festival of lights”, begins on the evening of 12 Dec. This video shows the traditional nightly Hannukiah (candelabra) lighting in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Actor Will Smith, star of Men In Black and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, was “chillin” by the Western Wall in Jerusalem. He found it to be “a very spiritual, very powerful place” and was “very honored to be here.”