Alina Dain Sharon, JNS.org By the time Israel Defense Forces Captain Ziv Shilon realized an explosive device had detonated near him while on patrol near the Gaza border, his left hand was torn off and his right hand was still hanging on by just a few pieces of skin. Ten surgeries and months of rehabilitation later, his left hand has been replaced by a hook prosthesis and his right hand is paralyzed. That’s not going to stop him, he insists. Despite his injury, Shilon plans to enroll in law school and to …More

US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice discussed the Middle East peace process and other regional issues with Jewish community leaders. The hour-long meeting May 13 organized by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs also included representatives of the Jewish Federations of North America, UJA-Federation of New York, and the JCRC of New York. JCPA President/CEO Rabbi Steve Gutow presented Rice with a mezuzah in recognition of her support of Israel and advocacy of US values and interests at the United …More

A dozen Jewish organizations sent a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry expressing their concern over the rise of anti-Semitism in Hungary. The May 14 letter commended Kerry for his offices’ recent human rights report that detailed the rise of the xenophobic and anti-Semitic Jobbik party and encouraged Kerry “to keep the issue of intolerance and discrimination squarely on the US-Hungarian bilateral agenda.” The Jobbik party has called for the creation of a list of Jewish public officials …More

Ma’ase Olam isn’t just a travel experience—it’s a life experience. The organization facilitates 10-month visits to the Jewish state, helping young Jews engage in Israel through a volunteer approach. “Ma’ase Olam is one arm of a larger Israeli organization, Ma’ase. We were formed to promote volunteerism among young Israelis,” said Mollie Breger, Ma’ase Olam North American manager. “Ma’ase Olam was developed two years ago to promote North American …More

NoCamels Team, NoCamels - Israel Innovation News The adverse effects of stress on the body has just gotten more scientific proof, if any was needed. Ben Gurion University researchers have shown that chronic stress increases the susceptibility to an autoimmune disease similar to multiple sclerosis, which is characterized by damage to the nervous system in the brain. When examining mice, researchers saw that elevated stress damages the immune system’s mechanism that battles inflammation. When the mice were …More

US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, honored last week with the Distinguished Public Service Award of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), praised her former Israeli counterpart, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev. “Gabby was a great friend and partner and colleague,” Rice told JNS.org. “I miss her. We had a wonderful working relationship.” Shalev served in the UN ambassador from 2008-10. The current Israeli ambassador to the UN—whose resolutions on the …More

Jewish leaders are taking a vocal role in efforts to pass a historic resolution that would partially lift a ban on gays in the Boy Scouts of America. In a meeting of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting in February, members voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution lifting the BSA’s longstanding ban on gay members. Now the Jewish Scouting group is working to shore up support for a resolution to be voted on at the Boy Scouts of America’s annual convention in Dallas later this month that would …More

NoCamels Team, NoCamels - Israel Innovation News Sometimes accidents lead to the greatest discoveries. In a recent study conducted at Israeli medical center Hadassah, researchers stumbled on a key mechanism in the heart’s regenerative capabilities. Researchers were examining the left atrial appendage, a part of the heart whose role is relatively unknown and is sometimes removed in heart-surgery, when they noticed something astonishing. When a different part of the heart was placed in the left atrial …More

NoCamels Team, NoCamels - Israel Innovation News A Tel Aviv University professor and his students have discovered a new planet outside the solar system. Tsevi Mazeh and his team were able to identify the planet using a light-measuring method, based on Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. The planet, later reaffirmed by a Harvard research team, will be called Kepler-76b, after a NASA spacecraft that supplied much of the data used for the discovery. Kepler is an observation craft, launched in 2009, with …More

A new program aimed at teaching compassion towards animals will be implemented in the fall in 60 northern Arab schools. Hakol Chai, an Israeli nonprofit with a mission to stop animal suffering, developed the culturally specific program to help teach the children how to be humane towards animals. Hakol Chai founder, Nina Natelson, who lives in the United States, pointed out that Arab children often have a different experience with pets than children in the US or other parts of Israel, where well-cared for and …More

Nearly a decade ago, Jennie Starr noticed a problem in her San Diego community. The majority of Jews didn’t affiliate with a particular synagogue or Hebrew school, despite the fact the city had a large Jewish population. So Starr set out to do something about it. Tarbuton is an Israeli cultural center in California focused on giving Jewish families a space to come together and share their collective culture. “About eight years ago I created informal social gatherings to create Israeli social …More

Anouk Lorie, NoCamels - Israel Innovation News Diagnosing mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, has long been difficult and controversial. Since physical evidence of the condition can only be gathered from the brain post-mortem, mental health professionals have had to rely on a battery of psychological evaluations and “symptoms” to diagnose their patients. A recent study from Tel Aviv University may now prove to be a significant breakthrough in diagnosing the condition. By collecting tissue from …More