When I’m 64
Filed under: A New Reality, education, Entertainment, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Technology
As the transition from the somber mood of Remembrance Day makes way for the celebration of Independence Day, there’s a plethora of inspiring video clips to help us mark Israel’s 64th birthday.
We’ve already focused on ISRAEL21c’s great ‘What does Israel mean to you’ clip, (now augmented by the top 64 innvoations from Israel) and here’s a few others.
Here’s a photographic appreciation of the natural beauty of the country by Efrat-based photographer Yehoshua Halevi, featuring the song “Desert Call” by Eden Mi Qedem.
No Independence Day would be complete without a tribute to our fighting forces that protect us day in and out. Here’s a well-done one created and filmed by Aviv Vana Post Production in collaboration with shooteast.com
Here’s a unique take on the country’s birthday – done in animation. According to the creators, it attempts to portray the complex reality that Israelis live in on a daily basis.
And how could we not include a message from Mr. Israel, our venerable president Shimon Peres, who gives his independence greeting in his inimitable English.
Go enjoy the next 24 hours, with the ubiquitous barbecue, outdoor singing and dancing, and fireworks. Happy birthday, Israel.
Celebrating independence with a Seder
Filed under: A New Reality, education, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life
I just returned home from my first Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day) Seder. And it was pretty cool. The trend toward having seders besides the Passover one for other holidays like Tu Bishvat has been on the rise in recent years – a nonsectarian but traditional seder with four cups and readings but without religious content.
The Yom Ha’atzmaut Seder that we attended for our son’s fifth grade classes was devised by the Tali Foundation, the organization that brings traditional themes into largely secular schools.
The Seder table was lined with bottles of juices and water for the four cups, bowls of humus, olives and dates and plates of pita. Led by a trained professional, the Seder included blessings over the food, readings from such Zionist stalwarts as Natan Alterman and Haim Goury, quotes from David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin, and songs by Naomi Shemer and Uzi Hitman.
Less than an hour in length, it kept the 11-year-olds’ scattered minds at attention and engaged them in telling the story of their country and why Yom Ha’atzmaut is more than breaking out the new barbecue and spraying that disgusting foam on each other.
Maybe next year, every school will incorporate a Yom Ha’atzmaut Seder in their curriculum – it’s good for the students and it’s good for the parents.
Made in Israel
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, design, education, Entertainment, Environment, General, health, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Medical Breakthroughs, Music, Science, Social Justice, Technology
It’s getting to be that time of year again – where the national holidays come fast and furious. Holocaust Remembrance Day just passed and this week we have Memorial Day and Independence Day right on top of each other as Israel prepares to celebrate its 64th birthday.
While there’s no shortage of subjects to be worried, fearful, skeptical or angry about, I would say that overall, the country’s in pretty good shape. But if the Iranian threat, the political situation, the social welfare crisis and the glut of TV reality shows are getting you down, take a couple minutes and check out this clip that ISRAEL21c’s Nicky Blackburn and Viva Sara Press have put together.
In addition to providing some surprising information about just what Israel has achieved in the past 63 years, it will undoubtedly raise your morale and have you whistling a happy tune going into the coming eventful week. Happy Independence Day Israel! We’re proud of you.
Salami Seder
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, News, Religion, Social Justice
IDF soldiers enjoy their Seder. (IDFblog.com)
She had just finished 12 hours of patrols and assignments, and was able to relax and enjoy herself, with a spread, although not quite as sumptuous as ours, still featured a respectable chicken soup and matza balls and roast beef.
She was much luckier though, than soldiers in the Kfir Brigade, who according to reports on Israel Radio and Channel 2, had to make do with salami and matzah for their Seder meal.
Evidently, a chef on their base heated up the planned Seder food after the holiday began, rendering it unkosher according to strict Jewish law, and thus army rules, which follow the laws of kashrut. The kashrut supervisor on the base didn’t hesitate to throw away the entire batch of food, leaving the hungry soldiers, who had also just returned from a mission, only the salami and matza to eat.
Now, I’m one of the first ones to love the fact that when you’re in the army, or you go to a government office, or a sanctioned hotel, you can be assured that the food is going to be kosher – it’s one of the great aspects about Israel.
But, perhaps there are instances when a little common sense is required? I’m not sure what percentage of those Kfir soldiers keep kosher, but couldn’t they have been given the option – after an explanation of what happened – to decide for themselves whether they wanted to eat the heated food or not? After all, it’s not like the food isn’t really kosher – it was just heated up (by somebody else).
My wife says that this would have made the religiously observant soldiers feel especially bad, seeing their fellow soldiers feasting on Seder food while they were stuck with salami. What do you think?
I just know that if it was my daughter who had been served salami on Seder night because of an oversight by an army cook, I would have thought that we’ve lost track of what’s really important in our society.
Israeli startup gets in on ‘Hunger Games’
Filed under: A New Reality, Blogging, Business, Entertainment, General, Movies, Pop Culture, Technology
The Hunger Games may be breaking all the box office records in the US since its theater release last month, but its Facebook game is not far behind.
Developed by Israeli company Funtactix, the online game has become a big hit since being launched last week. Which should not be too surprising since the Jerusalem startup is apparently so talented that Lionsgate Films signed an agreement with them to develop the official ‘Hunger Games’ game – two months after it launched the Facebook game for Mission Impossible 4.
The Hunger Games online app enables fans of the film and the book dynasty to play with virtual friends based on the characters from the books and film.
“Even though we knew in advance that the movie would be a huge hit with teens we were still very excited when we saw the initial statistics, and we hope they will continue to grow and increase,” said Funtactix founder Yaron Leifenberg in a press release.
The (JVP) Erel Margalit-financed company was founded in 2006 and has developed a reputation in web-based gaming since its 2008 introduction of connected 3D multiplayer action gaming to the browser. Based in New York, with development teams centered in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Funtactix is another example of the burgeoning Hollywood-Israel connection in full bloom.
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