News about Israel that you are unlikely to find in the media

• After many delays, Jerusalem’s electrified, light rail system eventually began running in 2011 and is now proving extremely popular. The ultra-modern and comfortable trains run from Jerusalem’s northern edge to Mount Herzl in the south with further extensions to Neve Yaacov in the north and Hadassah Hospital, Ein Kerem in the west, planned for the future. The lines run for 13.9 kilometres (86 miles) through the capital, stopping at most major tourist sites and connecting with bus lines. All announcements are clearly made in Hebrew, English and Arabic. Click on the video and enjoy the ride.

• Bio-Bee Biological systems, an Israeli company that specializes in biologically-based integrated pest management, aiming to reduce the use of harsh, chemical pesticides is launching its operations in parts of India. Bio-Bee implements this method by mass harvesting beneficial insects and mites that provide natural enemies for biological pest control or natural pollination. The company employs a team of trained local agronomists that advises the region’s farmers and helps them implement the new technology together with guidance from Israeli specialists.
  
  (NoCamels)
  
• A unique structure from the Hasmonean period has been discovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the City of David National Park, adjacent to the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. Ancient historian, Flavius Josephus wrote about Hasmonean Jerusalem but only recently have the remains of a structure from 200 B.C.E. been found. The structure’s broad walls which measure more than a metre are built from roughly hewn limestone blocks which are lain in a fashion characteristic of the Hasmonean period. Many pieces of pottery and also various coins were found in the roughly 690 square foot structure. The coins indicate that it was built at the beginning of the second century and was used well into the Hasmonean period.

(Israeli Antiquities Authority)

• “The Pioneers of Liberation,” is the title of para-military training camps run by the Hamas government in Gaza to teach high-school children to, “follow in the footsteps of suicide martyrs.” This year around 13,000 students participated in these one-week training camps whose curriculum includes weapons training, first-aid, self-defence, marching and security exercises. The participants also take part in awareness exercises on how to identify Israeli spies. Hammad, the interior minister said that this training was in preparation for – “the coming war with Israel.”

(Times of Israel)

• During February, 4,721 truckloads of goods were imported into the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom land crossing, these included 1,636 truckloads of construction materials. Also last month, 109 truckloads of goods were exported from Gaza for sale in foreign markets. including fresh produce, flowers and plane trees. Unfortunately the Kerem Shalom crossing had to be closed on two occasions last month in response to Hamas rockets being fired into Israel.

(IDF Website)

• An Israeli company, “City Transformers,” has invented every motorist’s dream, a folding car that takes up just a quarter of a regular parking spot. The car is also eco-friendly and takes only the press of a button for the car to compress from 1.6 metres (5 foot 3 inches) to 1.0 metres (approximately 3 foot 3 inches.) The inventors, Asaf Formoza and Gideon Goldwine, both have PhDs degrees in Engineering from the University of Ben Gurion while their partner, Erez Alramov, has vast experience in driving, designing and building cars. Thinking of buying one? The car should be on the market in about three years from now.
  

• Just a year ago, an IDF unit serving on the Syrian border in the Golan Heights encountered seven wounded Syrians who asked for medical help. When contacted, the Director of the Nahariya Hospital answered immediately, “We are ready!” So began a unique humanitarian aid operation given by the IDF medical Corps and several hospitals in northern Israel to Syrian civil war casualties. Up to now, 550 Syrians have been treated and returned to Syria with no indication that they have ever entered Israel. While the casualties are mainly men, there have been a number of children and even women giving birth. Under the title, Operation Human Warmth, a number of Israeli youth groups and schools are coordinating the collection of donations and warm winter clothing for Syrian refugees who are suffering in camps during this exceptionally cold winter weather.

NEWS ABOUT ISRAEL THAT YOU ARE UNLIKELY TO FIND IN THE MEDIA

· Over 500 million birds fly over Israel every year to and from winter sheltering -spots.  This is one of the busiest migration routes in the world.  Yossi Leshem, an Israeli scientist and ornithologist, one of the world’s foremost experts on bird migration, has devoted his life to creating a safer environment for birds and people worldwide.  Click the link to watch the short video entitled, The Man Who Taught me to fly

http://youtu.be/k2WvIDgCHlA

· Archaeologists have recently discovered a village from Talmudic times that was home to many potters.  The village which was known as Shikhin, was found near to Tzipori in the    Galili and will, says Dr. Mordechai Aviam co-director of the project, help to answer crucial questions surrounding the identity of the Galileans and about Jewish life in the region including the origins of Christianity.  Shikhin is one of the two earliest names known from the Second Temple period and is mentioned by Flavius Josephus along with neighbouring city Sepphoris (modern Tzipori) as well as in the Talmud, as a village that was home to many potters.  Already the moulds of seven different shapes of oil lamps have been discovered, the largest amount ever found in one village.

· Israeli Professor David Newman, dean of the Faculty of humanities and social sciences at Ben Gurion University, is shortly to be honoured by the Queen of England with an O.B.E. (Officer of the Most Excellent Order  of the British Empire) This honour is to be given to Professor Newman who was born in the UK, for his contribution to promoting academic cooperation between Israel  and England.

· Dr. Osnat Zomer-Penn of Tel Aviv University who is researching the genetic origins of autism, is one of three Israelis chosen to compete in the finals, and the third Israeli in a row to actually win the L’Oreal-UNESCO prize.  She recently received the European award in a ceremony at the Sorbonne in Paris.  The L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science Prize has been awarded for the past eight years with Israel joining in 2008 since when, Israel, though one of the smallest countries participating in the event, has become one of its biggest winners with three Israelis winning the European award over the past three years.  Dr. Anat Yonath who went on to win a Nobel Prize won the award in 2008 and Israeli Victoria Yavlasky won in  2005.

(Times of Israel)

· In the first week in October, over 10,000 participants, including British Ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould, took part in the 59^thannual Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) swim which is the largest amateur sports event in Israel.  Swimmers can choose from the long swim, 3.5 Km right across the lake or the shorter one of 1.5 Km.  The event attracts both Israelis as well as many foreign visitors and is very efficiently organised with all possible precautions taken to ensure the safety of the swimmers.

· Nine-year-old Noam Glick who was shot in the shoulder by a masked terrorist last Saturday night while in the garden of her home in the West Bank village of Psagot is back from hospital and recovering well.  Two Palestinians from the West bank city of El-Bireh have been arrested in connection with the crime.  Security forces believe that one man planned and executed the attack while the other assisted. One of the masked men cut through the steel chain fence surrounding  Psagot , ran up a rocky hillside and shot at  Noam who was just returning from B’nei Akiva  (a Jewish youth club) It is likely that her screams which were immediately heard by her father, prevented the gunman from entering further into the village and causing deaths and even worse injuries.

WEDDINGS

Our grandson’s recent wedding having been a high spot in our lives, the theme of nuptial ceremonies and the various ways marriages are celebrated both within Judaism and in other religions has been uppermost in our minds lately which explains this month’s topic.

A CHURCH WEDDING

We have been to an interesting variety of wedding ceremonies in our lives, not all of them Jewish but perhaps the most unusual one for people of our background was that of the daughter of a titled family held in a small church in a picturesque country village near Banbury. The reasons we became involved with the family and were invited to the wedding are too complicated to explain here but we felt compelled to accept and decided to keep a low profile, sit at the back of the church and pay only the briefest of visits to the reception. Our plans were foiled, however, when on arrival at the outskirts of the village our car was stopped by a young man dressed in a morning suit, the same attire worn by all the guests except Norman and the family gardener, who, having asked our names, arranged for us to park in a reserved spot immediately outside the church where we were met by the grandmother of the bride, Lady S-, who linked her arm in Lola’s and escorted us to the front of the church where seats had been reserved for us in the midst of the family. Our main memory, apart from the embarrassment of the situation, was of the beautiful organ music and the overwhelming scent from the many beautiful flower arrangements. We have to say that the wedding reception, held in a chilly damp marquee, where the repast consisted of paper thin and very dry sandwiches, wedding cake and warm champagne did not live up to the beauty of the ceremony.

A SIKH WEDDING

Another memorable celebration was a Sikh wedding of one of the five lovely daughters’ of Leamington & Warwick’s Race Relations Officer, which stands out in our minds for the brilliantly coloured clothes worn by the women, the dazzling beauty of the bride , unusual music and tooth-achingly sweet delicacies served at the reception.

OUR GRANDSON’S WEDDING

Our grandson’s wedding had all the necessary traditions of chuppah, brachot, ketubah and the couple were married by our very own rabbi and friend from our Gilo shul, but was, happily, unlike some weddings we have attended in Israel, not overly religious. We have been to a number where men and women were seated separately and even one where the sexes were completely separated in different halls. These experiences were such that we now find we have a previous engagement when invited to similar celebrations. Almost all the weddings we attend in Israel have separate sex dancing even if the sexes are permitted to mingle during the meal but this can be fun. Lola is always amazed at the intricate dance steps, skilfully carried out by the young women who attend religious schools and seminaries and who have obviously devoted a great deal of time to learning them. Norman usually refuses to join in as the young men are alarmingly boisterous and he feels in danger of being knocked off his feet or worse. Not an unfounded fear as some years ago in Jerusalem, the floor of a wedding hall collapsed because of this kind of manic dancing and, tragically, a number of guests were killed and many injured. The older men, however, tend to shuffle around the floor, doing their duty and looking like zombies, not at all Norman’s style having done a nifty tango in his youth. Every wedding we ever go to, religious or otherwise, has one thing in common, over-loud music that makes conversation impossible and often causes the room to vibrate. We were grateful that at our grandson’s celebration, the music, for the mixed dancing that we have to admit to still enjoying, did not reach that pitch until later in the evening so that the guests were all able to enjoy talking to each other during the excellent meal.

INFORMAILITY

I think what surprised the guests from the U.K and America at the recent event was the informality of the occasion, the way the bride and bridegroom mingled with the guests prior to the ceremony and how guests hugged them and patted them on the back as they walked together to the chuppah.. Had it been a really Orthodox wedding the bridegroom would have been secluded with the officiating rabbi, the witnesses and several bottles of whiskey, prior to the chuppah, while the bride would have been sitting quietly, reciting psalms. Not so on this occasion.

ISRAELI WEDDING HALLS

Israeli weddings also tend to be huge, as second and third cousins plus their offspring as well as most of the family’s neighbours and work associates have to be invited, so it’s not unusual for there to be a guest list of 600 and more, although at our recent family event the number was, with difficulty and at the risk of offending a few people, kept down to 460. More and more, large wedding halls are springing up all over Israel, some just simple rooms, others ostentatiously palatial and there are many outdoor venues for summer events. The hall in Jaffa, selected for our grandson’s wedding had a glass wall, overlooking the sea with a stunning view of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa coastline and was, we thought, elegant and in good taste. (Well, we would think that wouldn’t we?) All in all, the setting was delightful, the food delicious and it was a joyful and happy occasion, shared with family and special friends, in fact, all that one could wish for from a simcha. We shall be looking at the photographs and recalling the memories of the evening , hopefully, for many years to come.

CHANGES.

FOOD SHOPPING

In the nearly 30 years since we came to live in Jerusalem it is inevitable that we should have seen a great many changes. Most of them, we are happy to say, for the better. Probably the one that has the most impact on our lives are the shopping facilities, both locally in Gilo and in the centre of town, where the general standards have improved immeasurably since our arrival. Gone are the days when one dare not plan meals ahead of time but waited to decide on the menu until one saw what was available in the shops and when the Gilo supermarket was dirty and full of flies. The only cheese available was a tasteless and chewy, yellow variety of the consistency and flavor of rubber and items such as mushrooms were a rarely available luxury. Now we have supermarkets all over Jerusalem that equal the well-known chains in the U.K., our cheese counters stock most of the known varieties, many of them manufactured in Israel, several types of mushrooms are always on sale and our supermarkets and makolets (small local grocery shops) are spotlessly clean and very well stocked. The several large and well-planned shopping malls with free and ample parking, within five minutes driving distance from where we live, have helped to make life a lot easier, especially in very hot or wet weather.

ANIMAL WELFARE

As animal lovers, we have also noticed a big difference in the Israelis attitude to and treatment of animals. On our first visit to Israel nearly 40 years ago, we were greatly distressed at the dozens of emaciated and wretched looking cats we saw foraging in every rubbish container we passed and the sight of a dog that wasn’t a stray was unusual. Now, while there are still a lot of street cats gathered around the bins, they are fatter and healthier looking. Whether this is due to society being more affluent and throwing away more food or because people have become concerned about their plight (Lola is certainly no longer the only person in our road who puts out food and water for them daily) we are not sure. There are, however far too many of them so we were delighted to see headlines in last week’s Jerusalem Post announcing that the Ministry of Agriculture is spending 4.5 million Shekels on a campaign to spay and neuter these cats, the numbers of which are estimated to be in the area of 45 thousand. Very many families now own dogs, often more than one, and several large and well-kept pet shops now supply every possible animal need as well as selling aquarium fish, rabbits, hamsters and cage birds. Laws have recently been passed to enable people neglecting or treating animals cruelly to be prosecuted. We still await laws to improve the lot of farm animals and battery hens, however, and we have yet to have an organisation of the caliber of the R.S.P.C.A. but things on the animal welfare front are certainly moving in the right direction.

CARING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

Isaelis have also become much greener in the last few years, we now have containers for recycling paper, plastic bottles, batteries and cardboard cartons on every street corner and although it took people, in our area, anyway, a little time to make full use of them but the idea soon caught on and they are now being put to good use. It seems that Israelis have become more aware of the need to care for the environment although we wish children were taught at home and in school not to throw their unwanted litter down in the street and to clean up their rubbish after they have had a picnic.

THE CLIMATE

Even the Jerusalem weather has changed, summer temperatures have risen, sometimes to even higher than in Tel Aviv and we no longer have the cool and refreshing evening breezes that Israelis living in the south and near the coast used to envy. Also rain patterns have changed, the rains seeming to start much later in the winter than in the past, this year we have had only one heavy shower which lasted less than two hours and a few isolated drops which didn’t even make it worthwhile to bring in the washing.

HOPES FOR THE FUTURE

Hopefully the positive changes will continue in all areas of Israeli life and most of all we hope to see the end of BDS, (Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions) bias and false accusations against Israel from the outside world, there is so much that is good and positive here, we all need to do our best to get this message out to as many people as possible.

Norman & Lola Cohen

THE OPHEL TREASURE

Dr. Eilat Mazor with the Ophel Treasure

There have been many exciting archeological finds in Israel during the last twelve months but none more exciting than what is being called The Ophel Treasure. This treasure trove was located in September by Dr. Eilat Mazor and her team from the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archeology, in a ruined Byzantine structure, originally constructed in the 6^th century CE and situated at the foot of the Temple Mount. What Dr. Mazor refers to as “a breathtaking, once-in-a-lifetime discovery,” consists of a menorah that was used in the Temple, gold and silver jewelry , 36 gold and silver coins and a gold medallion. According to Dr. Mazor, these items were abandoned at the time of the Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614 B.C. As there was only a small Jewish presence in Jerusalem during the Byzantine period, Mazor surmises that the treasure was brought to the city by Jewish emissaries some- time after the Persian conquest which lasted only 15 years, when Jews were once more welcome in the city. She thinks it is probable that the Ophel cache was intended as a contribution towards the building of a new synagogue at a location near to the Temple Mount but, for some reason, the mission was unsuccessful and the owners were never able to return and collect their treasure. The way in which the items were found, one bundle carefully hidden underground and the other, scattered across the floor, suggests that they were abandoned in haste. Remnants of fabric show that the coins, large gold earrings and other items found with them had been enclosed in a cloth purse.

LARGE CACHE OF GOLD COINS

The coins, which were found buried together with the gold earrings, under a limestone floor is only the third collection of gold coins to be found at archeological excavations in the Jerusalem area. There are 36 of them, all in good condition, which can be dated to the reigns of different Byzantine emperors ranging from the middle of the fourth century CE to the early seventh century CE. The oldest coin dates from the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine II who ruled from 337 to 361 CE.

THE PRIZE FIND

The elegantly etched gold medallion, considered the prize find, is engraved with depictions of a large menorah, a shofar and a Torah scroll, hangs from a gold chain and is likely to have been used as an adornment for a Torah scroll. If this is so then it is the earliest Torah scroll ornament to have been found in excavations to date. It was discovered in a small depression in the floor, together with a smaller gold medallion, two pendants, a gold coil and a silver clasp all of which Dr. Mazor believes had been made as adornments for Torah scrolls. These had also been wrapped in a cloth purse.

EARLIEST APHABATICAL WRITTEN TEXT TO BE DISOVERED IN JERUSALEM

Dr. Mazor was also in the news in 2012 when she announced the discovery of an ancient Canaanite inscription, recently identified as Hebrew, believed to be the earliest alphabetical written text that has ever been discovered in Jerusalem. These discoveries are not only important and exciting from a historical point of view but of great political importance at a time when our Arab neighbours are trying to convince the world that Jews were never a part of this land in ancient times. Israel and Jews worldwide have more than one reason to thank Dr. Mazor and her team for their dedicated work in uncovering these ancient treasures.

Norman & Lola Cohen

 

VISITING THE GUSH

 

Although we live so close to Efrat and Gush Etzion, we have not visited either for many years. On a recent day out with Christian friends we arranged to visit The Centre for Jewish- Christian Understanding and Cooperation whose Chancellor and Founder is the well-known Rabbi of Efrat, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. We were shown round by Rabbi Riskin’s daughter-in-law, Limor, and greatly impressed by the beautiful, purpose-built building that houses this organization and provides spacious accommodation for visiting groups. It is the first Orthodox Jewish institution in Israel which has taken the initiative to create dialogue between Christians and Jews and so is a project very close to our hearts. Here, Christian groups visiting Israel can learn about the Jewish roots of Christianity, working interactively with Jewish scholars, rabbis and educators. Since its creation, tens of thousands of Christians have visited CJCUC and most of them considered it to be the highlight of their time in Israel. After our visit we drove around Efrat, enjoying this wonderfully green, well-kept town of beautiful villas with large, lush gardens.

GUSH ETZION

We then proceeded to Gush Etzion where we had a delicious dairy lunch at the Gush Etzion’s winery restaurant, set in the middle of miles of flourishing vineyards and in the yekev, (winery) received a short explanation of the methods used in making the wine. Having purchased a couple of bottles of their 2006 red, we can definitely recommend it. Our next stop was the community of Bat Ayin where we walked round the ruins of an ancient mikvah and of a wine-press where the remains of a Byzantine mosaic floor can still be seen. It is believed that the wine that was made there was destined for use in the Temple in Jerusalem.

KIBBUTZ KFAR ETZION

Not far from Bat Ayin is Kibbutz Kfar Etzion where our friends had told us there was an excellent presentation portraying the bloody history of the kibbutz which was founded in 1943. While waiting for the sound and light show to be put on for us in English, we walked round the small museum, viewing the archives and old photographs and marvelling at the dangers and hardships endured by the first kibbutzniks in the Gush. The show is very impressive and extremely moving, recounting the story of the heroism of the inhabitants of Gush Etzion when it was attacked by the Arab Legion in May 1948, the day before the Israeli Declaration of Independence, and all but four of the 133 inhabitants massacred. As the presentation ended, the audience was asked to move into an adjoining room where we found ourselves standing at the edge of the bunker where the last 55 survivors of the battle were murdered when the Arabs threw in hand grenades. We all trooped out in silence, thinking how hard the battle has been for our tiny land and that it is not yet over.

THE LONE OAK

We were happy to be outside again after this disturbing glimpse into some of israel’s bloodiest history and drove a short distance away to see the famous Lone Oak. By the way, don’t visualise a British oak tree, although they do have a small version of acorns, the Mediterranean Oak has completely differently shaped leaves and appearance. This famous, if somewhat battered but still flourishing tree, believed to be 700 years old, is situated In the heart of the Gush and was, for 19 years after the destruction of the kibbutzim, in enemy territory and for those gazing at it longingly from the ‘other side,’ became a symbol of the exiles’ dream of returning, of their hope and faith for the future. Now the green and fertile area of Gush Etzion has a population of more than 50,000 people and thousands of visitors come to look at the Lone Oak every year. While we were there, we got talking to a group of Hayalim Bodedim, (lone soldiers,) some from Canada and America, who had been brought to this historic spot to learn about its history. This very special tree has become a beloved symbol of Jewish hope and resilience in the face of hatred and destruction and is certainly well-worth a visit if you have never seen it.

HEROD THE GREAT: THE KING’S FINAL JOURNEY.

 

The above titled exhibition is apparently the largest archeological exhibit that Jerusalem’s Israel Museum has ever mounted and is certainly the most fascinating and exciting one that we have ever attended.

ISRAEL’S GREATEST BUILDER

King Herod, who was Israel’s greatest builder, is described as one of the most controversial figures in Jewish history. The journey refers to the one taken by his body, at the end of his life, from Jericho, where he died to the site of his burial in Herodium. Herod the Great who ruled Judea in the first century B.C.E. as a Roman ‘client’ king was born in Idumea, south of Judea, around 74 B.C.E. and is not only famous for his amazing building feats but also for his extreme cruelty and paranoia, including the murder of his three elder sons and his third wife, Mariamne. Roman commentator, Macrobius, wrote of him,” It is better to be Herod’s pig than his son!” This exhibition, however, focuses on his building achievements and not his character.

HEROD’S SARCOPHAGUS

The centerpiece is a restored section from the mausoleum at Herodium inside which is Herod’s sarcophagus made of beautifully decorated, reddish limestone which has been carefully reconstructed. There are over 250 artifacts and installations which include frescoes, busts, coins, columns, pottery, furniture, a giant bathtub, basins, ossuaries, sarcophagi, a reconstructed throne room, fragments of a parapet, artwork, mosaics and excellent, explanatory videos. It was in one of these videos that we learnt that it was the renowned Israeli archeologist, the late Professor Ehud Netzer, who was responsible for recovering all these remarkable remains, having been searching for Herod’s tomb for 35 years. He just couldn’t locate the mausoleum until, in 2007, he found it accidentally, at the side of the mountain, where nobody had expected such a famous king to be buried. Tragically, Professor Netzer fell to his death in 2010, when a railing at the Herodium site collapsed , so he never lived to see the wonderful display for which his perseverance and knowledge of archeology was responsible.

REBUILDING THE SECOND TEMPLE

Herod the Great is largely known for his rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem but he was also responsible for building palaces and fortresses, many still under excavation, in Jericho, Massada, and Jerusalem as well as Herodium. he also built major aqueducts in Jerusalem, Massada, Herzilya and elsewhere, the port and town of Caesaria (including a temple, hippodrome and theatre) and so the historian, Josephus recorded, various constructions in Akko, Damascus, Tripoli, Tyre, Beirut, Sydon and more.

HERODIUM

Although the site of Herodium is not far from Gilo, in fact we can see this distinctive, flat topped, man-made mountain every time we drive to the Hebron Road from our home, we had never seen it from close-up. It is in Arab territory and a number of nationalistically inspired murders have taken place in the area. Recently, out for the day in a hired car with Australian, Christian friends who feel perfectly safe going into these, to us, dangerous areas, we accepted their offer to take us there with alacrity and, armed with the knowledge gained from the exhibition, marvelled at the amount of work that was entailed in creating this artificial mountain. The historian Josephus, wrote : “He (Herod) did not neglect to leave memorials of himself, thus he built a fortress called after himself Herodium, an artificial rounded hill, sixty furlongs from Jerusalem” and of the construction he wrote “so they threw down all the hedges and walls which the inhabitants had made about their gardens and groves of trees, and cut down all the fruit trees that lay between them and the wall of the city, and filled up all the hollow places and the chasms, and demolished the rocky precipices with iron instruments; and thereby made all the place level from Scopus to Herod's monuments, which adjoined to the pool called the Serpent's Pool.” It was wonderful to finally see this place for ourselves but not having an official guide, we could not enter inside the mountain or burial chamber.

A NASTY SHOCK

Our day, however, ended on a very unpleasant note when, for the first time, we encountered large red signs on all sides of us, reading in Hebrew, Arabic and English - This road leads to Area “A” under the Palestinian Authority. The entrance for Israeli citizens is forbidden. Dangerous to your lives and is against the Israeli law. We can’t imagine how great the world outrage would be if Israel’s Arab citizens, who share our streets, health clinics, hospitals and shopping malls were confronted by large, red notices conveying such a threatening message to them.