Israel Active

An “Accessibility Shabbat” was held in communities across Israel on 5 Dec 2015, to highlight the need for greater respect for the handicapped and disabled within the religious community, and in Israeli society in general. Events were led by the Tzohar Committee on Jewish Ethics.

A previous newsletter featured a wine (Marawi 2014) produced from indigenous Israeli grapes. You should also look out for Dabouki 2014 and 2015. And at Ariel University, Eliyashiv Drori has made tiny batches from about 30 different grape varieties.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat always seems to be at the right place at the right time. When the wife of Interior Minister Silvan Shalom fainted in Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market, Barkat was on the scene to revive her. See the mayor’s previous “superhero” activities and .

The Am Yisrael Foundation aims to bring Jewish education and Jewish faith to the center of Tel Aviv. Together with the North Central Synagogue of Tel Aviv it is dedicating a brand new Sefer Torah in honor of the 72 soldiers killed during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.

Further evidence that the Land of Israel was the birthplace of agriculture. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute and the Israel Antiquities Authority recently discovered the oldest known domesticated fava beans - about 10,200 years old - in the Galilee.

Rachel Elkayam last saw her family 68 years ago when she left Haifa for Syria with the Arab family that she had married into. She always wanted to return but it wasn’t until her grandson contacted the Israeli embassy in London that she was able to leave Syria.

Sisters Chen and Irit Cohen registered with on Ezer Mizion’s bone marrow registry. Then Chen’s DNA matched a cancer patient and her stem cells saved a life. Not long after, Chen’s father received another phone call from Ezer Mizion. Said the voice on the line. “Your daughter, Irit, has been found to be…”

Bride-to-be Sarah-Tehiya Litman, 21, whose father and brother were murdered by terrorists, has invited the entire nation of Israel. The invitation includes the phrase – "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, for I have fallen but I have gotten up" (Micah 7:8).

Israel’s Barak Stoltz spent Chanukah in the Utah desert, in a few cramped capsules that make up the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS). He lit his menorah, sang some songs, and even tried his hand at making latkes—all while practicing for a manned mission to Mars.

During recent excavations next to the Old City of Jerusalem, archaeologists discovered a unique seal impression (bulla) bearing the name of the 8th century BCE biblical King Hezekiah. The inscription reads: "Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz, King of Judah."