Dancing to the Stars
Posted on September 30, 2007 • By Jennifer Lawson
Category: Art and Culture, Featured | Tags: | 2 Comments
When Sally Anne Friedland got THE phone call in the summer of 2005, she hit payola. Artistic director and choreographer of Israel’s Dance Drama Company (DDC), Friedland was being invited to present her troupe at a prestigious Manhattan dance event - an invite she says resulted from a chance, New York layover the year before. Read more»
Combover Central - learning sign language one PM at a time
Posted on September 26, 2007 • By Rebecca Markowitz
Category: Videos | Tags: | Leave a Comment
Who knew learning sign language could be this easy or hilarious? Here’s a look at how to say ‘Olmert’ in Hebrew sign language:
True story, blogger frgdr noticed this oh-so-appropriate sign language on the bottom-right corner of his TV screen.
(Hat tip: Israelity)
Shake it up for Sukkot
Posted on September 25, 2007 • By Miriam Schwab
Category: Art and Culture, Featured | Tags: | 1 Comment
Yet another Jewish holiday is upon us, and this time it’s Sukkot. The practices related to this week of celebration are probably among the strangest offered by Judaism: we build wobbly huts that have leaves or twigs as roofs, and eat and sleep in them for seven days. We also make sure to shake a combination of palm fronds (whatever they are), myrtle (whatever that is), hyssop (ditto), and etrog (obviously). Read more»
Fear not, virtual reality is here to help
Posted on September 25, 2007 • By Deborah Kantor
Category: Science, Technology | Tags: | Leave a Comment
Whether you’re afraid of the dark or spiders or gremlins under your bed, no fear is untreatable, according to a new treatment center in Herzliya Pituah. This new center uses virtual reality technology to help cure phobias, fears that start to take over your life, causing you to avoid every-day situations.
Using a process involving virtual reality, the clinic offers patients 3-D goggles that gradually expose them to their fear. The goggles come complete with sound for real effect and make the patient feel as though they were facing the object of their phobia. It really works, according to deputy chief of psychiatry Dr. Yehuda Sasson from Sheba Medical Center, who claims his “Fearless” clinic is the only place in the country offering virtual reality treatment for phobias.
And, you gotta love their website, www.fearless.org.il
Israel rocks the tennis and mini-tennis world
Posted on September 25, 2007 • By Rebecca Markowitz
Category: Miscellaneous | Tags: | Leave a Comment
Against all odds, Israel’s national tennis team has earned itself entrance to the Davis Cup’s World Group in 2008, for the first time since 1994 (that’s 13 years!). Bloggers point out that the big hero was Dudi Sela when he defeated Fernando Gonzalez in an unbelievably tense match. For more details on the game, see Ynet.
In other tennis-related achievements, Israel’s Special Olympics team will be going to Shanghai in early October to compete in a variety of sports, including table tennis with silver medalist Meir Abramov. Says the Jerusalem Post, “Table tennis player Meir Abramov, 21, who represented Israel in Ireland and came home with a silver medal, told Peres: ‘It was the most thrilling experience of my life. I never thought that I would ever be chosen to represent Israel.’”
Smelly goodness at the Weizmann Institute
Posted on September 24, 2007 • By Rebecca Markowitz
Category: Science | Tags: | Leave a Comment
Imagine being a part of a study where you have to rate smells on a scale of sweet to putrid. I can only imagine that the participants would never want to step foot into another perfume store ever again. Putting poor noses aside, the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel and the University of California at Berkley have put an end to the mystery of how we perceive pleasant odors versus the not so pleasant variety, by conducting a study that even appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience. Here’s a glance at their findings - notice the surprising insight into the similarity in smell perception between Americans and Israelis: Read more»
Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. NY Knicks, an interactive event
Posted on September 23, 2007 • By Rebecca Markowitz
Category: Art and Culture | Tags: | Leave a Comment
On October 11, 2007, The New York Knicks are set to host Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv in what promises to be an unbelievable basketball showdown at Madison Square Garden. The money earned from tickets will benefit the Migdal Ohr youth village in Israel.
To add an interactive twist to this not-to-be-missed event, the Israeli consulate and AIFL set up an Israel YouTube video contest, with the theme ‘Israeli Sites and Faces’, which basically covers everything and anything Israel. The top videos will be voted on by the thousands at the game and the winner will get a round-trip ticket to Israel. I wish I could be there to witness this tremendous event, and to see who wins both the game and the contest. Does anyone want to record the game and send it to us, hint hint.
Contemporary Chinese Art now showing at Israel Museum
Posted on September 23, 2007 • By Deborah Kantor
Category: Art and Culture | Tags: | Leave a Comment
The Israel Museum is now exhibiting one of the world’s largest collections of contemporary Chinese art. The ‘Made in China’ collection is from the Estella Collection of New York, and comprises painting, sculpture, photography, installation, video, and works on paper.
The collection includes the work of 57 young and established artists who emerged from the life of China after the socio political settings of the Revolution (1966-76). Read more»
Taglit-birthright will never be the same - Jewlicious/Heeb trip now available
Posted on September 23, 2007 • By Miriam Schwab
Category: Social | Tags: | 2 Comments
Taglit-birthright brings young Jewish adults to Israel who have never been there before, and for free. The trips usually involve intense tours of the country, where history, culture and spirituality are all explored.
Taglit allows other organizations to run their own trips in conjunction with Taglit. Generally, these groups are serious Jewish organizations with conventional agendas, like strengthening Jewish identity and community.
Well, now you can join Jewlicious and Heeb, two extraordinarily unconventional Jewish publications, on their Taglit-birthright trip to Israel. birthright will never be the same. Read more»
Genuine Apologies for Yom Kippur
Posted on September 21, 2007 • By Rebecca Markowitz
Category: Videos | Tags: | Leave a Comment
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