South African immigrants get Western Wall welcome

::By Haaretz:: Last Sunday, a group of 120 South African immigrants gathered at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem for a ceremony marking their arrival in Israel.

The flight brought the fourth group of new immigrants from South Africa, through the Jewish Agency. The event included speeches by the Jewish Agency's new chairman, Natan Sharansky, and South African emissary Ofer Dahan.

The Jewish Agency estimates a record number 3,000 immigrants will arrive in Israel this month from all over the world.Readmore

Thousands of haredi kids march for Shabbat

::By Ynet:: Several thousands ultra-Orthodox children who attend the Haredi Community's elementary schools rallied on Wednesday near the Safra parking lot at the entrance to Jerusalem, in protest of what they view as the Shabbat desecration in the capital.

The rally began with a march from the Shabbat Square in the city towards Shiveti Tsrael Street. The children, some of them dressed in sackcloth, held up signs condemning the opening of the Karta parking lot on weekends. Several hundred adults accompanied the rally.

The children's protest is the first move in a series of efforts planned by the community's leaders that are aimed at taking the struggle against the municipality a step further, and expand it to weekdays as well.

The rabbis chose a symbolic date: The eve of the 17th of Tammuz fast, which commemorates the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple. The children carried signs reading, "Save Jerusalem," and "Shabbat desecration led to Jerusalem's destruction."Readmore

Flight of 230 North American Immigrants Arrives in Israel

::By IsraelNN.com:: The first chartered Aliyah flight of 2010 arrived at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. Two hundred and thirty-two olim (new immigrants) from the United States and Canada are aboard the flight. The immigrants are the first of 3,000 olim from North America and the United Kingdom to arrive this summer, on the first of 15 chartered Aliyah flights sponsored by the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization and the Jewish Agency.

Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky and Minister of Immigrant Absorption Sofa Landver will be present to greet the new Israelis.

Flight to Include Gilad Shalit's Namesake

One of the new arrivals will be three-year-old Gilad Zuller, who is traveling with parents Yehuda and Aviva and his three older siblings. Gilad was named for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped one week before his birth.

After Gilad Zuller was given his name, Yehuda wrote to Noam Shalit and expressed hope that their two sons would meet in the near future. During Yehuda's next trip to Israel, in which he distributed donations during the Second Lebanon War, Noam Shalit drove to Kiryat Shemona to meet him.Readmore

6,500 Chabad women gather in Tel Aviv

::By Ynet::Some 6,500 women members of the Chabad organization, young and old, gathered at the Nokia Stadium in Tel Aviv Thursday evening for a unique conference that included joint prayers, lectures and even a standup comedy show.

The event was held by the N'shei u'Bnos Chabad organization.

The event's organizer Hinda Gerlitzky, Chabad's emissary in Tel Aviv, told Ynet before the event that the convention is aimed at empowering women. "During the conference we will address several issues that are relevant to women, including devoutness and redemption."

Women of all ages, including young girl, began pouring into the stadium Thursday noon. "We are a part of Chabad women's lives since they are young," explained Gerlitzky. "We accompany them as young women. we in fact have 12 departments for women, of all ages and walks of life, and all of them will be represented at the convention."

Standup comedian Michal Levitin, who performed at the event, said: "The Rabbi (the Lubavitcher Rebbe) put great emphasis on the artistic realm and said that everyone should use their talent to carry out a mission in life.Readmore