70 Facts About Israel

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Shanon Randall
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1 70 Facts About Israel 1. Israel takes up only 1/6 of 1% of the landmass of the Middle East (Israel is roughly half the size of Lake Michigan). 2. The Dead Sea in Israel is the lowest point on earth, at 1,315 feet below sea level at its lowest point. 3. Tel Aviv has the most sushi restaurants per capita following Tokyo and NYC as there are over 100 sushi restaurants in this city 4. There are more than 40 kosher McDonald s in Israel. (The only one outside the Jewish state is in Buenos Aires). 5. The city of Beer Sheva has the highest number of chess grandmasters per capita in 6. Israel is one of the few countries in the world whose banknotes have braille markings on them. 7. Haifa, Israel has one of the smallest subway systems in the world with a 1.8-km track. 8. Israel is one of the only two countries in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees 9. In 2009, basketball player Omri Caspi became the first Israeli to be selected in the first round of the prestigious annual NBA draft.

2 10. Israel has won the Miss World contest once, in The winner, Linor Abargil, subsequently became known as a campaigner against sexual violence. 11. More than nine out of 10 Israeli homes use solar power to heat water. 12. Israel is so small, you can run through it from west to east in 2 hours and from top to bottom in 9 days ,000-year-old seeds were discovered in 1963 inside an ancient jar in Israel. They were planted in 2005 and a tree that had been extinct for over 1800 years sprouted. 14. Dr. Ruth, the famous sex therapist, was once a sniper in the Israeli army. 15. There are about 120,000 Jews of Ethiopian descent in Israel. Ethiopian Judaism is nearly identical to that practiced 2,000 years ago during the Second Temple Period 16. The Israeli company M-Systems, in partnership with the US Company IBM, developed and manufactured the first USB flash drives available in North America. 17. The Israeli city with the largest population is Jerusalem with 815,300 people. 18. The State of Israel has two official languages, Hebrew and Arabic. 19. Cherry tomatoes were engineered in Israel. 20. An Israeli company developed the world s first jellyfish repellent. 21. Israel was the first country to conform to an international standard that certifies diamonds as being conflict free. 22. Israel is the only country to have a sacred language (Hebrew) as its national tongue. 23. Thanks to its national snack (think peanut Cheetos), babies in Israel are 10 times less likely to suffer from peanut allergies. 24. Israel s cows produce more milk than cows from other countries. 25. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series was produced by an Israeli named Haim Saban.

3 26. Israel publishes more books per capita than any other country. 27. Palwin wine, Israel s oldest brand, was first produced by the Palestine Wine and Trading Company, established in Israel has the world s highest rate of entrepreneurship among women. 29. In 1992, Israel experienced such a severe winter that snow fell in the Negev desert. 30. Israel has the highest number of university degrees per capita than any other country. 31. Buses around Israel have signs that quote the biblical passage, You shall rise before the aged and show deference to the old. 32. One million notes are left in the Kotel (Western Wall) each year. They are cleaned out twice a year, before Passover and Rosh Hashanah. 33. The largest known dog cemetery in the ancient world was unearthed in the Israeli city of Ashkelon. 34. The glue on Israeli stamps is kosher. 35. Israel celebrates Mother s Day on Shevat 30, the birthday of Henrietta Szold, the founder of Hadassah. 36. Microsoft has more employees in Israel than it does per capita anywhere in 37. A group in Netanya broke the world record for the largest sock mosaic, using 12,000 in total. 38. Coffee and cafés are so good in Israel that it s the only country where Starbucks failed trying to break into the local market. 39. Israel has one of the highest concentrations of bird traffic in the world 500 million migrating birds cross its airspace each year. 40. Every year, an Israeli Arab hotel manager named Jaaber Hussein buys all the state s chametz (leavened products) for Passover. 41. The most popular name for Israeli babies both boys and girls is Noam.

4 42. Israel has the highest number of museums per capita in 43. There is hummus-flavored ice cream you can buy in Jaffa. 44. Napoleon tried to lay siege to Acre in There is a Napoleon Hill in the city. 45. There are 285 replica models of historical, cultural and religious sites on display at the Mini Israel Museum in Lod. 46. Israel is the first country to place a ban on the use of underweight models on catwalks. 47. Israeli inventor Rafi Yoeli is building the world s first flying car. 48. Israelis who observe Shabbat can buy car insurance that doesn t cover Saturdays. 49. The Mount of Olives in Jerusalem is the world s oldest continuously used cemetery. 50. The animals at the Jerusalem biblical zoo are fed kosher for Passover food over the holiday. 51. Israel has more orchestras per capita than any other country. 52. Leon Uris s Israel epic Exodus stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for more than a year in Israeli rabbis, with help from scientists, have ruled that giraffe milk is kosher. 54. Alexander the Great is said to have entered Israel in 333 BCE via the caves at Rosh Hanikra. 55. Beersheba is twinned with 14 towns and cities around 56. Israeli academics produce more scientific papers per capita than anywhere else in 57. Israel has appeared in the World Cup finals only once, in By law, the Jewish National and University Library receives copies of every book printed in Israel. 59. The most common street name in Israel is Ha Zait, which means Olive Street.

5 60. Per capita, Israelis are the world s biggest consumers of fruits and vegetables. 61. Israel s Save a Child s Heart organization performs life-saving heart operations for children worldwide free of charge. 62. Israel has its own day-long festival of love, called Tu B Av. 63. Relative to its population, Israel has absorbed more immigrants than any other country, with newcomers from more than 100 countries. 64. Voic technology was developed in Israel. 65. Israeli humanitarian aid workers are often the first to respond to disasters around 66. Israel is home to the world s only Theater Company comprised entirely of deaf and blind actors. 67. Life expectancy in Israel is among the highest in the world, at 82 years. 68. The World Centre of the Bahai faith is in the Israeli cities of Acre and Haifa. 69. Team Israel won four games in the 2017 World Baseball Classic without a single player on an MLB roster. 70. Jerusalem has over 1,500 public parks and gardens.

ISRAEL IS REAL Rosh Hashanah Eve 2018/5778 Rabbi Emeritus James Perman Temple Shalom of Naples

ISRAEL IS REAL Rosh Hashanah Eve 2018/5778 Rabbi Emeritus James Perman Temple Shalom of Naples Shanah Tovah everyone! As always, my thanks to Rb. Miller for inviting me to join him tonight. I always look