1.     The name Israel, given to the Biblical patriarch Jacob mentioned in Genesis,  means "one who has struggled with God".

2.     Golda Meir, the first female Prime Minister of Israel and the second female Prime Minister in the world, was called the "Iron Lady" years before the epithet was coined for Margaret Thatcher. David Ben-Gurion once described her as "the only man in the Cabinet."

3.     Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the US, over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well. 24% of Israel’s workforce hold university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world (after the US and Holland) and 12% hold advanced degrees.

4.    Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.

5.    Israel has the highest per capita ratio of scientific publications in the world by a large margin, as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

6.    In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the US (3,500 companies mostly in high tech). On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech start-ups.

Golda Meir (Picture: wikipedia)

Prime Minister

ראש ממשלה

Scientists

מדען

מקצוע

תואר אקדמי

יחס

חברה

כח עבודה

1. Modern Hebrew is written from right to left using the Hebrew alphabet, which is an abjad, or consonant-only script of 22 letters.

2. The ancient paleo-Hebrew alphabet is similar to those used for Canaanite and Phoenician.

3. Modern scripts are based on the "square" letter form, known as Ashurit (Assyrian), which was developed from the Aramaic script.

4. A cursive Hebrew script is used in handwriting: the letters tend to be more circular in form when written in cursive, and sometimes vary markedly from their printed equivalents.

5. The medieval version of the cursive script forms the basis of another style, known as Rashi script.

6. When necessary, vowels are indicated by diacritic marks above or below the letter representing the syllabic onset, or by use of matres lectionis, which are consonantal letters used as vowels.

7. Further diacritics are used to indicate variations in the pronunciation of the consonants (e.g. bet/vet, shin/sin) and, in some contexts, to indicate the punctuation, accentuation and musical rendition of Biblical text.

More: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hebrew.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language

Writing

כתיבה

Ancient

עתיק

Circular

עגול

מרובע

Vowels

תנועות

Pronunciation

ביטוי

Script

כתב

The Israeli ambassador in Santo Domingo, Amos Radian, is in contact with the authorities in Haiti to find an appropriate site for building an Israeli Children’s Village and to obtain the necessary approval. The project plans include an elementary school that will operate in two shifts; a playground/sports field; and a medical center. The site could also be utilized for conducting evening adult education classes. A planned community center will work with youngsters on post trauma treatment and counseling, psychological rehabilitation and afternoon activities.

In coordination with the mayor of Port au Prince, a local principal and teaching staff will be recruited for the school, which will be comprised of 6-8 classrooms (between 30-50 students per class). They will be joined by professionals from Israel and, possibly, volunteer teachers from Jewish communities around the world. Meals will be provided to the school through an arrangement with various NGOs.

Photos: MFA, IsraAid

Five-year-old girl gets "back on her feet" with help from Israeli team

Photos: IsraAid

Government

ממשלה

רישמי

בינלאומי

אישור

קהילה

טיפול

עזרה

Most evidence suggests that the concept of "masquerading in costumes" (on Purim) is a fairly recent addition to Purim, which was added sometime during the past five hundred years – in Europe. The exact date is debated. The practice probably did not exist in Middle Eastern countries earlier than 150 years ago. Sources in the oral law (or even some mystical works), which describe the validity of "hiding" (as it relates to Purim) are referenced to support this practice.

Dressing up in masks and costumes is one of the most entertaining customs of the Purim holiday. Children in particular enjoy dressing up as the protagonists in the Book of Esther, including Queen Esther and Mordecai; other Biblical personalities such as King David and the Kohen Gadol ("High Priest"), and modern-day costumes from flower girls to indigenous peoples of the Americas to animals to policemen.

Costumes and masks are worn to disguise the wearers’ identities. Mistaken identity plays an important role in The Book of Esther, as Esther hid her cultural origins from the king, Mordecai hid his knowledge of all the world’s languages (which allowed Bigthan and Teresh to discuss their plot openly in his presence), and Haman was mistaken for Mordecai when he led Mordecai through the streets of the capital city of Shushan.

More: http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D

Pictures courtesy of JerusalemShots.com

Purim in Jerusalem  JerusalemShots.com

JerusalemShots.com

Purim Carnival, Jerusalem JerusalemShots.com

תחפושת

ויכוח

אישיות

כהן

חיות

טעות

משעשע