Up close with the Arrow defense system
Serving 24-hour shifts in vault-like rooms across the country, 136th Battalion soldiers face the ballistic missile threat against Israel at all times. Ultimately, one person decides when to press the button to intercept a ballistic missile launched thousands of kilometers away.
On a clear day you can see Damascus
Israel’s internal risks may have deteriorated by the release of hundreds of terrorists, but at least its external geographic security situation has improved substantially.
Reunited
The heartwarming scenes of the three released women hostages greeting their parents. The news of their freedom was announced on every El Al airplane, followed by cheers and applause from passengers. And hot off the press, scenes of the latest 4 female soldier hostages being reunited with their families.
Stone mentions Roman tax imposed during Talmud period
Israeli and American archaeologists have uncovered a Roman boundary stone over 1,700 years old with a Greek inscription. These stones were used to implement Roman Emperor Diocletian’s harsh taxation laws, which are mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud.
114 donated sets of tefillin
A Jewish girl from Brooklyn, New York, has founded the organization Tefillin On Us, that supplies tefillin to IDF soldiers who are non-religious or cannot afford them but wish to wrap daily. Since Oct 7 2023, it has donated 114 pairs of tefillin - each costing over $1,000.
Thai workers return to Negev farms
Some 9,000 Thai agricultural workers who survived the Oct 7 2023 Hamas attacks went back home (39 others were murdered and 8 are still held hostage). Almost all 9,000 have since returned, many to the communities that came under attack that day - heartwarming to their Israeli friends.
Our response is a new factory
Israel’s Strauss’s Group chairperson Ofra Strauss told the Globes "Returning to the North" conference that the company this year will open a new factory for plant-based milk products in Ahihud, about 9km East of Akko (Acre). She linked the theme of building to the return of the hostages.
Caring for wildlife in a war
The KKL-JNF Agamon Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (AWRC) in the Galilee’s Hula Valley has continued to treat injured wildlife throughout the war. It provides care to thousands of animals, from birds of prey to small mammals. It also serves as a hub for research and public education.
Shabbat meeting to save lives of hostages
The Israeli cabinet, including Shabbat-observant ministers, debated the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal long into Shabbat. They adhered to the rabbinical dictum “Pikuach nefesh docheh Shabbat” – rescuing a life takes precedence over the rules of Shabbat.
Look who started wearing tefillin
The father and brother of Romi Gonen (one of the women hostages released on 19 Jan), decided to start wearing tefillin about 2 months ago.