http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304069604579153180784447714 Israel’s Big Tech Sector Looks to Produce Bigger Companies TEL AVIV—Try as you might, it is extremely hard not to be a bit star-struck by the Israeli technology scene. Just when you think you have seen everything, along comes something even more impressive, such as a startup with a nanotechnology that has the potential […]
http://www.jewishledger.com/2013/09/destination-jewish-barbados-a-family-celebration-with-the-oldest-jewish-congregation-in-the-western-hemisphere/
THE LOVELY AND HOSPITABLE PEOPLE OF BARBADOS CALL THEMSELVES “BAJIANS”….AND THE CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER HAS GREAT COLUMNS ABOUT “BAJEWS”…. READ THEM ALL BY CINDY MINDELL
Destination: Jewish Barbados A family celebration with the oldest Jewish congregation in the Western Hemisphere
P by StaceyDresner
2 Votes
By Cindy Mindell
BRIDGETOWN – In 2014, Congregation Nidhe Israel in Barbados will turn 360, making it the oldest Jewish community in the Western Hemisphere.
The story of Jewish Barbados is one of escape, freedom, piracy, trade, secret identities, sugarcane, intermarriage, assimilation, windmills, conversion, slavery, emigration, restoration.
It is a story of mysteries and remnants.
It is one that Robin Walcott knows well. A descendant of one of the first English families to arrive on the island, Walcott has spent his life exploring the various cultures and historical threads that weave through his homeland.
As a veteran of the hospitality business, he has shared his pride and knowledge with countless visitors to the island. After managing several successful restaurants along the west coast, Walcott opened Beach View, a popular family resort in Paynes Bay, which he manages together with his younger daughter, Carrie.
In conversation with friend and local historian Karl Watson, Robin realized that the Bridgetown synagogue was about to mark a significant milestone. And he had an idea: bring Jews back to Barbados to celebrate the island’s unique Jewish history. With Beach View as a home base, families can celebrate b’nai mitzvah and traditional Jewish weddings in one of the oldest synagogues in the world, and follow a nearly 400-year-old trail of Jewish heritage.
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000885898
162 Israeli start-ups raised $660 million from local and foreign investors in the third quarter of 2013, the highest quarterly amount since 2000, IVC announced today. Investment was up 34% from the $493 million raised in the preceding quarter and $35% from the $488 million raised in the corresponding quarter of 2012. Investment in start-ups rose 12% to $1.63 billion, raised by 474 companies, in January-September from the $1.45 billion raised by 413 companies in the corresponding period last year.
During the third quarter, five companies each raised more than $20 million, accounting for 25% of the total amount, and nine companies each raised $10-20 million each. The average financing round rose to $4.07 million in the third quarter from $3.45 million in the preceding quarter.
“There has been a continuing rise in the number of seed and first round financing transactions in recent years, resulting in a dramatic increase in the overall number of VC-backed high-tech companies in Israel. We see this trend continuing, leading to record number of deals in 2013 at both stages,” said KPMG Somekh Chaikin’s Technology Group partner Ofer Sela. “Another encouraging trend reflected in year-to-date results is the growing number of mature companies that are already generating substantial revenue and are focusing their efforts on global expansion through building sales and marketing infrastructure. This trend is going to continue to increase the size and volume of M&As in the Israeli market, as we have recently seen. We are likewise hopeful that some of these firms will continue to expand independently, raising capital through the IPO route.”
Israeli venture capital funds invested $151 million in start-ups in the third quarter, 23% of the total, the lowest proportion in ten years. Although Israeli funds’ investment rose from $130 million in the corresponding quarter, their proportion of total investment fell from 27%.
www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com
http://blogs.jpost.com/users/just-look-us-now
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Israelis saving African lives. A team of 20 Israeli doctors and medical staff from Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) has just flown to Tanzania to provide free heart surgeries. With them was Tanzanian Dr Godwin Godfrey who returned home following five years of training in Israel. Elsewhere, a team of 11 cardiac surgeons and nurses from Israel’s Sheba Medical Center performed 10 complex heart operations over 4 days in Nigeria.
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24195/Default.aspx
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/173177#.UmlwJVMy1pE
A wristband to monitor your health. (Thanks to NoCamels.com) Tel Aviv-based startup Seraphim Sense is behind the Angel monitor, a biofeedback wristband that senses motion, acceleration, skin temperature, blood oxygen saturation and heart rate. The health band is synced to your smartphone and computer to display results.
http://nocamels.com/2013/10/seraphim-sense-creates-guardian-angel-wristband-to-monitor-health/
Israeli trial is good news for IBD sufferers. Results of early clinical trials using bertilimumab at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek medical center have indicated that it could be effective in treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20131016-900024.html
Israel awards $1 million prize to US BrainGate. In a reversal to the norm, an Israeli non-profit organization presented a US company with a large sum to help it develop its innovations. BrainGate’s million-dollar prize from Israel’s BrainTech will advance its brain sensors that allow paralyzed patients to move a robotic arm.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/10/15/world/middleeast/ap-ml-israel-brain-prize.html
Israel gives sight to Romanian baby. 10-month old Dennis lost his vision shortly after birth in Romania. When he arrived at Save A Child’s Heart, the Israeli doctors checked out his heart and his eyes. They prescribed special glasses and there wasn’t a dry eye in the ward when Dennis saw his mother for the first time.
http://www.saveachildsheart.org/265-6483-en/News.aspx?pos=2
MDA’s new hi-tech mobile command center. Israel’s emergency service Magen David Adom unveiled a multi-million dollar command vehicle designed to direct rescue operations on the most difficult terrain and during cellular network failure. It has over two-dozen computers and TVs and can accommodate 23 staff.
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/New-MDA-command-truck-is-most-hi-tech-in-world-329280
Medicine for the wild blue yonder. A comprehensive write-up of the 61st International Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine (ICASM) in Jerusalem. 250 overseas delegates from 36 countries plus Israelis discussed everything from pregnant women pilots to space travel to psychological problems of controlling UAVs.
http://www.jpost.com/Health-and-Science/Medicine-for-the-wild-blue-yonder-329167
