Sorrow and Hope

Dispatch from Jerusalem

Sweet Potato “Cups” filled with Dried Fruits and Couscous

Ingredients: 5 slices of sweet potato, each 2” thick 5 tbsp. date honey (or regular honey) 3 tbsp. roasted almond slivers 3 tbsp. prunes, cubed 3 tbsp. dried apricots, cubed 3 tbsp. dried cranberries 6 dates, sliced 2/3 cup cooked couscous, seasoned with salt and pepper 1 onion, sliced into small cubes Olive oil Brown

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Diapers Made from Jellyfish

What do jellyfish and diapers have in common? They are both contributors to environmental problems today. Warmer ocean temperatures have produced, among other things, an ever-increasing number of jellyfish; and, disposable diapers, which take hundreds of years to disintegrate and therefore are overwhelming our landfills. Two unrelated problems solved with one creative solution from Cine’al,

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Genetic Contributor to Alzheimer’s Identified

A new Tel Aviv University study identified a gene coding for a protein that turns off neurotransmission signaling, which contributes to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The gene, called RGS2 (Regulator of Protein Signaling 2), has never before been implicated in AD. The study, published in Translational Psychiatry, may lead to new avenues for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease—possibly

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Netanyahu: I’m hopeful about our region

“There is hope in your future,” says the LORD, “that your children shall come back to their own border.”     Jeremiah 31:17 The Middle East Is Changing “I’m going to dispel a longstanding myth about me and I think you should brace yourselves. If you read some of the, well the other papers in this

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Rare First Temple Document Revealed

A rare and important document written on papyrus and dating to the time of the First Temple (seventh century BC) was exposed in an enforcement operation initiated by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA)’s Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery. The document was illicitly plundered from one of the Judean Desert caves by a band

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Arabic Gold Coins Uncovered

Two teenage students from the lower Galilee who were participating in an Israel Antiquities Authority dig in nearby Kfar Kama found some ancient coins. Included in the find was a 1,200-year-old gold coin inscribed in Arabic and mentioning the name of Muhammad and monotheism. The rare find shows that the people who lived at the

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Jerusalem’s Third Wall

Fascinating evidence of the breaching of the third wall that surrounded Jerusalem at the end of the Second Temple period was uncovered last winter in the Russian Compound in the city center. Archaeologists discovered the remains of a tower jutting from the city wall. Opposite the tower’s western facade were scores of ballista and sling

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Africa and Israel: a Match Made in Heaven?

  In times past, Africa was known as the “dark continent,” a mysterious, romantic place filled with tribal cultures, exotic wildlife and beautiful landscapes. It was a destination for Christian missionaries as well as those who dreamed of the adventure of the big-game safari. For many decades, however, violence and turmoil reigned throughout much of

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Multiple Choice Alternative Answers to the Two-State “Solution”

Twenty-three years have passed since the signing of the Oslo Accords, which heralded an official and public Israel–Palestinian effort to reach peace via the so-called “two-state solution.” Israel was to surrender land taken from Jordan and Egypt in the 1967 war to the Palestinians for their state, in exchange for which the Palestinians would stop

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The Season of Miracles

Jews around world will soon be recounting the miraculous story of Hanukkah. The actual miracle of Hanukkah, however, depends on which historical source you consult. The extra-biblical Books of the Maccabees opt for the miracle of the military victory over the Seleucid Empire. Yet the Talmud (rabbinic commentary) relates another miracle. When the Temple was

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