Israel Active

A rare photograph of Prime Minister Netanyahu wearing tefillin (phylacteries) was posted on Instagram. The PM promised the mother of Moshiko Dvino, who fell in battle in 2014, that he would put on Moshiko’s tefillin. The smell of gunpowder remains on the tefillin case.

In 2020, Israel’s Dr. Tamara Kolitz founded the non-profit LeMa’anam (“for their sake” in Hebrew), to provide timely healthcare free of charge to Holocaust survivors. Now, 1,500 physicians volunteer in their private clinics, patients’ homes, or LeMa’anam’s two mobile clinics.

Israel’s Valoo has launched a fund assembled to provide support for the child survivors of Oct 7. Operating with the social fund Tmura (see previously), it will regularly distribute cash to these children over the next 10 years. The fund has already raised some $20 million in stock donations.

On Oct 7, 60 of the 80 Israeli-based employees at Israel’s Exodigo (see previously) were drafted into the IDF reserves. The remaining Israeli office and overseas staff managed to close new deals but persuaded those customers to wait a while for implementation.

The attacks on Oct 7 took a severe toll on the SouthUp business incubator (see previously). But now the Nir Am center has fully reopened. Four new startups have joined the portfolio of 27 companies working in the fields of agritech, food tech, medical tech, clean tech, and IoT.

Researchers at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University have achieved a breakthrough in advanced radiocarbon dating techniques. It has enabled an “absolute chronology” of Jerusalem in the Iron Age, the time of the Kingdom of Judah and the First Temple. It confirms Biblical accounts of the city’s expansion.

This video describes how Israel’s Ben Gurion University responded after the devastating events of Oct 7.  BGU and its students are helping the Negev recover and rebuild. From finance to students in the reserves and evacuees, to medical gear, clinics, and many vital cutting-edge innovations.

The Alexander Muss High School has three unique summer programs. Teen Volunteer weeks (choice of 3 dates); Classic Israel (academic history & culture - 18 Jun – 31 Jul); Explore Israel (non-academic) for 11th & 12th graders (25 Jun – 31 Jul).

Archeologists from the University of Haifa, Bar-Ilan University, and the University of California, have published their study of the underwater village of North Habonim, off the coast south of Haifa.  It shows continued ancient settlement during centuries of global climate cooling.

Archeologists have identified an Early Iron Age cemetery at Horvat Tevet in Israel’s Jezreel Valley dating from the monarchy of the biblical King David more than 3,000 years ago. They have not yet identified whether Hebrews or Canaanites were buried at the site.