Holland’s Jewish Historical Museum won a $130,000 prize for winning the country’s national museum contest. The Jewish museum received 40 percent of the popular vote in the online competition for the 2013 Museum Prize, nearly doubling the second-place finisher, The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. Some 29,000 people voted on the contest’s website, according to a report Thursday on Amsterdam’s AT5 television station. Four museums that “best represented a group or …More

The IDF combat fitness championships returned last week after a long three-year hiatus. A surprise announcement gave the 64 competing units only a week and a half to prepare for the hotly contested competition. The range of challenges included a navigation race, company examinations, shooting after physical exertion, marching with stretchers and a unique Krav Maga competition for elite units. The Israeli Navy's Shayetet 13 commando unit took first place in the category for special units, leaving Sayeret Matkal in …More

A new contest sponsored by the Institute for Visual History and Education challenges middle and high school students to complete community service inspired by “Schindler’s List.” The IWitness Video Challenge, announced by institute founder Steven Spielberg today, hopes to inspire students across the US and Canada to make a difference in their communities and document their efforts in a four-minute video essay. Participants in the contest will be guided by testimonies available on IWitness, which …More

NoCamels Team, NoCamels - Israeli Innovation News Six Israeli teenagers won a $5,000 prize at an international competition at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last summer for their FreezeStick invention, designed to keep food and medicine in a cooler at the right temperature for an extended period. The Israelis beat out 250 other teams at the event. The 14-year-old Tzvia Yeshiva High School boys, all friends since kindergarten, received one of two second-place awards at the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) …More

Tel Aviv never ceases to amaze, does it? Just months after Lonely Planet named the White City among its 10 ultimate party cities, Tel Aviv is again on the world voting block, this time for its entrepreneurial side. The Wall Street Journal nominated Tel Aviv as one of the planet’s most innovative cities in its City of the Year contest. Hundreds of urban centers applied for the title. Though only 25 remain, the competition will be tough. Among the contenders are the usual suspects: New York, London, Berlin, …More

Emotional and teary-eyed, Canadian Evan Malach won the 2012 Hallelujah Global Jewish Singing Contest last night in Ramat Hasharon, Israel. The singer/songwriter beat out 29 other young Jewish singers from around the world to take the title. His version of the classic Israeli rock song “Canaanite Blues” clinched the competition, which was judged by a star-studded panel of Israeli music experts, including rock star Yehuda Eder, singer Ilanit, and “The Voice” finalist Tzachi Halevy. The …More

In 2011, Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, New York made the choice to invest in environmentally friendly LEED certification. “The idea was this was pretty much going to be the standard in the future and we were ahead of the curve,” former congregational President Amy Lemle said of the switch. In North America, a growing number of congregations like Westchester Reform have embraced the Jewish roots of sustainable practices and have made green renovations a priority. “Rabbi Jacobs pretty …More

In Israel, one of the most celebrated traditions of Independence Day is the International Youth Bible Quiz (Hebrew: Chidon HaTanakh, חידון התנ"ך). The competition, which now takes place on Yom Ha'atzmaut and is televised, is generally presided over by the prime minister of Israel and often surfaces inspiring storylines and compelling character sketches: 1965 - Two New York Hebrew day school students, both daughters of rabbis, placed third and fourth, behind Balfour and Herzl Hakkak, Jerusalem twins who …More

Matzo balls fill your dreams? Lox light your fire? Kosher isn’t just for Jews anymore, as Manischewitz is proving with a new line of advertising aimed at gentiles. The 123-year-old kosher brand has spent millions overhauling its brand, removing shofars and yarmulkes from labels and replacing the Jewish symbols with bright colors and bold text. Paul Bensabat, the co-CEO of Manischewitz Co, is attempting to update the menu of products, steeped in chicken broth and Russian and Eastern European Jewish …More

The national umbrella organization for Jewish federations has removed harsh critics of Israel from an online voting contest designed to identify heroes within the Jewish community. One of the excluded nominees, Jewish Voice for Peace Deputy Director Cecilie Surasky, was among the top 10 vote getters in the Jewish Community Heroes contest when Jewish Federations of North America officials pulled her name from the contest website. Suraskys organization takes no stand on a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian …More

Ben-Gurion would be so proud. 21-year-old Mexican singer Adam Kleinberg, whose great-grandmother was Ben-Gurion's first cousin, won the international Hallelujah Project. The Jewish singing contest, which had been on hiatus for nearly two decades, pulled around 260 submissions from young Jews around the world. Following their three-week tour of Israel, 30 finalists performed on Thursday night front of a live audience in Ramat Hasharon’s central square. A panel of judges, lead by singer Yehoram Gaon, awarded …More