Israel Active

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."

The Israeli government approved unanimously a decision to allow the Falash Mura who are still in transit camps in Ethiopia to be flown to Israel. Israeli-Ethiopian MK Avraham Negusa said, “This is a great day for the Jewish people. For thousands of years, Ethiopian Jewry prayed to return to Israel and waited for nearly a decade torn from their families. Today their prayers were answered.”

An ancient olive press was unearthed at the Shilo archaeological park in the Binyamin region of Judea and Samaria. It is proof that aside from being the capital of ancient Israel for 369 years and housing the Ark of the Covenant, Shilo was also the region’s main manufacturer of olive oil.

A team of students from the Handasaim Herzliya High School found three coins from the Hasmonean dynasty era while on an archeological dig in the ruins at Adulam Park near Bet Shemesh. The coins were minted during the rule of King Alexander Jannaeus in the first century BCE.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a special request to grassroots pro-Israel organization United With Israel. He asked for one of UWI’s chanukiahs made from the metal remnants of Hamas rockets. The PM then lit the chanukiah at an IDF Chanukah ceremony.