Living in the gentle hills of Hoshaya near to ancient Sepphoris in the Galilee, outside the hustle and bustle of central Israel, Segi Malamed remains quite atuned to the pulse of the country. His blog below provides an insightful perspective on the current state of the Israeli consciousness.

During Passover vacation I was invited to talk to Hamidrasha's Nifgashim B'Shvil Israel, a group that is hiking the Israel National Trail as a meaningful way to commemorate the 73 IDF victims of the fatal 1997 helicopter collision over moshav She'ar Yashuv.  As the group's website says, it is "a unique way to meet, to have direct dialog, and to discuss basic questions about Israeli society and Jewish heritage - while hiking."

We met in the pine forest on the outskirts of Kibbutz Ramot Menashe.  The 300-strong group was extremely varied: men, women and children, young adults and the elderly, religious and secular - a sampling of the entire range of ingredients in the "Israeli salad."  Despite the 15 kilometers the group had hiked that day, they were remarkably alert and attentive.  I shared with them some of my musings over the past few years about Israeli society, and asked for reactions from these people who were seeking common denominators for Israeli society. 

In the spirit of Passover, I framed the discussion as a series of questions

:

What

Living in the gentle hills of Hoshaya near to ancient Sepphoris in the Galilee, outside the hustle and bustle of central Israel, Segi Malamed remains quite atuned to the pulse of the country. His blog below provides an insightful perspective on the current state of the Israeli consciousness.

During Passover vacation I was invited to talk to Hamidrasha's Nifgashim B'Shvil Israel, a group that is hiking the Israel National Trail as a meaningful way to commemorate the 73 IDF victims of the fatal 1997 helicopter collision over moshav She'ar Yashuv.  As the group's website says, it is "a unique way to meet, to have direct dialog, and to discuss basic questions about Israeli society and Jewish heritage - while hiking."

We met in the pine forest on the outskirts of Kibbutz Ramot Menashe.  The 300-strong group was extremely varied: men, women and children, young adults and the elderly, religious and secular - a sampling of the entire range of ingredients in the "Israeli salad."  Despite the 15 kilometers the group had hiked that day, they were remarkably alert and attentive.  I shared with them some of my musings over the past few years about Israeli society, and asked for reactions from these people who were seeking common denominators for Israeli society. 

In the spirit of Passover, I framed the discussion as a series of questions:

What are we really?  Does the group called "citizens of

The Bank of Israel Visitor Center has been designated a heritage site and will be open to the public on Israel's 64th Independence Day, Iyar 4, 5772, April 26, 2012.

The Bank of Israel Visitors Center received the heritage site designation because of the following features:

1. It preserves ancient Jewish coins, which constitute an historical asset, and exhibits them to the public.
2. It educates about the preservation of Israel's heritage, and imparts values related to identity and identification.
3. It exposes the public to heritage assets by means of seminars and tours, showing the history of coins in Israel and how the heritage of the nation and the state is reflected in its banknotes and coins, and stressing the affinity of Israel's coins with Jewish coins of earlier periods of Jewish autonomy in the Land of Israel.

The Visitors Center contains exhibits showing the history of coins and banknotes. Items displayed include those related to pre-coinage periods, the world's first coins, the first coins minted in Israel, ancient Jewish coins, and ancient coins in Israel from all periods, money substitutes, and all banknotes and coins from the time of the British Mandate till today. Exhibits also illustrate the process of issuing money, security features against counterfeits, an

KKL-JNF has several events planned in celebration of Israel's Independence Day. These include:

KKL-JNF Event at Latrun Amphitheatre:

As part of the 110th anniversary, the KKL-JNF has ensured tjat every KKL-JNF office from around the world will send teenagers to walk the March of the Living in Poland. After seeing the death camps and in order to strengthen the ties between the youth group and Israel, the teens will come to Israel as guests of the KKL-JNF. In addition, KKL-JNF has organized an event on Independence Day in the huge amphi-theatre in Latrun. More than 6000 teenagers from around the world are expected to attend.

The International Bible Contest:

Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael KKL-JNF is hosting 56 students from 24 different countries, who came to Israel in order to attend the 2012 International Bible Contest together with 20 staff members from the IDF Education Office.The International Bible Contest will be held on Thursday, April 26th 2012, at 10:30 in the Jerusalem Theatre. The theme of the contest is social justice. The second place prize will be granted by the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and the KKL-JNF World Chairman, Efi Stenzler.

KKL-JNF Independence Day Stickers:

KKL-JNF will be distributing stickers Signifying Israel's 64th Independence Day, to youth groups, schools, and Jewish children around the world. Th