How do you say Hannah Montana in Hebrew?

July 21, 2009 - 11:15 AM by · 6 Comments
Filed under: General, Movies, Pop Culture, Sports 

Miley Cyrus and Gregg Sulkin

Miley Cyrus and Gregg Sulkin

The Maccabiah Games, which have been taking place in Israel for the last week, have brought thousands of the top Jewish athletes in the world together in competition and cameraderie.

Despite the complaints about lack of proper facilities for some delegations and the scandal about the softball tournament in the Baptist Village being shut down by police for not having proper permits (after all, what kind of event could there be in Israel without a little controversy or incompetence? – It’s our unique mark and we’re proud of it), the Games, for me, are still one of the highlights of Zionism in action – showing how Jews from all over can gather here, like coming home to the slightly disfunctional mothership.

There are hundreds of stories in the naked stadium – athletes who overcame diversity to compete, Ethiopian atheletes whose families are still stranded in their country, and of course, Miley Cyrus’s boyfriend.

British actor Gregg Sulkin, who is playing on his country’s soccer team has recently made waves as the teen-heartthrob boyfriend of actress-singer Cyrus, better known to millions of fans as her TV alter ego Hannah Montana.

The 17-year-old Sulkin was previously in Israel for his bar mitzva, which was held at the Western Wall. Because of his time spent in Jerusalem on his bar mitzva trip, he has come to “love the culture, the people, the food… just everything about Israel,” Sulkin told The Jerusalem Post. “I love how united Israel is as a country, as a family,” and later joked that “the weather here is so much better than in London.”

Sulkin has acted in various films and television shows – including the Disney Channel comedy As the Bell Rings and the Paul Weiland film Sixty Six with Helena Bonham Carter. He’s flying to Los Angeles directly after the Maccabiah Games in order to attend callbacks for a number of new parts.

Sulkin didn’t make any committments when asked if he’d try to get his girlfriend to accompany him on his next trip to Israel.

“If she wasn’t that busy, I’d love to persuade her to come to Israel, but she’s amazing at what she does and that’s why she’s always so busy. I wish she could come to Israel. Next Maccabiah, hopefully.”

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IDF battles swine flu with extra leave

July 2, 2009 - 11:40 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: General, health, Life 

Whether you call it swine flu or Mexican flu, the number of cases of the virus H1N1 in Israel continues to creep up.

Please don't lick that pig...

Please don't lick that pig...

Since the flu first reached here in late April, just days after it was identified in Mexico and the US, there have been anything from 300 to 542 confirmed cases, depending on which newspaper you read. And, according to one Israeli paper, the total number of flu cases has more than doubled in the last two weeks alone.

Earlier this week, the IDF decided to take some preventative measures, after an increasing number of troops came down with the illness.

The problem, the IDF discovered, was with soldiers who had come into contact with Jewish American youngsters as part of the Jewish Agency’s Taglit-Birthright program, where they bring Jewish kids from the US to Israel to experience the country.

According to Ynet, some 20 soldiers working with Taglit youth contracted the H1N1 virus over the last few weeks. These soldiers then returned to their units, and infected their fellow comrades, raising the number of sick servicemen to several dozens. Units affected – including one Navy torpedo boat – had no choice but to declare a temporary shutdown.

Now the IDF has decided not to take any more chances. This is the nation’s security we’re talking about after all. The army’s chief medical officer has ordered soldiers who work with Taglit to take five-days leave to make sure they are flu-free.

Out in the civilian world as well, flu continues to spread. Last week, the PM, Bibi Netanyahu canceled all his meetings after a close associate tested positive for swine flu.

The health maintenance funds (Kupat Holim), now responsible for treating swine flu patients, are also feeling the crunch. When my husband phoned a contact in his health fund to try to bring forward a doctor’s appointment it took him three days to get hold of her, and when he finally did she said she was too busy dealing with swine flu cases to talk.

Now there’s talk of testing all the 5,000 or so visiting athletes due to fly in any day to take part in this month’s Maccabiah games. Any that test positive will be refused entry. Deputy Health Minister, Ya’akov Litzman told reporters: “I don’t want to reach a situation in which another 5,000 people come here and just increase [the incidence of] the disease.”

Well, it’s still early days yet. Like much of Europe, flu season in these parts usually only begins in November. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.

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