The landmark Abraham Accords that Israel has struck with two Gulf states are an opportunity for the Palestinians and do not come at their “expense”, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said on Sunday. The UAE and Bahrain broke decades of Arab consensus with their move, condemned as a “stab in the back” by Palestinian leaders […]
Abraham Accords are ‘opportunity’ for Palestinians, Israel claims Read More »
Travel and Food
In the 6th Dec 20 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
Israel’s top hospitals all use Israeli AI technology to analyze CT-scans.
Israelis are helping Honduras hurricane victims and Italian coronavirus patients.
New Israeli vegan milk is regular milk without the cows.
A satellite build by students from Israel’s newest university is now in orbit.
Citizens of Arab states will soon be drinking Israeli-produced water from the air.
Israelis won international gold medals in gymnastics, windsurfing and taekwondo.
Hundreds of new Ethiopian citizens have arrived in Israel.
Two 100-year-old Israelis prove that age is not a barrier in the Jewish State
[Michael Ordman]
Good News from Israel (Dec. 6, 2020) Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Business & Finance, International, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA
The European Union on Saturday demanded clarification about the death of a 13-year-old boy after clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. “This shocking incident must be swiftly and fully investigated by the Israeli authorities in order to bring the perpetrators to justice,” the EU delegation responsible for Palestinian affairs said. Palestinian Prime Minister
EU demands clarification after death of 13-year-old Palestinian Read More »
Travel and Food
I’m always fascinated at Thanksgiving time to see how rabbis express what is a central tenet of Judaism: giving thanks to the Almighty for the many blessings bestowed upon us.
For example, the Forward offered a prayer from the book, Talking to God: Personal Prayers for Times of Joy, Sadness, Struggle and Celebration by Rabbi Naomi Levy of the Neshuva congregation in Los Angeles. The poem focuses on every day things—children’s laughter, our ability to breathe, having enough food to eat, living in adequate shelters, being clothed, being healthy, the special people in our lives, and residing in a country where people are free to practice their religion without fear. [Donald H. Harrison]
Thanksgiving Blessings and Tzedakah Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA
Following are programs of scholarly and popular Jewish interest that can be accessed via the Internet from Nov. 29 through Dec. 4, 2020. All times are Pacific Standard Time. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Streaming Jewish Programs (Nov. 29-Dec. 4, 2020) Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA
Farming communities of Morocco’s countryside combine to require some billions of fruit trees and medicinal plants as they transition away from the traditional practice of growing barley and corn. In order for communities to generate the trees they need, they require the gift of land to grow seeds in local nurseries because they cannot forego their own land and not harvest food every year to survive. The Moroccan Jewish community, next to their 600 cemeteries throughout the nation, has empty lands they are willing to lend without cost to local agricultural associations and cooperatives to help them meet their tree and plant needs. [Yossef Ben-Meir, Ph.D]
Fruit trees grown on Moroccan Jewish land transplanted to Muslim-owned farms Read More »
Business & Finance, International, The World We Share, Travel and Food, Yossef Ben-Meir
…The agony lasted for eight hours, until the day I thought would never end finally did. I had not baited a hook nor cast a line. I just endured the worst day in my life. I was so traumatized by the experience that six years later the Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Officer Candidate School I attended wrote in my service jacket that I was not to go to sea. Seasickness was one of the motivating factors that propelled me toward flight school. [Ira Spector]
The Case of the Seasick Coast Guardsman Read More »
Lifestyles, Travel and Food, USA
Wolpe, in one of his stories, tells of a bereft eleven-year-old boy, living in Boston and walking to shul every day to say Kaddish for his recently deceased father. A few weeks passed when the synagogue’s sexton showed up at his door saying that he lived nearby and they should walk to shul together. Only years later, as a man with a child of his own, did he discover that the sexton lived far away, walking many miles to the boy’s home just to support him, calling this true chesed, an act of kindness without the expectation of anything in return—this is the Federation. [Fred Reiss, Ed.D]
Kindness to a boy saying Kaddish for his father Read More »
Travel and Food
Could US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo already be stumping for votes for his own presidential run in 2024 by weighing a visit to the West Bank Psagot Winery?PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi certainly seemed to make that assumption, when she attacked him for contemplating such a trip during his visit here later this
Can Pompeo replace annexation with a glass of Psagot wine? Read More »
Middle East, Travel and Food, USA
The former White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt celebrated his daughter’s engagement in Dubai just weeks after the normalisation of relations between Israel and the UAE.Greenblatt’s daughter, Anna Greenblatt, said yes to a surprise proposal from her boyfriend in Dubai where she was travelling with her father.Greenblatt, who played a key role in drafting
There are two possible ways of behaving when coming into a new environment if one stands out for some reason—like being the only woman, the only foreigner, or someone with different skills. One can try to blend in and fit oneself into the prevailing culture, which may be difficult or not even possible. The other way is to accept the differences instead of hiding them, flaunt them by being even more of an outlier. [Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D]
Memoir: A Social Worker’s Life in Switzerland Read More »
International, Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz, Travel and Food
The second Coronavirus lockdown has just ended, and the third one can already be seen in the offing. So anyone with a yen for a change of atmosphere and landscape had better utilize the opportunity to take to the open road, and get out of the house. So hubby and I decided to make for the north of Israel, to the Hula wetlands or lake area, since at this time of the year it serves as a stop-over and resting place for many migratory birds making their way from Europe to Africa for the winter. Israel’s location, between the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the arid Arabian desert to the east, has made it the preferred flight path for millions of birds migrating from their summer sojourn in Europe to Africa’s warm winter. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
A Visit to the Hula Lake Area Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, The World We Share, Travel and Food
The first flight carrying Israeli tourists to the United Arab Emirates landed on Sunday in the city-state of Dubai, the latest sign of the normalisation deal reached between the two nations.FlyDubai flight No. FZ8194 landed at Dubai International Airport just after 5:40pm, bringing the tourists to the skyscraper-studded city after a nearly three-hour trip.The low-cost
First direct tourist flight from Israel to UAE touches down in Dubai Read More »
Middle East, Travel and FoodFollowing are scholarly and popular programs on Jewish-interest subjects that may be accessed between Sunday, Nov. 8 and Friday, Nov.13, via the Internet. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Streaming Jewish Programs (Nov. 8-13) Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lawrence Baron, Lifestyles, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food, USA