What's Inside
Like us on Facebook    Follow us on Twitter    
Upcoming Events

Holy Blossom Temple 
  Centre  for   
      Contemporary       Jewish Literature             will be  the           Writer-in-Residence  
March 26, 28 & 29
2015
1950 Bathurst Street 
 

Word of Hebrew:    

 

 
Here's a phrase you can use, for example, as the days just keep getting colder:

Go from bad to worse - nofel (fem. nofelet) min ha-pach el ha-pachat

נופל (נופלת) מן הפח אל הפחת

March 11, 2015
Dear ARZA Canada Members,

 

I was in Israel last month attending ARZENU and World Zionist Organization meetings. Although it is, of course, interesting to meet fellow zionists from all over the world  and  to discuss Israeli society,one of the highlights of the trip was a visit to two Reform communities in the southern part of Israel.

 

Shaar Hanrgev, right next to the Gaza border, is where student rabbi Yael Karrie is inspiring Israelis to find a way to express their Judaism. Many of you met Yael when she was in Canada last November. She is a dynamic teacher with many different community projects on the go, including working with the orthodox  and the Bedouhin communities. In Gedera, Rabbi Miri Hovav is also leading a growing group of Israelis embracing  Reform Judaism. Her congregants described the impact of the social action projects that they are doing with the community. They proudly told us that they have gone from 2 bar/bat mitzvahs last year to 20 this year. These visits were  so uplifting, as I experienced the grass roots movement that is Reform in Israel.

 

If you are planning a visit to Israel, you must make sure that you visit at least one of the 45 growing  Reform communities. 

 

L'shalom

 Les

Les Rothschild
President 
ARZA Canada

Israel's election 


It's hard to keep track of all the parties running in Israel's upcoming election.  The Reform Judaism web site explains the new and merging parties.

 

 

Who is a Zionist?


What does it mean to be Zionist today?  Is it building a strong and democratic Jewish state?  Is it settling the West Bank?  Politicians, and others, in Israel claim to be true Zionists, suggesting that their opponents are not.  Rabbi Dow Marmur provides a guide to the players and their presumptions.

 

Jewish or Zionist 

  
  Arabs cheering for Bibi?

Fierce opinions have been expressed about whether Bibi's address to Congress was or was not in Israel's interest.  Ironically, many Arab states, terrified of an Iranian bomb, were cheering for a man they normally consider evil.

 


 

President Obama, listen to Netanyahu on Iran
 

 
 IRAC battling discrimination against women  in the IDF

It's International Women's Day, and the Israel Religious Action Centre is working to prevent Haredi soldiers from reducing the role of women in the IDF. 


 

 
 A disturbing trend - violence against Arabs 

A small but worrying development in Israel is random violence by Jewish gangs against Arabs.  In a recent incident, a man was attacked just for speaking Arabic.  The victim is a Druze IDF veteran. 

 

Tag Meir Visits Druze Soldier Beaten for Speaking Arabic
 Water self-sufficiency

A large but unpublicized Israeli achievement is water self-sufficiency.  A few years ago the Kinneret was dropping fast and leaders were predicting dire consequences.  Today, thanks to a fast ramp-up in desalination capacity, Israel has enough water for itself and is providing water to Jordan.

IDE Technologies, a global water treatment specialist, announced that its seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant in the coastal city of Ashkelon, Israel, has reached a world record with its water production process.

 

The facility, which was the largest and most advanced desalination plant in the world when it completed, has produced and delivered 1 billion m3 of high-quality tap water since the start of its operation in 2005.

 

With a capacity of up to 330,000 m3 per day, the plant produces around 13 percent of the country's domestic consumer demand -- equivalent to 5 to 6 percent of Israel's total water needs.

The plant has also set a new benchmark by achieving one of the world's lowest prices for desalinated water and ultimately expanded by approximately 20 percent in 2010.

 

During the last nine years, the plant has consistently addressed the water needs of more than 1 million people across the region.




Israel and Jordan are proceeding with a joint plan to raise the level of the Dead Sea and desalinate water for both countries.

  

Israel and Jordan sign 'historic' water deal to save
Dead Sea 

 
 Business:  A record $15 billion was paid for  Israeli startups last year




The giant Chinese online retail site, Alibaba, just invested in Israel.  

And Apple CEO Tim Cook recently visited Apple's second-largest R&D centre in the world, in Herzliya.
 Just Visiting - Nachlaot

Located between downtown Jerusalem and Machane Yehudah, Nachla'ot is charaterized by its stone buildings and narrow alleys.  Formerly a lower class neighbourhood, renovations are now common.

 

Postcard from Israel - Nachlaot, Jerusalem
Postcard from Israel - Nachlaot, Jerusalem

 Science:Scio will tell you what's in that  drink

Imagine pointing a small scanner at food and your cell phone telling you the ingredients.  It will be available this summer.  You heard it here first. 

SCiO - Your Sixth Sense
SCiO - Your Sixth Sense