From Maccabi Tel Aviv to the NBA, Omri Casspi, 21, has become the first Israeli to make it to the big league. The 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward was chosen as 23rd pick by the Sacramento Kings. Still, he says, he hasn’t found the perfect hummus yet in America.

Today’s hottest technology is the touch-screen and device makers can’t get enough of it. We’ve grown accustomed to tapping out our choices on basic machines, but, the New York Times says, technology companies want to go even further.

Israelis have been enormously successful in building startup companies and bringing new ideas and products to market. In fact, Israel has more startup companies per-capita than any other country!

Photo: Israel Ministry of Tourism When you write a lot about Israel (like in this blog), you figure you know the place pretty well. A profile of traveling around Israel in the New York Times travel section this past weekend showed us just how wrong we were. However many times you read about (or visit) [...]

Photo: Getty Images An extraordinary meeting yesterday in Holon, reported in the New York Times, brought together two very different groups of people. As part of “Good Deeds Day,” a Palestinian youth orchestra from Jenin came to town to play for a group of Holocaust survivors. The encounter was, apparently, quite eye-opening. According to the [...]

We bring you today an interesting story from the fashion world that comes courtesy of the Transracial blog, by David Kaufman, who’s written for such outlets as the Financial Times and The New York Times. The story concerns fashion photographer Adi Barkan, who wants to help Israeli models strut their stuff, but also keep healthy [...]

Photo: Getty Images Yesterday’s New York Times outlines a plan for a new type of learning environment, modeled on the social networking communities that have recently become extremely popular. This University of the People, as envisioned by Shai Reshef, who founded several educational companies, would allow people from around the world–including from poorer countries–to learn [...]

Photo: Sony Pictures Classics We’ve just learned that Waltz with Bashir, the Ari Folman documentary, has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. You can see the full list on the New York Times film blog and get more information on the movie from our previous posts. And tune in on 22 [...]

Photo: Sony Pictures Classics, used with permission After posting yesterday, we remembered that we had forgotten to bring to your attention an interview in this week’s New York Times Magazine with Ari Folman, director of Waltz with Bashir. Suffice it to say, that’s an oversight on our part. The interview sheds a light of light [...]

Photo: Sony Pictures Classics, used with permission The