Darfur Refugees Find Sanctuary in the Jewish State

An update on the Darfur refugees who have found sanctuary in the Jewish State…

From Seth Freedman of the Guardian:

An unlikely refuge

Hundreds of Muslims who have fled Darfur are rebuilding their lives in Israel

“Even though we’re Muslim, the Islamic world has done nothing to protect us”, said Yassin, a refugee whose tortured flight from Darfur finally brought him to Israel three years ago. He was one of the first Darfurians to make it into Israel across the border from Egypt, and has dedicated his life to helping hundreds of his fellow countrymen who have made the same perilous journey.

Yassin, a genial 30-year-old former architect, is now director of Bnei Darfur [Sons of Darfur], an organisation which assists Sudanese refugees to integrate into Israeli society, and which last week was finally granted non-profit status by the Israeli government. Sitting in his office in downtown Tel Aviv, Yassin painted a harrowing picture of the way in which Darfurian refugees are mistreated by the uncaring and unsympathetic authorities in Egypt, which is the first port of call of many fleeing the violence in Sudan.

Darfuri children are scared to set foot outside in Egypt for fear of attack, Yassin said, citing the slaying of dozens of refugees after a protest outside the UNHCR headquarters in 2005. “It’s not that Egypt doesn’t look after refugees in general,” he said, “after all, they treat the Somalians very well. However, when it comes to us, they are different. It’s racism [that motivates the Egyptian mistreatment].”

Continue reading Darfur Refugees Find Sanctuary in the Jewish State…

“Israeli archaeologists find Second Temple coin”

An interesting historical discovery…

From YNET:

Israeli archaeologists find Second Temple coin
Coin dating back to days of biblical Second Temple found in 2,000-year-old drainage ditch in Jerusalem
Associated Press

Israeli archaeologists in Jerusalem say they’ve found an ancient coin that played a role in Jewish ritual at the biblical Second Temple. The silver coin is a shekel denomination. In the Bible, Jews are commanded to contribute half a shekel each for maintaining the Temple in Jerusalem.

The archaeologists say the coin they found near the Old City of Jerusalem is the type the ancient Jews used to pay the tax.

The Second Temple was built in the sixth century BC and was standing in the time of Jesus.

The coin was found in a 2,000-year-old drainage ditch. The archaeologists say the coin must have been dropped there by accident - just as sometimes a coin drops out of someone’s pocket today and gets flushed down a sewer.

Smallest Bible Ever

Definitely the coolest story of the week…

From the BBC:

Researchers in Israel say they have succeeded in putting a version of the Bible on a chip smaller than a pinhead.

Its 300,000 words in Hebrew were inscribed on a silicon surface at the Haifa Institute of Technology.

Scientists say the aim of the project is to increase young people’s interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

The record for the smallest copy is held by a Bible measuring 2.8×3.4×1cm (1.1×1.3×0.4in), weighing 11.75g (0.4 ounces) and containing 1,514 pages.

The 0.5sq-mm (0.01sq-in) nano-Bible was written on a silicon surface covered with a thin layer of gold (20nanometres thick - 0.0002mm).

It was written using a device called Focused Ion Beam (Fib).

“When we send the particle beam toward a point on the surface, the gold atoms bounce off of this point, thus exposing the silicon layer underneath,” Ohad Zohar, one of the project’s managers at Technion, said.

“By sending a particle beam towards various points on the substrate, we can etch any pattern of points, especially one that represents text.”

The next step for Technion researchers is photographing the Bible and displaying it on a giant wall within the Faculty of Physics.

“In this picture, which will be 7m by 7m (23ft by 23ft), it will be possible to read the entire Bible with the naked eye (the height of each letter will be some 3mm - 0.1in),” Mr Zohar said.

“Near this picture, the original - the nano-Bible itself, which is the size a grain of sugar - will be displayed.”

Madonna on Her Israel Tour

Multi-Cultural Israel: Jews from India

Most people have no idea that Israel is one of the most diverse multi-cultural countries in the world. With Jews coming from 120 different nations, of multiple ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, and 20% of the population being Arab– a mix of Muslim, Christian, Druze, and others– Israel is a true melting pot. Here’s a little story to illustrate our point…

From Israel National News:

Bnei Menashe Immigrants Visit Kotel For the First Time

by IsraelNN Staff

(IsraelNN.com) The recent group of Bnei Menashe immigrants from northeastern India, who made Aliyah (immigrated to Israel) last week, paid an emotional first visit to the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem Thursday.

Singing the verse from Jeremiah 31, “And your sons shall return to their borders”, the group of 230 descendants of a Lost Tribe of Israel recited the daily afternoon and evening prayers in fluent Hebrew, with tears streaming down their cheeks.

The group was brought to Israel last week by the Jerusalem-based Shavei Israel organization, which assists “lost Jews” seeking to return to the Jewish people. Through its team of emissaries, Shavei Israel operates three Jewish educational centers in India for the Bnei Menashe, where they study Hebrew and Jewish tradition. All of the organization’s work is in accordance with Jewish law and is under the guidance and supervision of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.

Once the immigrants had a chance to settle in, Shavei Israel organized buses to bring them to Jerusalem for a day of touring and sightseeing in the nation’s capital.

Continue reading Multi-Cultural Israel: Jews from India…

King Herod’s Tomb Discovered in Israel

In an amazing archaeological discovery today Professor Ehud Netzer of Hebrew University announced that his team has uncovered King Herod’s long lost tomb. This is amazing on many levels, none of which are we, here at isrealli, qualified to discuss. So instead, we bring you the New York Times (which may or may not be qualified as well, but that’s for you to decide):

Lost, Then Found: Herod’s Tomb
By Mike Nizza

For decades, archaeologists looking for the tomb of King Herod have focused on one site in particular, based on an account in the first volume of “The Wars of the Jews,” written by the first-century historian Flavius Josephus.

Josephus wrote that a 25-mile funeral procession for the Roman Empire’s man in Judea and the great builder of Jerusalem ended at “Herodium, where he had given order to be buried,” according to a translation at The Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

Instead of continuing on about the procession’s final steps, and perhaps revealing further clues about the tomb’s location, the historian evidently considered the chapter done with the next sentence.

“And this shall suffice for the conclusion of the life of Herod,” he wrote.
The omission sets up what The Los Angeles Times has called “one of the Holy Land’s greatest archeological mysteries.”

Continue reading King Herod’s Tomb Discovered in Israel…

Muslim Lesbians Conference in Haifa

Whether you agree with it or not, we here at Isrealli are proud to be part of a country that not only respects and protects minority rights, but serves as a beacon of freedom and expression for the most maligned minorities in the world. Yes, this is an instance where we can, and should, pat ourselves on the back. Israel as any democratic and open society has problems with racism, discrimination and ignorance, but Israel’s democratic foundations allow and more importantly, insist on this sort of freedom of being and expression.

Again, whether you agree with it or not, this is a proud day for Israel.

From MSNBC.com:

Arab lesbians hold rare public meeting in Israel
Women quietly gather in Haifa; homosexuality strictly forbidden in Islam

HAIFA, Israel - Arab lesbians quietly defied Islamist protesters and a social taboo to gather at a rare public event Wednesday in a northern Israeli city.

Many of the attendees said they were sad that the only place safe enough to hold a conference for gay Arab women was in a Jewish area of Haifa, which has a mixed Arab-Jewish population. Israel’s Jewish majority is generally tolerant of homosexuality.

Continue reading Muslim Lesbians Conference in Haifa…

Pass-it-Over?

We’re not sure how much we can add to this debate, besides refering to Genesis chapter 1 verses 11 and 12, “And God said: ‘Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth.’ And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind; and God saw that it was good.” Hey, we didn’t write it…

From the JPOST:

Is marijuana kosher for Pessah?
By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL

Every Sunday school student knows Pessah for its ban on food that rises, but a growing number of Jews are asking whether the holiday also precludes them from getting high.

Hemp has increasingly been spotted on the list of kitniyot, or legumes, that Ashkenazi Jews abstain from eating during Pessah, according to several influential rabbinical Web sites, including kashrut.com. But not everyone agrees that hemp qualifies for the ban, and the debate has led many to question the definition of kitniyot.

Continue reading Pass-it-Over?…

Free trip to Israel?!

“I will never forget those amazing 10 days I had in Israel”

“There aren’t enough words to describe how good this trip was!!!!”

“It is the most memorable and inspirational journey of a lifetime.”

“You couldn’t pay a million dollars for the experience I had on my trip to Israel.”

This is how alumni describe their Taglit-birthright Israel experience.

To date, 120,000 young adults from 51 countries have traveled to Israel for the first time on Taglit-birthright israel trips.

Would you like to experience the diversity of Israel - from ancient-modern Jerusalem to the rugged volcanic mountains of the Golan?
Want to enjoy the wide soft-sand beaches of Tel Aviv and party in the city’s best clubs? Would you like to float effortlessly in the Dead Sea and make a great network of friends?

All that and much more - here.

Israel Remembers Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Each year, in recognition of Black History Month the Consulate General of Israel in New York together with the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish National Fund, pays tribute to the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by honoring an individual who embodies his spirit and ideals.

This year, the honoree chosen was Reverend A.R. Bernard Sr., a popular spiritual leader and founder of the Christian Cultural Center (CCC) in Brooklyn.

The CCC was filled with the Reverend’s congregants, friends and delegates from the Israeli and Jewish organizations, who witnessed the moving collaborative performance of the CCC Choir and Israeli award-winning international soloist Ariela Kalif-Carmi.

Continue reading Israel Remembers Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr….