TELL May - July 2012 - Emanuel Synagogue

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Israel Yom HaAtzmaut - Shlicha article Whenever we talk, read and hear about Israel we usually have some strong emotion in our hearts. We are either concerned or worried, sometimes horrified and sometimes extremely proud. As the community Shlicha (now here for 2.5 years) the number one question I am asked is: “What’s going to happen with Israel”. Whether it’s Iran, social justice protests, missiles on Sderot or segregated buses. Sometimes I feel like explaining that I’m a community Shlicha not a community prophet, but then I usually smile and try saying something comforting. Yom Haatzmaut is the opportunity for me to ask myself: Why I am proud to be an Israeli and to bring Israel to the Jewish community. Here is a summary of a few things to smile about: Israeli Cinema It is no secret that something good has happened to Israeli cinema in recent years. Israeli films star regularly at prestigious film festivals and win important prizes. The international public is highly intrigued by Israeli cinema, after having cold-shouldered it for many years. Many Israeli films deal extensively with burning issues characterizing life in Israel, e.g.multiculturalism, politics, national identity, Holocaust, the Arab-Israeli conflict, wars etc. As a sweeping generalization it can be said that the renewed success of Israeli cinema derives from finding the appropriate voice for the period: the cinema stopped trying to tell that one, central “Israeli story” (the story of Zionism, the State of Israel, the melting pot, the consensus), and began to look inwards, into the details making up the whole. Oscar nominated Israeli films in recent years: 2008 – Beaufort 2009 - Waltz with Bashir 2010 – Ajami 2011 – Footnote 26 Still from Waltz with Bashir Tel Aviv - “The City That Never Sleeps” In 2011 “Lonely Planet” travel guide magazine ranked Tel Aviv third place (after New York and Berlin) in the list of cities worth visiting in the coming year. The news of Tel Aviv’s nightlife has spread across the globe, and a large number of European youngsters have arrived to check out the scene. www.emanuel.org.au Tel Aviv is the cultural capital of Israel. The city is home to the country’s greatest concentration of artists, intellectuals, media and entertainment people. To a great extent, Tel Aviv is the centre of modern Hebrew culture. Tel Aviv has a dynamic and influential LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, with prominent representation in the cultural life, nightlife, and municipal political scene. The creation of this community was made possible thanks to Tel Aviv’s tolerant and open nature and respect for one-sex couples. The city attracts thousands of young homosexuals and lesbians from Israel and abroad. In 2003 Tel Aviv received international recognition from UNESCO as a world heritage site because of its important architectural heritage: in Tel Aviv the Bauhaus international style of building was uniquely successful in the 1920s and 1930s, this combined with appropriate and exceptional urban planning made the city an international success. This urban texture and collection of houses earned the city the title of “White City”. Medicine and Wellness Israel is one of the leading countries in the world in the field of medicine. The studies, the doctors and the drugs developed in Israel have global impact! Here are a few examples: In 1998 the Israeli Given Imaging Company developed the PillCam capsule. These patient-friendly video capsules can be swallowed and allows the doctor to explore the digestive system. The company received the European Union “Grand Prix” award in 2003 for the “invention with the highest impact on human life”. The President of the Technion, Prof. Peretz Lavie and Robert Schnall developed an innovative technology for diagnosis of respiratory disorders during sleep by recording the blood flow in the finger. A transfusion needle that locates the vein itself - Israeli scientists have developed a sensor that beeps when the transfusion needle has successfully entered the vein. This significantly reduces the “jabbing” in the veins of the arms, which causes haemorrhages and suffering for the patient. Israel’s great scientific and technological achievements Israel allocates more funds to research and development than any other developed country, except for Sweden. Because of this, Israel is a technological and scientific leader. Here are a few things you probably didn’t even know were invented in Israel: 1955: Solar water heater. After David Ben-Gurion asked Israeli scientists to find solutions to maximise Israel’s scant resources, Prof. Zvi Tabor developed the solar water heater. Today it is used in most Israeli homes and provides approximately 4% of energy consumption in the State. (In animated conversations on the environment
Israel www.emanuel.org.au you can mention that Israel devoted efforts to this important issue over fifty years ago). 1977: Digital colour printing. Israeli company Scitex became a world leader in processing digital colour pictures and at least 40 countries have marketed its products. After resigning from management of the corporation, in 1989 its founder, Efi Arazi founded “EFI” (Electronics for Imaging) which, working with Xerox, Kodak and Canon brought the colour printer into many homes. 1985: First electronic hair removal. Two kibbutz members, Yair Dar and Shimon Yahav, register a patent on “Epilady” - and the device became a dizzying success in Israel and worldwide. Israel has the highest number of startup companies per capita in the world: 3,850 - a company for every 1,844 residents. Every year more startup companies are created in Israel than in any European country. Israeli start-ups that changed the world of technology and placed us on the high-tech map are presented below. ICQ, Mirabilis: In the mid-1990s, four young Israelis had a brilliant idea: to develop instant messaging software that would connect friends and allow them to chat over the Internet. Their innovations allowed friends to find each other, connect directly, receive a notice when another friend connected, and have a conversation at any time and from any computer. Disk-on-Key, Dov Moran’s M-Systems: The brainchild of Israeli entrepreneur Dov Moran was simple but ingenious: a small drive that connects to the USB socket, The sale of the Disk-on-Key, or USB flash drive as it is now known, began in the year 2000, and has become an obligatory item on every key ring, although it too is likely to be eclipsed by newer technologies, such as Dropbox, also an Israeli technology. Babylon: It can be annoying when we find a foreign word that we don’t understand on the Internet, and then we have to look it up in a dictionary, look for the word - and then to go back and carry on reading. This is what we used to do until Amnon Ovadia arrived with Babylon and changed everything. Now we merely click on a word we do not understand with the mouse, and a pop-up window appears and translates the word for us, without interrupting the reading flow. This began with translations from English into Hebrew, and today Babylon supports 75 languages, and continues to grow. Agriculture and Food Security Israel is considered an arid country. It has low rainfall, and few groundwater reserves. Over half the area of the State, within the Green Line borders, is mountainous and unsuitable for agriculture. Out of approximately 21,000 km² of the area of Israel within the Green Line (i.e. 1967) borders, only 20% is suitable for agricultural cultivation. To this must be added the lack of any agricultural experience of most of the new immigrants who arrived in Israel with the establishment of the State, and their difficulties in adapting to the climatic and soil conditions. Yet development of unique irrigation methods, obtaining of bumper harvests in many crops, acclimatization and adapting of new crops, development of diversified agricultural exports and promotion of environmental quality, have become the symbol of renewed Israeli agriculture. The dearth of water from natural resources is a permanent reality in Israel yet nevertheless, Israel is the only country in the world that has more trees at the beginning of the twenty-first century than it had at the beginning of the twentieth century. Israeli cows produce approximately 80% less methane gas than Western European cows. The reduced emission is important to the quality of the environment, as it is considered one of the main causes of global warming. The use of water for irrigation in Israel is one of the most efficient in the world, thanks to the drip irrigation system developed in Israel and adopted by many countries. Research has led to a saving of 15% in irrigation water, without a reduction in crops. Drip irrigation has become the commercial symbol of Israeli agriculture, and has been adopted by many countries across the globe. Israel is one of the leading countries in the world in production of seeds and the nurturing of fruit and vegetable varieties. Israel’s cotton yield is one of the highest in the world, with an average of 550 kg per acre. After prolonged research cotton has become a very popular field crop. Today the crop covers an area of 300,000 acres, and the exports total over $100 million. Flower growing for export is a thriving industry, and today constitutes about a third of fresh agricultural exports from Israel. Until about 30 years ago several acres of flowers were grown in Israel for the local market Yearly new varieties and strains are introduced, which enriches the choice of flowers for export. Israel is thus considered today as the third largest flower exporter in the world. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISRAEL - Wishing you many years of brilliant achievement and contribution to the world we are living in. Anat Baruch 27
Page 1 and 2: Tell May-July 2012 Iyar - Tammuz 57
Page 3 and 4: should say, ‘Who among us can go
Page 5 and 6: Rabbi Ninio A Gratitude Movement As
Page 7 and 8: Tallitot www.emanuel.org.au tallito
Page 9 and 10: Portrait no mind can understand Com
Page 11 and 12: Rabbi Triguboff Yesod - Foundation
Page 13 and 14: Obituary He was never interested in
Page 15 and 16: Redevelopment From the President ww
Page 17 and 18: Redevelopment www.emanuel.org.au Ou
Page 19 and 20: UPJ www.emanuel.org.au UPJ & ARZA e
Page 21 and 22: What’s On www.emanuel.org.au chil
Page 23 and 24: EMANUEL SYNAGOGUE - CALENDAR FOR JU
Page 25: CHAMSA These unique, one-off, hand
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Page 31 and 32: Community Notices Note: 10% discoun
Page 33 and 34: Netzer In Nisan (Pesach Time) Netze
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Page 37 and 38: Our B’nei Mitzvah NAME: Rebecca E
Page 39 and 40: Weddings Ashley Bierman & D’leann

TELL May - July 2012 - Emanuel Synagogue

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