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Anav Silverman
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Anav Silverman is a columnist and educator whose work has been published widely online and in print, both in Israel and internationally. She has appeared on Al Jazeera, BBC Radio, and CBS 2 and has contributed to BBC News, The Philadelphia Bulletin, Front Page Magazine, Bangor Daily News, Maariv, The Jerusalem Post, Ynet News, and other publications.

Blog Entries by Anav Silverman

Scandal Stars Visit the Holy Land!

(0) Comments | Posted May 6, 2013 | 9:51 AM

At the Western Wall on Friday night, a group of stars from the hit American TV shows Scandal and Once Upon a Time found themselves immediately recognized by religious Jewish prayer-goers.

''People approached us at the Western Wall, saying they watch our shows,'' said Katie Lowes, who stars in...

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Evyatar Borovsky: A Settler With an Actor's Legacy

(0) Comments | Posted May 3, 2013 | 11:13 AM

In the recent media coverage of Evyatar Borovsky's murder, the 31-year-old father of five young children was described in several international reports as a "hardline settler." Borovsky, who hailed from the community of Yitzhar, was on his way to a theater rehearsal when he was stabbed to death...

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Modern Day Knights Return to Jerusalem

(4) Comments | Posted April 26, 2013 | 12:49 PM

Nearly one millennium ago, a group of Armenian monks established a hospital outside the walls of Jerusalem to treat victims of leprosy, a chronic disease that was widespread during the Middle Ages. The hospital, known as the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, eventually served the Knights...

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Yiddish: The Link Between Past and Present in the Jewish State

(4) Comments | Posted April 16, 2013 | 12:01 PM

It is often overlooked that Yiddish, the language spoken by millions of Ashkenazi Jews for nearly 1,000 years across Europe, played an important role in the formation of Israeli culture.

For Professor Chava Turniansky from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, that point is very clear. The 75-year-old professor will be...

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Jerusalem Buzzing With Obama Preparations

(0) Comments | Posted March 19, 2013 | 11:57 AM

While Jerusalem has been visually primed for U.S. President Barack Obama's visit -- over 1,000 American and Israeli flags dot major roads and streets along with signs and banners that read 'Unbreakable Alliance' -- Jerusalem hotels have also been gearing up for their guests.

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Settler Rabbi's Legacy of Peace Lives On

(0) Comments | Posted March 6, 2013 | 3:50 PM

Israeli Orthodox rabbi, settler, poet and peace activist, Rabbi Menachem Froman passed away in his home community of Tekoa in Gush Etzion on Monday evening, March 4. The 68-year-old father of 10 had long been battling cancer.

Rabbi Froman, with his white beard and white garb, was a...

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Will America's Delivery of F-16s to Egypt Threaten Israel?

(7) Comments | Posted February 11, 2013 | 8:00 AM

There's been a flurry of speculation surrounding America's transfer of F-16s to Egypt both in Israel and the United States. Recently, Egypt and the United States held a joint ceremony marking the delivery of four new F-16 aircraft to the Egyptian Air Force, despite objections from Republican Senator,...

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Barbie Loves Israel

(12) Comments | Posted February 10, 2013 | 3:28 PM

Enrico Pescantini and Maria Giovanna Callea received some weird looks when they were vacationing in Israel this past August. The Italian couple may have looked like typical tourists, visiting the sites and shooting photos, but it was the objects in their photos that attracted the curious stares. Accompanying the couple...

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Israelis Surprise: A Settler Votes for Labor, a Bedouin for Bennett

(4) Comments | Posted January 23, 2013 | 5:52 PM

There are Israeli voters who made some surprising and rather unexpected choices for political candidates on Tuesday, January 22.

Yair Hizni, who grew up in a settler family in Hebron, is casting his vote for Shelly Yachimovich, the leader of Israel's Labor Party. Hizni, a teacher who lived in the...

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Want Hitler Quotes? There's an App for That!

(4) Comments | Posted January 17, 2013 | 10:46 AM

Google has several applications available to users looking to be inspired by Adolf Hitler. Available on Google Play, the app store for Android products, is one app that goes by the name Infamous Adolf Hitler Quotes. The app description opens with this description: "Looking for Adolf Hitler Quotes??...

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Israeli PM Conducts Twitter Diplomacy in Arabic

(10) Comments | Posted December 31, 2012 | 3:14 PM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now tweeting in Arabic on a new Twitter account opened in mid-December. The development caught the attention of the Saudi Internet news service, Al Arabiya, which reported this week that Netanyahu's Twitter account has drawn new followers from Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon,...

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More Women Than Men Admitted to Israel Bar Association

(2) Comments | Posted December 20, 2012 | 12:03 PM

It is not too difficult to find a lawyer in Israel, but to actually become one is a long and arduous process.

On Thursday, December 13, the Israel Bar Association admitted 1,248 new lawyers in a formal graduation ceremony held at the International Conventions Center in Jerusalem. Israel now...

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Gaza Commemorates Recent Conflict With Rocket Perfume

(100) Comments | Posted December 10, 2012 | 10:18 AM

A cosmetic company in Gaza has launched a new perfume named M-75, after the new long-range missile designed by Hamas with Iranian assistance. The missiles, which can reach up to 75 kilometers (42 miles) were fired in the direction of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv nearly three weeks ago...

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Not the Typical IDF Soldier's Mom

(2) Comments | Posted November 30, 2012 | 11:44 AM

Israel is often presented as having a divided, conflicted society, where Arabs and Jews don't mix, in a state that has political and cultural lines 'clearly' drawn out. This is false on many levels and, unfortunately, voices that diverge from the media stereotypes created of Israel are often overlooked or...

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The Children of Gaza's Rocket War

(96) Comments | Posted November 21, 2012 | 7:29 AM

Almost half of Sderot's preteens suffer from signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) according to a study that was published this November in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Based on a questionnaire answered by 154 seventh and eighth grade students, it was found that 43.5 percent of the...

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Dog Saves Owner From Gaza Rocket Strike on Ashkelon Apartment

(19) Comments | Posted November 19, 2012 | 5:52 PM

Gaza rockets continued to pound Israel throughout Sunday and Monday, with over 200 rockets striking residential communities and cities, wounding 12 people including a rescue service worker, who sustained moderate head injuries from a mortar in the western Negev, and a couple and their two-year-old daughter when a...

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The Strong Hearts of Israel's Rocket-Ravaged Residents

(66) Comments | Posted November 16, 2012 | 3:51 PM

It's Thursday evening in Kiryat Malachi and the city of nearly 21,000 residents is strangely quiet. The usually busy city center is empty of people -- most of the stores and restaurants have been shut down. There are no high school students loitering around, and no elderly folks smoking hooka...

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State Department's Musical Diplomacy Reaches Israel and the Middle East

(0) Comments | Posted November 9, 2012 | 10:04 AM

The U.S. Department of State and the Association of American Voices is facilitating a unique musical program called American Music Abroad. The program works to implement Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's vision of "smart power" diplomacy which, in this case, is done through the tool of music.

American Music...

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Israeli Jewelry Entrepreneurs Give Back in a Big Way

(4) Comments | Posted November 6, 2012 | 4:19 PM

Orna Levy is a fourth generation Jerusalemite whose family has been in the jewelry-making business for the past 100 years. Originally from Bukhara, in what is today Uzbekistan, Orna's family immigrated to Jerusalem in the late nineteenth century. The family's patriarch, Shlomo Moussaieff, a successful pearl merchant and rabbi, helped...

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Southern Israel: Rockets, Miracles and the Iron Dome

(283) Comments | Posted October 15, 2012 | 6:55 PM

Southern Israel has been dealing with a rain of rockets recently, as days and nights have been punctuated by a growing number of sirens and rocket explosions.

This past weekend, a Grad rocket fired from northern Gaza struck the backyard of a Netivot home on Friday evening,...

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