Ahead of tomorrow’s anticipated game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the NY Knicks, our trusty correspondents went to Maccabi’s open practice to get a look at the team to beat.

After fierce competition and loads of entries, we have selected our five finalists (see below) whose videos will be shown at Madison Square Garden at the Israel Festival during the Knicks Maccabi Tel Aviv Exhibition Basketball Game benefiting Migdal Ohr. During the Israel Festival, which will be in full swing before the game in MSG, the audience will be asked to select their favorite video whose creator will be awarded by the America Israel Friendship League with a round trip flight from Israel to NY or NY to Israel.

Israel’s Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv faces off against the Knicks October 11th at 7:00PM in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden to benefit Migdal Ohr. Maccabi became the first international team to win on North American soil in 2005 when they defeated the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre.

The Israel festival begins at 5:30PM featuring Israeli music, face painters, stilt walkers, balloon twisters, and most importantly- our video finalists. Remember, you must purchase a ticket for the game to join the festival and vote on your favorite video.

Tickets for the exhibition game can be purchased at TicketMaster outlets, the Madison Square Garden Box Office and nyknicks.com.

And without further ado, here are our finalists:

Haggai - Israel- The Place to be

Amir Ragpoker - Maccabi-Knicks movie

Joel Leyden - Israel Tourism Holy Land Jerusalem

Zohar & Ran- Israel: 24/7

Ken - Israel: A Layered Land

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And for some good news today from the NYT:

October 9, 2007

Israeli, Italian Survive 8 Days on Raft
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MUMBAI, India (AP) — An Israeli woman and an Italian man survived on a life raft for eight days in the Arabian Sea after their yacht sank in a storm, the Indian coast guard said Tuesday.

The couple, identified as Libi Belozerzki, 27, and Pierpaolo Mori, 35, set out from the Maldives on a yacht planning to sail to the Red Sea, but their boat overturned in a late monsoon storm, said Commandant Raj Putran of the Indian coast guard.

Putran said ships in the area were told to look out for the missing sailors after the Rome Maritime Rescue Coordination Center lost contact with them after Sept. 24.

A Belgian tug sighted them and picked them up on Oct. 3, he said. ”The yacht had a life raft on board and they survived because they had emergency rations and water.”

Ynet’s Eyal Marcus accompanied two families and two single individuals who have taken the leap and made aliya in the past few weeks. Today we visit Keren Figenblat.