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 Ten surgeries and months of rehabilitation later, his left hand has been replaced by a hook prosthesis and his right hand is paralyzed.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

Every Friday, Jspace News partners with the America Israel Cultural Foundation to bring you an interview with one of the many Israeli artists they support throughout the world. Tali Rubinstein is a contemporary recorder player, singer, and composer. She graduated with honors from prestigious music institutions in Israel: Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. She also studied at the Buchman-Mehta School of Music, Tel-Aviv …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

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

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

Pro-Israel group StandWithUs is placing a series of seven ads along New York’s metro system this month, in response to an anti-Israel campaign launched earlier this year. The current anti-Israel ad campaign is sponsored by American Muslims for Palestine, and accuses the Jewish state of being an apartheid nation. The counter campaign, which focuses on presenting the positive strides Israel has achieved, is the third such counter campaign StandWithUs has had to launch in New York in recent years. Jspace …More

Avner Meyrav and Anouk Lorie, NoCamels - Israel Innovation News Imagine a world where streetlamps no longer run on electricity. Or rather, they no longer exist, since they are replaced by trees that emit light. This alien-like scenario is not something out of sci-fi movie "Avatar"--it is actually a Kickstarter project by Israeli-American company Genome Compiler--and it’s well on its way to reality and way past its initial fundraising target. Using the company’s technology, Genome Compiler will …More

Every Friday, Jspace News partners with the America Israel Cultural Foundation to bring you an interview with one of the many Israeli artists they support throughout the world. A native of Israel, Daniel Meron succeeds in expressing in his music the diversity of influences from his homeland. Nourished by the tradition of jazz improvisation, but recognizing the value of classical and folklore music, Daniel finds a way to feature his unique playing style in brilliant compositions that are both sophisticated and …More