Good News

Border Guard Unit Stars in TV Series

{image_1} The world will soon get acquainted with the Israeli Border Guard unit through a documentary series on special police units around the world titled “Elite Police.” The Discovery Channel production, which is set to air in dozens of countries across the globe, premieres in South Africa.

‘‘Leah’’ gives Birth

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“When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb” (Genesis 29:31).

What was written long ago about Jacob’s first wife is true of another “Leah” today—only this time it is a 30-year-old gorilla in the Ramat Gan Safari Park who was also rejected by other gorillas in her group. Leah gave birth to a healthy baby on December 14 and mother and baby are both doing well.

Salamanders Saved!

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Aviram Tzuk, KKL-Jewish National Fund regional director, noted that goldfish, recently introduced into pools and springs of freshwater by unknown hands, fed on the salamander eggs. The foresters removed most of the goldfish from these pools. After the first rains, the results were clear: there is now a noticeable increase in the number of salamanders!

Kristallnacht Synagogue Restored

{image_1} Germany’s fast-growing Jewish community has inaugurated a new synagogue in the western city of Krefeld, seven decades after the original was destroyed by the Nazis. “We are here, in the middle of this society, and we will never let anyone challenge that place again,” the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, told guests at the inauguration ceremony.

First Aid Olympics

{image_1} When Magen David Adom (MDA) hosted an Olympics in August 2008, the events were much different than the norm. MDA, the Israeli ambulance service, started the Olympic competition to challenge other international services to test their skills. The two-day competition was called “Saving Lives at the Dead Sea.”

Raising Sturgeon in Israel

{image_1} As sturgeon populations decline in the Caspian Sea, scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have found a way for Israel to cash in on the world’s growing demand for caviar. Professor Berta Levavi-Sivan of Hebrew University and Dr. Avshalom Hurvitz have successfully reared Israel’s first sturgeon.

Rabbi Finds His “Righteous Gentile”

{image_1} Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Meir Lau was reportedly deeply moved as he told how the identity had recently been discovered of a man who helped save his life during the Holocaust 63 years ago. Lau, formerly chief rabbi of Israel, told Israel Radio that while he had known the first name of his 18-year-old rescuer, Fyodor, he had not known his family name of Michajlitschenko, a name that was only uncovered during a search of hitherto inaccessible Nazi records.

Israeli Wave Energy in China

{image_1}Israeli company S.D.E. Energy, developer of an innovative technology for generating electricity from sea waves, has signed an agreement for selling sea wave power plants in China. Construction of the power plants will be financed by investors from Hong Kong and China. Two joint venture companies will build an initial model in southern China. If successful, it will launch the establishment of sea wave power plants throughout China.

Israeli Doctors Volunteer in Gaza

{image_1}Prior to the recent Hamas-Fatah infighting and amid the uncertainty looming over Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, two Israeli doctors and volunteers at the Physicians for Human Rights organization in Israel, obtained special entry permits allowing them to cross into the Gaza Strip and perform complex plastic and orthopedic surgeries on children. Dr. Kassis Shukri, a plastic surgery specialist from Ziv Medical Center, and Dr. Mustafa Yassin, an orthopedist from the Rabin Medical Center, worked with the Palestinian medical team at the Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s main medical center, for two-and-a-half intensive days.

Tourism Profits Spike

{image_1}The Israel hotel industry has achieved one billion shekels (US
$295.5 million) profit in a year, for the first time. Tourism growth in
2007 included 2.3 million tourists and a 25% increase over 2006.