the language of the Bible, and Arabic are the official languages of Israel.
Israel is located in the Middle East, bounded by the Mediterranean sea the Great SyriaB - African Rift valley to the east and the Red Sea to the south, sharing its borders with ‘Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt.
the country is home to a diverse population from many ethnic, eligious, cultural and social backgrounds. Only a few hours travelling time separates the sun-warmed sea- shores and the snowcapped mountains, the lush forests and the scenic desert landscapes. Israel is indeed a rich and varied bouquet of attractions. This is the kind of physical contrasts which Israel offers.
Of its more than 5.5 million population, 81.5% are Jews (over half are native born and mostly first and second generation), while the rest come from some eighty countries around the world; about 17% are Arabs (most of them are Moslem) and the remaining 1.5% are Christians, Druze, Circassian and other small communitites.
The currency of Israel is New Israeli Sheqel (NIS) pluralsheqalim). Each sheqel is divided into 100 agorot (singular agora).
Tel Aviv was in a great rush to be built-eyes focused on the new. Within 15 years, it had grown into a full-fledged town.
Jerusalem is Israel’s largest city, with 670,000 residents . The heterogeneous nature of the residents make for a special and fragile human mosaic. The echoes of the past still reverberate amid this dynamic rebirth.
The Kotel the Western Wall of the Second Temple highlights the rich experience of the Jewish Quarter In the walled Old City.
Jerusalem, the Holy City and eternal Capital of Israel, retains its aura of sanctity and welcomes the constant stream of pilgrims of all faiths
Tel Aviv-Jaffa and the Mediterranean - Proclaiming itself the”non-stop city”, cosmopolitan Tel Aviv, the first modern Jewish city in the world, is simultaneously a resort and Israel’s undisputed center of entertainment, culture and commerce.
An outline of historical roots is in the place here, presenting the city as I saw it, from within its ancient walls. Jerusalem has been the object of reverence, hope and prayer of the Jewish people for thousands of years, and is a holy city to millions of believers of the monotheistic religions.
The spiritual center of Judaism is also a thriving, ultra-moderncity and Israel’s capital, with Infinite facets to Its character.
But Jerusalem is much more than the sum of its landmarks, old and new. It is a city of people, as diverse as the four corner of the globe from whence they came.
To Jews, Jerusalem has always been “The Holy City�, and it has been revered by Christians and Muslims for centuries. No wonder Jerusalem has such a tremendous impact, both locally and internationally.
the Kotel the Western Wall of the Second Temple highlights the rich experience of the Jewish Quarter In the walled Old City, while the modern city offers world-famous museums, arts-and-crafts lanes and lively entertainment, together with the Institutions of government.
As I walk its streets on our way to explore this ancient city, I encounter,
It is a place where the first century rubs shoulders with the twenty-first century, each jostling for legitimacy and space, and where picturesque
currently has somewhat more than four million names of victims that are accessible.
The Holocaust was the murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators. The Jews were not the only victims of Hitler’s regime, but they were the only group that the Nazis sought to destroy entirely.
Yad Vashem is a vast complex of museums, unique outdoor monuments, exhibition halls along with a major archives, library and other resource centers extending over 45 acres.
“ cattle car”
at Yad vashem in the cattle car to the death camp
Distinguishing moments, that I could capture of the the young running towards the new and the aged preserving the old.
By virtue of its location on the Mediterranean shore and the modern, secular concepts on which it was founded, Tel AvivJaffa has a multitude of facets. The city is simultaneously Israel’s commercial center and largest resort; its cultural capital and the arbiter of all that’s hot or not. It’s vibrant and brash. Cosmopolitan but personal. Casual - yet never fully at rest. What is important is that it has come of age; not only embracing the new, but no longer neglecting the old.
When I was in Israel as a visitor, I saw and then there doesn’t seem to be much to recommend it. At first blush, one sees a lot of blocky, boring buildings, some in sore need of repair or tidying; as if the energy being channeled into the new ( skyscrapers ) is leaching out of the old. Then I look up and notice an old facade, lovingly restored, or profusion of flowers cascading from a window-box garden ... a vest-pocket park created out of an unused plot or a sculpture installed on a leafy boulevard... and I observe how the old is finally being revered and renewed. And then one thing if you ask me, what’s so amazing about this heterogeneity and diversities which also exist in many other countries, it’s the strength, strength of the people, coming together, on this single piece of land, a land of contrasts, called “ Israel. “ Toda*