What do Marylin Monroe and Elvis Presley have in common with Golda Meir, Albert Einstein, and Franz Kafka?

All have been subjects in the paintings of Andy Warhol, the avant- garde American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker, who was a leader of the Pop Art movement.

Warhol’s “Ten Portraits of 20th Century Jews” has recently been donated to Tel Aviv’s Museum of the Jewish Diaspora.

The collection, painted in the 1970s, also features Louis Brandeis, Sigmund Freud, Sarah Bernhardt, George Gershwin, Martin Buber, the Marx Brothers,  and Gertrude Stein.

The series is estimated to be worth $100,000, according to Haaretz.

For more information on the exhibit, click here.

Photo by oddsock on Flickr, used under Creative Commons License.

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A visit to the hospital is an experience in being poked and prodded in the most unpleasant ways.  Some years ago, Israeli hospitals began to incorporate clowns into their patient-care staff.  Not just any clowns, though – these hospital clowns were specially trained to cheer up patients, bringing them some level of comfort and even fun.

This innovative program has grown and medical clowns now bring cheer to 100,000 patients in Israel every year.  CNN’s Vital Signs reported on the success, and the effect a red nose can have on even the sickest of patients.

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Photo: Israel Nature and Parks Authority

History is full of hidden little gems. One of them is the story of the Persian Fallow Deer, a species once-extinct  in Israel that in recent years has been reintroduced into nature with help of… Iran.

In 1978, moments before the Islamic revolution, a team of  rangers from Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority left for Tehran on a secret mission to bring back a group of four Fallow Deer that would serve as a breeding group of the locally extinct animal.

Now 30 years later, more than 500 offspring from those original four Iranian deers have been released back into the hills surrounding Jerusalem and vast areas of the Galilee, most of them unaware of the diplomatic efforts that preceded their existence.

The Wall Street Journal has the full story.

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Sometimes, winter can be at its best when you look at it from the comforts of your warm house. Seriously, what can be lovelier than relaxing by the window, sipping a good cognac and waiting for your stew to get ready? It’s true that it might take a while, but part of the fun is to enjoy the aromatic smells that this sort of cooking provides. The weatherman says that tomorrow is going to snow, so here is your chance to use your large pot for this super easy fish stew recipe. I promise great smells and great flavors.

The recipe below is a mellow version of the spicy Israeli Chreime. This delicious dish has roots in North Africa and became implamented into the culinary repertoire of many Israeli families. Chreime is a dish that involves white fish (Grouper is a perfect choice) and spicy tomato sauce. The dominant spices in Chreime are paprika, pepper and ground caraway. The aromatic recipe below is less spicy and better suits the American palate. It is easy to make and doesn’t require a pre-made fish stock.

Mediterranean Fish Stew

Adapted from “Recipes for Health” / NYT

Ingredients:

5 garlic cloves, cut in half

4 anchovy fillets, soaked in water for 4 minutes, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 celery rib, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

Salt to taste

1 (28-ounce) can chopped tomatoes

1 quart water

1 pound small new potatoes, quartered

A bouquet garni made with a bay leaf, a strip of orange zest, a couple of sprigs each thyme and rosemary, and a dried red chili, tied together with a string

Freshly ground pepper

Paprika

½ cup chopped parsley

1 to 1 1/2 pounds firm white-fleshed fish (halibut, tilapia, Pacific cod or black cod), cut in 2-inch pieces

Method:

1. Place the garlic cloves and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a mortar and pestle, and mash to a paste. Add the anchovy fillets and mash with the garlic. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large heavy soup pot over a medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook – stirring, until the onion is tender, about five minutes. Add the pureed garlic and anchovy. Cook- stirring, until the mixture is very fragrant, about one minute, and then add the paprika and the tomatoes. Continue to cook while stirring often, until the tomatoes have cooked down a bit and the mixture smells aromatic, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the water, potatoes, salt (to taste) and the bouquet garni. Bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low, cover partially and simmer 30 minutes. Taste, adjust salt and add pepper to taste.

3. Remove the bouquet garni.

4. Season the fish with salt and pepper, and add into the soup. The soup should not be boiling. Simmer five to 10 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fillets). The fish should be done but still firm and juicy. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley, taste once more, adjust seasonings and serve.

Serve with:

Steamed white rice or soft white bread, to mop up the sauce.

Be – te- a- von!

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Photo: Eyal Landsman

This Saturday Israeli singer/songwriter, Oren Lavie, will discover whether his musical debut to the world will entitle him to a Grammy. Lavie was nominated for the prestigious award in the category of  “Best Short Form Music Video” for his song “Her Morning Elegance”.  Lavie shares the honor with such internationally renowned acts as Coldplay, Depeche Mode, and the Black Eyed Peas.

The video, directed by Lavie along with Yuval and Merav Nathan and filmed by Eyal Landsman, was painstakingly created from over 2,096 still photos.  Their visual efforts have earned Lavie international praise as well as over 9 million hits on YouTube to date.  The song was also featured in a commercial for Chevrolet.

Regardless of the nomination, Lavie will also open a one of a kind exhibit showing all the single shots that compile this video. The exhibition will open in L.A and from therego on  a world tour, as well as an online version. We wonder whether we can walk fast enough around the gallery as to recreate the motion effect.

If you haven’t seen the video, you can watch it here.

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Photo: Dr. Noam Lider

For centuries in the battle between man and animals, the animals paid the price. But in the last few years, concern for nature and an increased consumption of organic food have led farmers across the world to adopt new means to keep animals at bay.

Today, ecologists in Israel are trying to implement the newest techniques available to keep both man and animal satisfied, and that is when they called Robo-Bird as back up.

Designed to look and act like a falcon, robo-bird or Falco-Robo is basically a model airplane with birdlike features that’s designed to “hunt” and chase away unwanted birds.  The “bird” takes off by biological bird concentrations and makes sure the know that they know that they aren’t wanted: ” A bird doesn’t know that it has to fear guns or poison, therefore the only way it “learns” is through a fatal experience”, says Dr. Ohad Hatzofeh, bird ecologist at Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority, “but the fear from a bird of prey has been embedded in bird’s DNA through centuries of evolution. Just seeing a passing shadow of one will make even the hungriest bird fly away”.

In the past days the Robo- Bird has been touring Israel and was presented to farmers, air traffic controllers and government officials.  The people at the Parks Authority hope that soon it’s presence in the sky will make sure that both man and bird finally come to peace.

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Photo: IDF spokesman

After two weeks of life saving efforts, the Israeli team in Haiti is scheduled to return home.  The decision came following the arrival of additional aid forces to Haiti, including the United States military and other, civilian aid, who are now providing regular medical services. Furthermore, many of the local hospitals have reached a sufficient level of functionality.

In the past day, the medical staff at the Israeli field hospital, started transferring patients to the hospital, and on Tuesday they will stop receiving new cases. While the manpower is leaving Haiti, most of the equipment brought by the delegation will remain behind for use by the various medical personnel, including tents, medications and other medical equipment.

During their stay in Haiti, the delegation treated more than 960 patients, conducted 294 successful surgeries, delivered 16 births including three in cesarean sections and saved many from within the ruins. During the weekend, the Israeli team manged to save a 22 year old from the ruins after being buried for 11 days. The man was brought to the hospital and he is now in stable condition

Watch the rescue:

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Grab some olive oil and roll up your sleeves! For the first time ever, the New York Times Knowledge Network is teaming up with the Israeli Consulate in New York to offer an exclusive one-week online seminar called: The New Israeli Cuisine.

Join us from March 23-29, 2010 as we take a tour through the fascinating evolution of Israel’s culinary scene. A melting pot of more than 60 different ethnicities – from India to Morocco to Argentina – Israeli cuisine is one of the world’s fastest emerging kitchens.

In this seminar, you’ll interact with New York Times’ food writer Joan Nathan, and Janna Gur, chef and editor of the leading Israeli food and wine magazine, On the Table. Special guests also include top Israeli chef and TV host, Haim Cohen.

This is not just a taste of your mother’s matzo ball recipe. It’s a journey into the unexpected flavors Israel has to offer. Think you have what it takes?

REGISTER TODAY! You’ll receive a complimentary copy of Janna Gur’s tantalizing full-color recipe book, “The Book of New Israeli Food.”

For additional delicious recipes from Israel, visit the Israeli Kitchen on IsRealli.org!

Picture credit: Getty Images.

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Photo Wikimedia commons, Richard Mushet

It took Sir Elton John 17 years to return to Israel–possibly because of the overexposure his last visit drew. During the June 1993 tour, Elton John was flocked by dozens of paparazzi photographers who made him pack his bags and leave the country only to return back for his then sold-out show.

This summer on the exact same date, June 17th, Elton John is scheduled to return for a one-time concert in front of more than 40,000 people at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv. The trip will be his third visit to Israel (the first was back in 1979).

For Elton John fans in Israel, this will be an opportunity to show that they have matured as well. But as a precautionary measure, producers of the concert have already assured the Israeli media that they will take no chances.

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It might be a bit too early for most to be coming down with Oscar fever, but a pair of filmmakers in Israel have plenty to look forward to this awards season. The Israeli film “Ajami” has made it to the short list in this year’s Oscar race for best Foreign Language Film. This means it is just one step away from landing a nomination on February 2nd.

“Ajami” was co-directed by Palestinian Scandar Copti and Israeli Yaron Shani and set in a mixed Jewish-Arab area of Jaffa. The film bends and weaves five different stories set in the city together not unlike ‘Crash,’ which just so happened to win the Oscar for Best Picture in 2006.

Photo provided by Flickr. Used under the Creative Commons License.

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