Featured Stories

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.”

Gaza Crisis?

{image_1}In the aftermath of the Mavi Marmara Gaza flotilla incident, in which Israeli soldiers acting in self-defense resulted in the deaths of nine activists, Israel chose to significantly lighten the blockade of the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip….

Coming Together in Unity

{image_1}Occasionally, Bridges for Peace plans special evening events for the volunteer staff in Jerusalem. These opportunities give us a chance to enjoy dialogue with Jewish people and understand them better. Our last event not only included dialogue but music!

BFP Distributes Food for 20 Years

{image_1}In 1990, Israel was in the midst of a huge influx of new immigrants coming home to Israel—with 15,000 to 20,000 arriving each month! On September 11, the 100,000^th immigrant to Israel was celebrated. Two years prior, God was already preparing Bridges for Peace to help meet this critical need.

Summer War?

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“The flood of hate is being led by Israel's enemies all over the world…Dark forces from the Middle Ages are raging against us…Be prepared for difficult days.”—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Cycle for Hope

I’m a young adult volunteer for Bridges for Peace. When asked if I would like to represent Bridges for Peace in a cycling event in Israel, I jumped at the opportunity. I love to cycle and because it would be a three-day event, it poised a challenge that I could not pass up.

Israel’s Kibbutz Movement Celebrates 100 Years

{image_1}One year after Tel Aviv celebrated its 100-year anniversary, Israel’s communal kibbutz movement—in many ways the opposite of Tel Aviv’s modern mega-city—is celebrating their 100^th birthday. In March, Israel’s first kibbutz, Degania Alef, hosted the kick-off ceremony for the year’s celebrations, as they gear up for the big, national celebration of the kibbutz on October 4. While the kibbutz community’s founding principles of egalitarianism, communal living, and an agriculture-based society are by no means unique to Israel, the kibbutz movement’s role and significance in the creation of Israel’s modern state help set it apart from similar movements around the world.

The Hurva Rededicated

{image_1}After four years of construction, the Hurva Synagogue, in the center of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, was rededicated on March 15 and 16. Since 1977, the ruins of its destruction by the Arabs in 1948 have been marked by a single memorial arch. Now it stands again, reconstructed in its original design, both outside and inside. As previously, its 82 foot (25 meter) high dome is once again a distinctive part of the Old City’s skyline. The date of the dedication was carefully chosen—the first day of the biblical month of Nisan, the day the tabernacle was erected in the wilderness (Exod. 40).

Salt Therapy—A Breath of Fresh Air

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After three years of unsuccessfully treating his five-year-old son's chronic ear infections with conventional medicine, Jonathan Kestenbaum, an immigrant to Israel from New York, started to explore alternative therapies. “We were at a point where it was either tube surgery or antibiotics for an undetermined amount of time,” explains Kestenbaum, 32. He researched several alternatives before he stumbled upon salt therapy, a natural remedy for respiratory and sinus problems dating back to salt caves in Greece in the Middle Ages