There are almost thirteen-thousand photo apps on iTunes and Google-Play, however if you look closely out of the top-ten almost all of them originated from Israel. So how come Israeli’s have captured that throne too… have Israeli’s become the new Japanese or is it just a technological thing. We went to find out with some of the developers of those apps.
The editor-in-chief of Israel’s top technology blog, GeekTime, says that the reason Israeli app developers have been busy creating photo apps is probably due to the fact those apps are the hottest trend in the smartphone market right now.
Ron Jacobsohn examines his Jewish Roots at the MyHeritage.Com Headquarters
Jewish genealogy website My Heritage was just voted Best Likely to Succeed startup by financial newspaper, Globes. So we ventured out to Yahud where the global headquarters of the website are located to find out what makes it such a big success story. And as more and more Jews around the world are getting into finding out about their forefathers and building their family tree, websites like My Heritage are playing a crucial role in supplying the necessary tools.
Ladino, which is also known as the Yiddish of the Sephardic Jews, has been spoken as far back as the middle ages. Although it has been recognized as a minority official language in modern day Israel, it is on the brink of extinction. The Ladino Council in Israel is attempting to make the language cool and relevant again. Today we are marking the first ever International Ladino Day, which has already attracted thousands to come and participate at the conference at Bar Ilan University.
Ron Jacobsohn, JN1 Correspondent:
Ladino, which is also known as the Yiddish of the Sephardic Jews, has been spoken as far back as the middle ages. Although it has been recognized as a minority official language in modern day Israel, it is on the brink of extinction. The Ladino Council in Israel is attempting to make the language cool and relevant again. Today we are marking the first ever International Ladino Day, which has already attracted thousands to come and participate at the conference at Bar Ilan University.
The fifth President of the State of Israel, Yitzhak Navon, who head the National Authority for Ladino, says he is beyond thrilled that the initiative of creating the International Ladino Day has been welcomed with so much enthusiasm.
Fmr. President of Israel, Yitzhak Navon, Head of the National Authority for Ladino:
It is very interesting to see how people have such an emotional approach to this legacy, we call it legacy. And you see, I don’t know how many thousands of people come for the international Day of Ladino. It was an idea by a certain lady here and it spread like fire. The day of Ladino, once a year and we hope it will continue.
Alegra Amado Ben-Itzhak, is the head of the Israeli states broadcaster foreign languages channel, IBA World Service, who singlehandedly is making Ladino a living language by anchoring a daily Ladino newscast.
Alegra Amado Ben-Itzhak, Head of the IBA World Service:
This language alive is definitely “Kol Israel” in Ladino, we have a daily broadcast of 15 minutes and it is really one of the factors that keep the language alive. The Ladino lovers, the Ladino language and culture lovers feel united and they don’t feel that they’re alone in preserving this language, so that’s very important to mark this day.
The Spanish Ambassador to Israel, Fernando Carderera, admits that it is very important not only for Israel but also for his country to keep the Ladino heritage alive.
Fernando Carderera, Spanish Ambassador to Israel We are organizing and supporting activities both in Spain and Israel. In Spain we do it through Centro Sefarad-Israel which is a public diplomacy institution financed by the Spanish government whose aim is to promote knowledge and the spread of the Jewish culture in Spain, including the old Jewish culture and the common heritage of Spain, and in Israel we promote Ladino courses Instituto de Fermentas we cooperate with the Autoridad Nacional del Ladino, we cooperate with the different universities in Israel who have departments who teach and promote not only the language but Ladino culture. There have been many Spanish intellectuals and writers who have studied Ladino and who have discovered in the 19th century because well it was like forgotten for many people in Spain, and now people are aware that this is an existing living language and we are very proud of it.
Ron Jacobsohn, JN1 Correspondent:
As the Ladino speakers in the world rapidly decrease, the Ladino Council is trying to introduce the language as an elective class in high schools just like was done a few years ago with Yiddish in attempt to raise a new generation on Ladino speakers.
For JN1 I am Ron Jacobsohn at the La Dia Internacional del Ladino, the international Ladino Day at Bar Ilan University.
The JNF/KKL has started a new initiative with catholic farmers from South Africa entitled “The Harvest and Seeds Program”. A second mission has just arrived in Israel and we caught up with them as they toured the Sataf agriculture area. It’s no big secret that Israel is not a popular issue in South Africa, however collaborations like these help change the public image of country among the people.
Ron Jacobsohn Visits The Award Winning Alexander Brewery
The famous Frank Zappa once said that: “in order to be considered a real country you at least need a local beer and an airline”.
In the last few years, Israelis have been working hard to make a name for themselves in the craft beer business and with the Alexander brewery winning the European Beer Star for 2013, it looks like they are on the right track. So many have asked what is unique about the Israeli craft beer and the answer is very simple it’s the water, which is exclusively water from the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River.
