Israelis pass the “Blind Man” test
An Australian test of honesty was repeated in Israel. A blind Israeli asked strangers to change a 10 or 20-shekel note, but held out a 100 or 200-shekel note to see if anyone exploited his disability. 100 per cent of Israelis corrected the blind man’s “mistake”.
Bibi’s miraculous recovery
No, not the Israeli PM; this is Border Police Officer Raz Bibi who was stabbed by an Arab terrorist in May and nearly died. He was discharged from hospital a month later and immediately went to pray at the Western Wall. Bibi returned to duty in November and now a ceremony has honored him.
Campaign to bring Subbotnik Jews home
Michael Freund of Shavei Israel writes that there are still 15,000 to 20,000 Subbotnik Jews in Russia and many want to make Aliya. They are descendants of Christians who began celebrating the Jewish Sabbath in the late 18th century. Many formally converted to Judaism.
Fight BDS – drink up
The first linked article highlights some delicious wines made in Judea and Samaria. Meanwhile, the 2016 Sommelier Wine Exhibition in Tel Aviv featured the products of 80 different Israeli wineries with the Golan Heights Winery being very popular in Europe. “Lechaim!”
112-year-old Israeli is world’s oldest man
Yisrael Kristal Kristal was born in 1903 to a religiously observant Jewish family in what is now part of Poland. His first wife and two children were murdered in the Holocaust. He survived Auschwitz and other death camps, remarried, made Aliyah, and had more children.
Yeshiva boy finds & returns NIS 130,000 lost property
A Belz yeshiva student found a small bag containing 130,000 shekels (over $32,600) in cash at a bus station in Haifa. He then waited until the owner of the cash turned up and handed it over to the astounded (previously anti-orthodox) man, refusing any reward.
Engagement ring found in the garbage
A wedding nightmare had a happy ending after a lost engagement ring was found in a garbage pile and returned to the frantic bride-to-be. Volunteers sifted through trash at the Municipal warehouses in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem after the bride’s family put out an appeal on facebook.
From Iranian army, to Jewish State
Dr. Shahab Davidfor, an Iranian Jew, served as a doctor in the Iranian army, treating patients at an Iranian air force base. He made Aliyah 2 years ago and is now working in a Terem (emergency) clinic in Romema, Jerusalem.
Keep Olim in Israel
Liami Lawrence made Aliya from California in 2014. Now he has formed a group “Keep Olim in Israel” for the thousands of new immigrants to Israel, providing a positive channel to helping them settle in Israel.
Aliya at age 97
Melba Landa, 97 was the oldest woman to make Aliyah in 2015. She was born in Odessa and now lives with her son and daughter-in-law in Haifa. By profession she is a geologist but she dedicated the bulk of her time to fighting for human rights and for Soviet Jewry.