Difficult Days

IDF Helicopter Accident in Romania:

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“This is a difficult day for all of Israel. We are choked up… hearing about how the heroes [six Israelis and one Romanian]fell from on high, and how the vessels of war fell to the earth.”

— Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

“This year, Israeli and Romanian pilots [are] training together and make the supreme sacrifice together. This has resulted in a closer relationship between us, proving that we support each other in joy but especially in sorrow.”

— Romanian Air Force Deputy Commander Alexander Glushka

Iran Sanctions and Threats

The Iranians will carry out “the most horrendous suicide bombing in human history…[attacking] Israel, European capitals, and [the] Gulf region at the same time.”

—Former member of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard who defected to the US

Middle East Peace

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“I think it's possible to achieve it, yes. Will we achieve it with the entire Middle East? That, I cannot say. Can we achieve it with the Palestinians? I say absolutely.”

— Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Change Is Coming

David Nekrutman (front left)	David Nekrutman	Cheryl Hauer	The Center for Jewsih-Christian Understanding and Cooperation in Efrat, Gush Etzion

David Nekrutman is Executive Director of The Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding and Cooperation, established by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin to further interfaith communication. Cheryl Hauer is International Development Director of Bridges for Peace with significant experience in Jewish–Christian relations. Here they comment on the growing relationship between two unlikely groups: Orthodox Jews and evangelical Christians

Praying at the Wall

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Recently, I learned about the Jewish tradition of praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem for 40 consecutive days. Having some special needs at the time, I decided it would be a good thing to try. Any thoughts of merely following a “tradition” dissolved as I walked to the Wall reciting Psalm 122: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’ Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!” (vv. 1–2ff).

An Appointed Time—Moed

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A moed is an appointed time when God asks His people to meet with Him. Moed is found 223 times in Scripture. It can be translated “set time, a specific appointment with God, appointed time, or solemn times, or congregation.” If you ask your Jewish friends what a moed is, most likely they will tell you that it is the feasts, referring to the biblical feasts listed in Leviticus 23. Type the word in Google, and you will quickly find links informing readers that moed is the name of the second Order of the Mishnah, the first written recording of the oral Torah (laws given to Moses not included in Scripture and not written down until AD 220). The twelve tractates (essays) of moed in the Mishnah relate to the Sabbath and the feasts, among other related topics.

Crisis on Campus

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The university has long been revered as a nucleus for the free exchange of ideas, no matter how diverse those ideas might be.

Changing the Face of the Desert

Aryeh Schrieber has lived in Kibbutz Nirim in the northern Negev since 1950.  Now, aged 77, he has seen this part of the Negev Desert change from being one of the most arid regions in Israel to becoming a rich green, agricultural landscape. “When I came to live here sixty years ago, there was nothing growing. Today…there is almost a thousand acres of irrigated land producing all kinds of citrus fruits, potatoes, carrots, nuts as well as herds of dairy cows,” explains Schrieber with a twinkle in his eye. “Because of the many hours of sunshine, we are able to export all kinds of produce to Europe and Russia, particularly potatoes, because in winter in Europe and Russia, there is a local shortage of such vegetables. Not only that, our produce is of the highest quality.”

A Cancer Turn-off

{image_1}An Israeli researcher has identified a common fat molecule that functions like a “switch,” in that it can “switch on” cell growth in plants. Now he's suggesting that the same mechanism can “turn off” the process that leads to the growth of cancerous tumors.

Israel’s Secret New Weapon?

{image_1}Imagine what a battlefield will look like in the future: unmanned planes flying through the air, robots fighting, smart missiles hunting down targets. Now imagine that none of this can be detected on radar screens. It may sound fictional, but it's happening. An Israeli company, Nanoflight, is currently developing a special paint that makes drones, missiles, or war craft simply disappear—or they become very difficult to detect.

Protection from Underwater Threats

{image_1}Sharks and jellyfish aren't the only dangerous creatures in the sea. There are others, like terrorists, pirates, and industrial spies. Israel's DSIT Solutions is at the forefront of technology to detect trouble coming from the sea. Battling security threats from the ocean is a major headache for security services, maritime security being more of a challenge than its on-land counterpart. Israel is no stranger to maritime terrorism. There have been more than 80 attempts to attack Israel from the sea.

Introducing Potato Power

{image_1}Yissum Research Development Company Ltd. of Hebrew University has introduced a solid organic electric battery based upon treated potatoes. “The ability to provide electrical power with such simple and natural means could benefit millions of people in the developing world, literally bringing light and telecommunication…in areas currently lacking electrical infrastructure” said Yaacov Michlin, Yissum’s CEO. This cheap, easy-to-use green power source could substantially improve the quality of life of 1.6 billion people.