A Leading American Rabbi
120 inspiring Israel headlines in 2020
It’s almost a law of nature. Today’s media fixation displaces the prior one and bad news drives out good. In 2020, COVID-19 and the US presidential election sucked the oxygen from other topics, large and small, including Israel. Its historic, region-transforming breakthroughs in relations with Arab states drew only brief attention, and even negative depictions, like those the New York Times has long trafficked, seemed muted or eclipsed.
One pandemic story, however, has gone largely unreported: the vile anti-Semitic falsehoods that flourish on the Internet — accusations that Israel, Zionists, Jews or all three created, carry, or intentionally spread the coronavirus. The Contagion Libel is centuries old, but today’s versions, however demented and absurd, can reach a world-wide audience in seconds. Given its longevity, the lie will long outlive the pandemic itself.
Fortunately, as Justice Louis Brandeis z”l wrote, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” The same media exploited by extremists can be employed in service of veracity and decency. Anti-Semitic conspiracy fictions may mislead the gullible, persuade the predisposed, and titillate the bigoted, but there are far more sensible, openminded people who may not be well-informed about Israel, Zionism or Jews, but care about the difference between truth and falsehood, reality and delusion, information and deception.
The same is true about Israel generally. Its life-changing advances in medicine, science, technology, agriculture, culture, and civil society, and its worldwide humanitarian efforts deserve to be well known. Those who care about Israel have a particular responsibility to share them widely and proudly. These remarkable achievements do not negate Israel’s flaws or exempt it from legitimate criticism, but they reveal essential aspects of the real Israel. Portrayals that disregard these accomplishments and the altruistic impulses that motivate them are, at best, caricatures, or worse, travesties.
Needless to say, in many ways, 2020 was an awful year. All the more reason, then, to celebrate its good happenings. So, here are 120, a happy number in Jewish tradition and its customary birthday wish: Ad meah v’esrim! – May you live to 120! When Moses reached that ripe age, the Torah recounts, his vision was undimmed and his vigor was unabated. May it ever be so for Israel.
Israel anti-coronavirus mask 99.999% effective
Israel-based SmartAID masks millions of U.S. kids
UV LED light kills Covid quickly, efficiently and cheaply
Israel, India pursue joint water, irrigation ventures
Transforming colorectal cancer screening
Jerusalem wins international award for “tunneling in service of archeology”
Revolutionary Israel bone marrow transplant method
Israel and UAE to establish full diplomatic relations
Israel establishes diplomatic relations with Bhutan
Israel and Morocco to establish full ties
Israel and Sudan normalize ties
Israel and Bahrain establish diplomatic relations
Stem cell treatment helps 73% of MS patients in trial
Antimicrobial fabrics going into new cars
Treating enlarged prostate without surgery or drugs
Unique Women’s Health Center opens in Israel
Special needs adults find meaningful work on farm
Novel nanotechnology to treat brain cancer
Tulsa partnering with Israeli startups
Training Ethiopian farmers to save crops from locusts
Beersheva: World hub of desert technology
6 Israeli inventions on Time’s Top 100 of 2020 list
Israeli medical team to help Italy fight Covid
Nanosatellites aim to democratize space
Israel to send millions of Covid vaccine doses to Palestinian Authority
Real dairy products without cows, cholesterol or lactose
Israel’s next satellite: A “cellphone in space”
Mastercard: Israel best country for female entrepreneurs
Jewish-Arab Innovation Hackathon in Jerusalem
TAU online Islam course a global hit
1st oral insulin starts final trials
Tel Aviv University world champion in genetic engineering
World’s 1st lab grown meat restaurant
Green packing that won’t pollute
New method to predict risk of suicide
Solving a billion dollar German jewel heist
New, healthier alternatives to sugar
Compassion for the Turkish people despite the Anti-Semitism of its prime minister
New frontier in treating brain aneurysms
Diagnosing retinal disease using AI
Changing the global landscape of cybersecurity
Forecasting flu outbreaks years in advance
Advance warning of epileptic seizures
Pioneering findings about hearing loss
No More Ripoffs: Bandages that dissolve
Aid to 12,000 flood victims in Chad
Transformational solutions in health, education and welfare
Breakthrough in melanoma treatment
Emergency assistance after devastating fire in Greece
Helping the world fight forest fires
Reducing the rebound after weight loss
Device discerns why a baby is crying
Animation app wins major design award
Helping California battle devastating fires
Four green companies that are changing the world
Detecting heart attacks before they happen
World’s 1st trial of COVID antibody drug
Inclusivity for speech impaired persons
Offering humanitarian assistance to Lebanon
Instantly prediction metastases
IA-based software to spot breast cancer
Insights on metastases causes and prevention
Restoring eyesight with synthetic corneas
Lifesaving time reduction finding leftover cancer cells
Testing drugs on 3D printed hearts
Sonovia masks confirmed effective against Covid virus
Leading the world in cybersecurity
Developing medicines in outer space
Lifesaving surgery for a Syrian infant
Cause of Corona blood clots discovered
Celebrating soldiers with special needs
Technology-transforming microscope invented
Disinfectant from water makes public events safer
Keeping global organ transplants alive
Muslim Arab singer an Israeli pop star
Understanding why skin cancer spreads
Smart disinfectants remain active over time
El Al plane collects Covid virus aid for U.S.
Israeli-Ethiopian women become border police officers
Significantly boosting ventilator survival
Revolution in helping babies sleep
Israeli tech protecting African villages
Protection for medical caregivers
30 tech solutions to fight coronavirus
Revolutionizing xray technology
Israel donates potential Covid-19 treatment to U.S.
Compassion at dying Covid patient’s bedside
Lung removed, cleansed and returned to cancer patient
Robotic standing wheelchairs for quadriplegics
Helping young burn victims in Haiti
Remarkable advance in cough treatment
Preparing for the femtech revolution
Israeli nurse breastfeeds baby of injured Palestinian woman
Israel sends protective coronavirus gear to China
NYC launches Israeli-run cybersecurity lab
New cancer treatment with 100% tumor shrinkage rate
Tech allows planes to fight fires 24/7
Safeguarding the Tokyo Olympics
Israel begins supplying gas to Egypt
Aiding Albanian earthquake victims
Israeli device freezes liver and kidney tumors
Palestinian, Israeli cyclists find harmony
Arab-Jewish coexistence in the Galilee
A pill that might fix the cause of diabetes
Revealing the complexity of plants
Aiding animals injured in Australian wildfires
Energy Efficiency: Making water from air
Palestinian nurses hone skills at Israeli hospital
Sources: www.timesofisrael.com; www.jns.org; www.israel21c.org; www.jpost.com; www.israelhayom.com; www.bagels.tv; www.bioworld.com; www.youtube.com; www.xinhuanet.com; jewishbusinessnews.com; www.globalcitizen.org; israelnow.news; www.yet.com; natlawreview.com
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