Israel Active

UK-based charity Myisrael has launched a free phone app to collect donations for Myisrael’s projects from about a thousand British retailers every time an online purchase is made. Participating retailers include Boots, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, PC World and Amazon.

1300 people attended the seder at Kibbutz Naan near Rehovot. They have their own haggadah and songs and the kids put on a show. But imagine all the washing up!

A huge crowd gathered at the Western Wall plaza in the Old City of Jerusalem to celebrate the traditional priestly blessing performed during the Passover festival. The event is a reminder of the Jewish pilgrimages to the Temple in Jerusalem, over 2500 years ago.

The symbolic figure of six million has been registered by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, along with the fact that Israel now is the country with the largest population of Jews in the world. It has superseded the United States, which has a population of 5.5 million Jews.

In Times Square, New York, Nefesh b’Nefesh were busy answering questions from potential olim about jobs, education and accommodation in Israel. NbN wants to bring one million American Jews to the Jewish State in its next ten years.

Many Polish Jews were raised as Catholics and have only recently discovered their Jewish roots. 25 arrived in Israel this week for a special seminar organized by Shavei Israel, an organization that aims to strengthen the connection between descendants of Jews and the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

Kollel Chabad held a Bar Mitzvah celebration in Jerusalem for 111 boys who have lost either one or both of their parents. The event was planned originally for the 11th Nissan – the 111th birthday of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, but was rescheduled due to the visit of US President Obama.

The Christian organisation “Bridges for Peace” works through Israel’s social services network, soup kitchens and charities, as well as direct distribution to provide 70 tons of food each month to 28,000 poor, hungry people in 52 communities across Israel.

A new Sefer Torah (Torah scroll) was dedicated at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on the first day of the Jewish month of Nissan. 200 thousand people from all continents (including 100 thousand soldiers) wrote letters in the scroll over a seven-year period.

Israelis watching the skies just after sunset may see a fiery object just to the right of the setting sun. Dr. Igal Patel, chairman of the Israeli Astronomical Association, says it is the comet Panstarrs C/2011 L4. But Passover is when Elijah is supposed to announce the final redemption - so who knows?