Israel Active

Jerusalem Unity Prize and Unity Day are positive events to commemorate the memory of Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Frenkel, kidnapped and murdered in Jun 2014.  2016 prize winners include Kesher Yehudi (facilitating secular & haredi dialogue) and Hapoel Katamon soccer club (promotes youth community outreach). =

Young students participating in an archaeological excavation at the ancient site of Tzipori have discovered a 3,300-year-old Egyptian amulet.  The scarab is from the time of the Ramses, the 19th Dynasty. Scarabs were mostly used as burial amulets, but also worn by the living, on rings. =

Led by the Israel Antiquities Authority, 500 volunteers have re-excavated the Cave of the Skulls - one of the largest caverns at Nahal Tze’elim.  They found many items that shed light on daily life of Judeans sheltering following the Bat Kochba revolt against the Romans in the second century CE.

On 24-25 May 1991, the IDF accomplished a miracle with its Operation Solomon covert mission to airlift 14,325 people and transport them 2,500 miles to a new life in Israel. It was Israel’s largest aerial expedition and included the world record number of passengers in a single plane.  (25 years ago I had the privilege to see some of those 35 planes arrive at Ben Gurion airport.)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a descendant of Lithuania’s Vilna Gaon.  But at the opening of the new wing at Beit Hatfutsot – the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv – he revealed that DNA tests showed he has Spanish roots.  He said “it shows that all Jews are intertwined”.

Although Israeli Independence Day was over two weeks ago, Israeli flags are still displayed everywhere.  Maybe it’s because Jerusalem Day is approaching – but many say it’s deeper than that.

Lag B’Omer at Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s tomb on Mount Meron is a unique experience.

A Haredi soldier was involved in a bus crash in which a female soldier died.  In hospital, doctors discovered a tumor in the brain of the Haredi soldier but a pre-operation scan kept being cancelled.  On Memorial Day, the soldier visited the grave of the female soldier and chanced upon Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot. Shortly afterwards, a taxi arrived to take the soldier for his scan.

Brave Tunisian brothers Mohamed Faleh Boughdiri and Ibrahim Boughdiri have converted to Judaism. Now named Josef and Jacob, they are not afraid to show their support for the Jewish State even though they have received serious threats and bullying.

More than 800 Jewish mothers from 14 countries celebrated a life-changing journey to Israel this month, at a Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project (JWRP) Mega Event.  It launched the JWRP’s specialized “Momentum” trips for 2600 women from 26 countries.