Israel Active

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology tells the Passover story in an exciting new way, using breakdance to combine creativity and technology.

Fasten your seatbelts as the Passover exodus departs from a table near you.

Ancient glass kilns have been discovered at the foot of Mt. Carmel, showing that Israel was at the center of the global glass trade during the late Roman period.  An edict by the fourth century CE Roman emperor Diocletian refers to Judean glass.

Further to my previous newsletter about the exhibition at Ben Gurion airport of posters showing Israel’s world-changing achievements, here is a site where you can read about each individual poster.

Israeli-born Nepal Chabad Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz called in a rescue helicopter to evacuate two Israeli women backpackers who had been stranded in Annapurna in the Himalayas and were suffering from hypothermia.  The women used Chabad-supplied GPS devices, donated by an Israeli family.

This video by Ezri Tubi highlights Israel’s uniqueness.  On the one hand, it is progressive and profound for its technology.  And on the other, it is the revival of an ancient historical dream.

A 2000-year-old incense shovel and jug have been discovered at Magdala, a 2nd Temple Jewish town in the Galilee region.  The Israel Antiquities Authority has been leading extensive excavations at the site and has uncovered Jewish ritual baths and a synagogue with a mosaic floor.

On 20th March, Israel’s pro cycling team set out on the route from Florence to Assisi that Italian champion road cyclist Gino Bartali took secretly during World War II to save Jews escaping from Nazi persecution.  He hid forged documents in the handlebar and seat of his bicycle.

In the 2006 Lebanon war, Major Roi Klein saved his unit by jumping on a live grenade thrown by a Hezbollah terrorist.  His widow Sarah has now married Rabbi Yigal Levenstein, one of Roi's former pre-military academy teachers.  Rabbi Levenstein’s wife passed away in November.

An act of Filipino hospitality - opening the Philippines to Jews fleeing the Holocaust - earned the gratitude of Israel, which now shows it by welcoming Filipino pilgrims, tourists and even skilled workers.