Israel Active

(Thanks to Howard) As in previous years, the Jewish Community Center, Bergen County, Washington, New Jersey is running a program that provides respite and fun to Israeli teens that live along the Gaza border. Please can other communities in the USA offer this kind of mitzvah (good deed).

Some 400 French Jews have just made Aliyah, undeterred by the ongoing rocket fire and conflict with terrorist groups in Gaza. Most of the immigrants are from the Paris area. They include 195 minors and 18 babies. 900 Jews made Aliyah in the past week.

This song was composed by a local teacher and has been taught to hundreds of schoolchildren within firing range of Gaza's rockets to help them deal with the fear and trauma of having 15 seconds to run for cover when the Color Red siren sounds.

Guides from the KKL-JNF quit their regular jobs to assist in activities for the children of Ashkelon in shelters and protected spaces. KKL-JNF also organized a fun day in the forests of Jerusalem for families from Gaza border communities.

Yaron Shadadi was walking with his dog near a Sderot paint factory when it went up in flames after a rocket attack from Gaza. Shadadi was lightly wounded and treated in Ashkelon hospital. In Nov 2012, Shadadi’s home suffered a direct hit from a Gaza rocket but he was unhurt.

A family, which reportedly includes both Muslim and Jewish members has fled civil war-torn Syria and is now living in a government absorption center near Tel Aviv. The NGO Israel Flying Aid and an Israeli-American businessman orchestrated their escape.

Taglit-Birthright’s program’s 400,000th participant is 20-year-old Ryan Hunter, from Syosset, NY (Long Island). Israel’s Prime Minister personally greeted Hunter at a Birthright Israel Mega Event, attended by 3,200 participants from 60 tour groups.

Sheldon and Miriam Adelson have pledged $5 million to develop the medical school at Ariel University and another $20 million for future academic programs. The Adelsons were inspired to action after the abduction of three Israeli teenagers. “..the medical studies at Ariel University underscore humanity, the desire for life and the value of human life wherever they are..” Sheldon said.

Tel Aviv hosted the largest ever Shabbat dinner when 2,226 participants (over double the previous record) gathered in a hangar at the city’s port to participate in the Friday night meal. The event was co-organized by Chabad and White City Shabbat.

Tel Aviv-based “Torah on the Moon” wants to deposit Torah scrolls on the moon, in case something should happen to the Earth. The space capsule being designed must protect the sacred text from the moon’s harsh radiation and extreme temperature changes for at least 10,000 years.