Tikkun Olam

An update to Waze which might nip kidnappings in the bud, a possible cure for Alzheimer's, and water management methods California surely can use - just to mention three, on the occasion of Israel's 67th Independence Day celebrations: Lighting the (Independence Day) Torch of the Future of the World. (What a country; what a people!) Dr. Marta Weinstock-Rosin who invented the memory-improving drug Exelon speaks up about a possible future without Alzheimer's. A short excerpt about Dr. Weinstock-Rosin, below.  In many ways, Exelon, and its inventor, paved new paths in Israeli medicine, and Israeli society. Weinstock-Rosin, who is Orthodox, was born in Vienna and fled with her family to Britain in 1939, narrowly escaping from the Nazis. She came to Israel with her family in 1969, and became a professor at Hebrew University in 1981. In 1983, she became head of the Pharmacology department at the Hebrew University (now part of the Institute for Drug Research) in the Fa...

In honor of the reunification of Jerusalem in the miraculous 6-Day War of June,1967, and also to show that it is and always has been a JEWISH city, I present three videos. View them.  Be enlightened.  Act accordingly. (this video is from Israel's 60th Independence Day. Israel just celebrated its 63rd.) A Jewish city, from then to forever...courtesy Honest Reporting . (Hat tip, my D.H. I told him he'd better start posting on his blog again, now that he has his new DSLR...) And finally, here are 4,000 years of history.  In 5 minutes (courtesy of The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs ).

After too many questions, doubts, and negatives written and spoken about Israel, I was getting a little depressed.  Along comes Benji Lovitt , the comedian, writer and blogger who made Aliyah six years ago, and puts everything in perspective. On the occasion of this 64th Independence Day celebration starting in Israel tomorrow, I can't say it better than he does in his piece, Sixty-four things I love about Israel . Below are the first 21 things (click on the link to read it all; believe me, you don't want to miss the rest), followed by his video, made after he was in Israel 5 years, which cheerfully encourages me to make Aliyah--or makes me want to run like hell--I don't know which. Lo meshaneh*.  To all Jews in Israel and all over galut *, Chag Ha'Atzma'ut sameach*!! (and thanks, Benji!) Sixty-four things I love about Israel 1. I love how Israelis can be completely indifferent to politics but will still argue about their favorite hummus place ...