Dispatch from Jerusalem

Poverty Report: 36% of Israeli Needy Live in Hunger

{image_1} One in four Israelis fears falling into poverty. More than 1.5 million Israelis (25% of the population) live in poverty and 36% of them (540,000) live in hunger. One in five has contemplated suicide, and 10% of the needy know someone who died due to inability to fund medical care. These statistics were all revealed in the 2008 Alternative Poverty Report published by the LATET aid organization.

Earliest Hebrew Text Discovered

{image_1} The earliest known Hebrew text, written in a Proto-Canaanite script, has been discovered by Hebrew University archaeologists in an ancient city in the area where David slew Goliath, the earliest Judean city found to date.

Medical Images on Cell Phones

{image_1} A process to transmit medical images via cellular phones, developed by Professor Boris Rubinsky of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has the potential to provide sophisticated radiological diagnoses and treatment to the majority of the world’s population lacking access to such technology. According to the World Health Organization, some three-quarters of the world’s population have no access to ultrasounds, X-rays, magnetic resonance images, and other medical imaging technology.

May Those Who Love You Be Secure

{image_1} “Do you ever feel scared over there?” my aunt wanted to know. I was home visiting family I had not seen in a while. Moving from America to Jerusalem had made me a bit of a curiosity to relatives who had, for the most part, stayed close to home. They had a lot of questions mostly about whether or not it was safe to live in Israel.

Joy—Simcha

{image_1} Simcha (pronounced sim-CHAH) is a word of many meanings. From the root word sameyach, it means glad, happy, or joy. “Serve the LORD with gladness [simcha]; come before His presence with singing” (Ps. 100:2). Note that in Hebrew or English, this is a command. How often have the Jewish people faced devastating circumstances with an inner joy drawn from their foundational focus on the Divine? This inner joy produces fortitude and strength.

Rare First Temple Seal Found

{image_1} In excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is carrying out in the northwestern part of the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem, a rare and impressive Hebrew seal was discovered that dates to the latter part of the First Temple Period. The seal was found in a building, which dates to the seventh century BC, when the kings Manasseh and Josiah reigned.

Creating the Next Knesset

How Israel’s Elections Work

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Though Israel is a democracy, its election system is not representative, but party-focused. In other words, rather than electing representatives of a party, voters cast ballots for the parties themselves. The parties’ candidate lists—the ranking of party members running for office—are chosen ahead of time by the parties themselves, determining the likelihood of a particular candidate making office. The number of seats taken by a party, determined by the percentage of the vote the party receives, determines how many of their candidates make the 120-seat Knesset (Parliament), starting with the top ranking member. In other words, a candidate ranked 10th on the Labor list would only make the Knesset if the Labor party gains at least 10 seats.

Jewish Philanthropic World Devastated

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The loss of US $50 billion in a financial scandal late last year, involving Jewish Wall Street wizard Bernard Madoff, has devastated Jewish charities. The loss is estimated at between US $600 million to US $1 billion.

What can you do in 15 seconds?

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I can read a paragraph, eat two-and-a-half bites of apple, drink a small glass of water, or walk down two flights of stairs. Fifteen seconds is also the amount of time residents of Sderot have to run to a bomb shelter after the Tevah Adom alarm (Color Red Alert) sounds, telling them a missile has been fired at them. Over the past eight years, thousands of missiles have been launched at this small town in the western Negev, situated right next to the Gaza Strip. Sderot’s population of 24,000 people live under the shadow of terror, running for bomb shelters frequently.

North Korea Providing WMD

{image_1} An Israeli delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assembly in October accused North Korea of providing weapons of mass destruction [WMD] to at least six Middle East countries. The Israeli delegate said that six countries in the Middle East had obtained the means to produce nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles covertly from North Korea, thereby ignoring commitments they are bound by as members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty that fully accepts the IAEA’s right to conduct inspections.