Sorrow and Hope

Dispatch from Jerusalem

Recycling Breakthrough!

We produce a lot of garbage in our instant, prepackaged society. Landfills around the world are overflowing with solid waste products. Yes, many people are recycling their plastics, paper and glass but can we do more? Infimer®, an Israeli company, has discovered a new process for treating unsorted garbage. The end result is an amazing

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Removing Viruses from Drinking Water

Researchers from Ben Gurion University (BGU) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have developed novel ultrafiltration membranes that significantly improve the virus-removal process from treated municipal wastewater used for drinking in water-scarce cities. Current membrane filtration methods require intensive energy to adequately remove pathogenic viruses without using chemicals like chlorine. Researchers at UIUC

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Ottoman Water System Revealed

Recently, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) uncovered an Ottoman-period well and an elaborate water system located nearby as part of the work being carried out by the Netivei Israel Company to widen Highway 38 near Ramat Bet Shemesh. A large well, about 3.5 meters [11.5 ft] in diameter, was discovered at the site, dug into

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The Battle for Jerusalem—2,000 Years Ago

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), in collaboration with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), continues to unveil evidence of Jerusalem’s unique history, further reinforcing the indelible connection of the Jewish people to the city. Current excavations in the City of David are revealing evidence from the battle of Jerusalem two thousand years ago—a battle

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Report on 2016 Aliyah Figures

Friday, 09 June, 2017 | Since the establishment of the State of Israel, 3.2 million immigrants have immigrated to Israel, about 43% of them since 1990. This emerges from data published Tuesday by the Central Bureau of Statistics. In the past year, there has been a decline in the number of immigrants compared to the

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2017: Anniversaries Tell the Story

Despite the serious issues today’s world is constantly facing, 2017 is proving to be quite the amazing year. A close look at this year’s calendar reveals over two dozen anniversaries of historical events that have significantly impacted civilization in one way or another. And there really is something for everyone. For the lighthearted among us,

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To Deal or Not to Deal, the Trump Question for Israel

A quiet chuckle and a smile from Donald Trump stood out during his first face-to-face press conference with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in February. Of course, laughter can be the joint expression of joy or a false effort to appear humored—and relationships between Israel and the United States have sometimes felt like just that dichotomy

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The Western Wall: Behind the Bricks and Mortar

It is a sight singular to Jerusalem. Friday afternoons, when the sun starts its descent, the shops shut their doors tight, the hum of peak traffic quiets to a hush and the sidewalks in the City of Gold fill with people heading in one direction. Fathers with sidelocks walk in step with their young sons,

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Light that Seeps Through Evil

Gracia (Hannah) Nasi and Hannah Senesh lived their lives during two of the darkest periods in history for European Jewry, the Inquisition and the Holocaust, when rampant persecution ran amok and threatened the very existence of the Jewish people. Though separated by centuries, our heroines’ lives were united by more than just their first names—both

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Egged, Riding the Bus

Since I first came to Jerusalem as a volunteer ten years ago, I have been fascinated with Egged, Israel’s largest public transportation system. To explain, I grew up in Alaska, in an area where you were more likely to spot a moose grazing alongside the road than a public bus, so maybe the novelty hasn’t

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