Israel Active

No red alert sirens sounded locally but kindergarten head teacher Sarah Yasour heard them in a Haifa suburb 5km distant. She decided to take her 20 children and staff to the shelter as a precaution. Moments later a Hezbollah drone slammed into the kindergarten. Sarah said it was a Neis (miracle of miracles).

140 wounded IDF soldiers and 400 family members were hosted at the Leonardo Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem. Their respite was funded by Los Angeles Jewish businessman David Hager and organized by David with the support of the Netzach Yehuda association.

22 years have passed since Enrico Basilio returned to the Philippines. His son, Cedric, who was born in Israel, became not only an outstanding IDF soldier, but also a symbol of heroism when he died in Gaza. Enrico returned to Israel and was granted permanent resident status, because of his son.

Mekorot, Israel’s national water carrier, was awarded the “Business Continuity Standard Compliance Certification” by the Israel Standards Institute. Mekorot has maintained water supplies during the war, despite working in combat zones, and with many employees in the IDF, injured, or evacuated from home.

3,500 religious women chose to serve in the IDF in 2024, including 350 in combat roles. The new female-only combat unit became operational on Nov 26. (TY Israel Realtime) 100 professional religious women enlisted this week, as nurses, attorneys, programmers, psychologists, doctors, etc.

The American Friends for Magen David Adom hosted a fundraising event in Philadelphia to support MDA’s brave EMTs. MC’d by social-media influencer and broadcaster Emily Austin, there were speeches from former UN Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan and Lior Raz, star of TV’s Fauda.

Noa Argamani, 27, and Hila Rotem Shoshani, 13, who were kidnaped and held hostage by Hamas terrorists on Oct 7 2023, surprised Emily Hand at her home in honor of her 10th birthday. Noa was rescued from Gaza by IDF soldiers, and Hila was released in the same hostage deal as Emily.

The exceptional longevity of Israel’s citizens is often reported , but this newsletter editor was especially pleased to read that the recent 110th birthday celebrations for Tzila Cohen took place  less than a mile down the road at Netanya’s Laniado hospital. Luckily, no candles to blow out!

A group of Golani soldiers on a training run stumbled upon a bride and groom on a photo shoot on their wedding day. To the amazement of the couple, the soldiers interrupted their run to fulfil the mitzvah of Keytzad Merakdim - dancing and singing before the groom and bride at a wedding.

In the global Simchat Torah project, 525 synagogues each selected the name of a fallen IDF soldier to be inscribed on a new Torah cover. Montreal’s Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem (TBDJ) was randomly given Eitan Na’eh. They couldn’t find anything about Eitan, until by chance his best friend walked in.