Photo: Getty Images

In the aftermath of the horrific events that took place in Mumbai last week, specialists from Israel are helping local civilians put their lives back together. JPost reports that specialists from Tel Aviv will help train doctors in Mumbai to counsel sufferers of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and work with schools and teachers to ensure that students can get the mental health assistance they need.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s J. Roberts, A. Machanic, Jr. and O. Bowman.
Photo by Andrew Eccles. Used with permission.

Israel salutes Alvin Ailey Dance Theater on its 50th anniversary, which the dance company is celebrating this week. Audiences in Tel Aviv were amazed by the dancers’ production when Ailey visited in September as the first stop on their global tour. We look forward to having them back for some more thrilling performances and congratulate them in person on this momentous anniversary.

Shai Agassi addresses a crowd at the Boston Museum of Science
Photo: Consulate General of Israel in New England

It’s been some time since Israel announced its plans for cars to go electric in the next few years (see what we had to say). Since then, Better Place has gained interest from governments around the world, eager to promote the development of the revolutionary electric car system. Now, the New York Times reports, the state of Hawaii has signed on as well. And a bit closer to home, the Boston Consulate hosted an evening for Shai Agassi, the dynamic founder of Better Place, at the Boston Museum of Science that drew in several hundred people. While everyone is excited, it may take a bit of time before the plan becomes a reality. We’ll keep watching for new developments.
Bonus: While we were looking away, this article on the subject from Wired slipped past us.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The ideas of Web 2.0 and social networking continue to take the world by storm–and Israeli companies are helping you take full advantage. We came across this great post on the Go2Web20 blog and decided we needed to share the good news. First of all, we had no clue about all these cool apps. Secondly, we may start using them ourselves, maybe even for this blog. As part of our mission to spread the good cheer, we figured we’ll make you aware of them too–so you can make you own, informed decisions. Happy surfing!

Photo: Getty Images

The fiction section of this week’s New Yorker Magazine features a short story from none other than Amos Oz. The title, “Waiting,” aptly describes the central theme of the story, but, of course, much more takes place than meets the eye. Fans of Israeli literature will undoubtedly enjoy this offering; for the uninitiated, this is a great place to start!

Yehuda Levi (Jagger)
Photo: Deror Avi for Wikimedia Commons

Entertainment Weekly magazine has released its picks for the sexiest movies of all time–and included Eytan Fox’s acclaimed Yossi and Jagger (2003) on the list. Fox’s production ranks along such icons as The English Patient, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and King Kong. We know Israeli cinema is good; we’re glad to hear just how good it is!

Photo: Mark Wilson, Wikimedia Commons

The latest edition of the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle takes us to the Nitzana Youth Village, home to a center devoted to education about sustainable living in the desert. The location in the middle of the desert (near the Egyptian border) means that the area has little to no water and lots of sun–an excellent place to put into practice many of the ideas the center preaches. The article notes some pretty amazing things: some homes actually generate more in solar electricity than they use from the power grid (!) and the plants are irrigated by purifying aquifer water. Seems like we all should take a page out of this book.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Arguably the greatest character in drama will be arriving in Israel at the beginning of December for a few performances. Ynet reports that the American Drama Group Europe will be in town from 8-11 December for 4 performances of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This isn’t huge news, since Shakespeare is performed in Israel fairly frequently, but it is nice to report on a little bit of English culture in Tel Aviv for a bit of variety. While the work may not be homegrown, the audience certainly will be.

Photo: Getty Images

We’ll be candid here: Until this week, when news about the Israeli men’s chess team started hitting the wires, we had no idea there was such a thing as a Chess Olympiad.  Clearly, we don’t know enough about the game.  The Chess Olympiad takes place every other year; this year’s host was Dresden, Germany.  After 11 rounds, the men’s team, led by Boris Gelfand, had racked up 18 points, good enough to place second behind Armenia.  (The USA placed third with 17 points.)  The women’s team finished in ninth place.
Bonus coverage: The Israeli media covered the story as well. Check out Ynet and Haaretz for more.

Photo: Jerry Avenaim for Wikimedia Commons, Used under Creative Commons license

The human cast of Hollywood hit Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa arrived in Israel over the weekend for the movie’s local premiere in Netanya. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith came to town as the voices of the movie’s main character and had a great time meeting the crowds of fans and seeing the sights. According to the Associated Press, the actors even preferred the reception in Israel to the usual reactions in Hollywood.
Further Developments: It appears that Israel has left it’s mark on another young American star. Haaretz reports that Zach Braff, famous for his role on TV’s “Scrubs,” has been enjoying the country as of late. Though he’s been to Israel before, he wanted to see what it would be like to “live in the city and feel like a Tel Avivian.” And how does it feel? You’ll just have to check out the article to find out.