nation / world
Hispanic MLB Players Visit Israel to Promote Christian-Jewish
Relations Three Hispanic Major League Baseball players were recently brought to Israel for
a week by the Philos Project, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that promotes
Christian relations with Israel and other Middle Eastern countries, JTA.org
reported. The athletes — Nelson Cruz, former Phillies second basemen Cesar Hernandez
and Jeimer Candelario, all Major League Baseball players in the United States
— were surprised by what they learned at lunch, too. For instance, they had not
known of the existence of Black Jews, including the thousands of Ethiopians
living in Israel.

The players and their significant others toured Christian sites in Jerusalem and
the Galilee and ran a baseball clinic for Jewish and non-Jewish youth in Raanana.

The visit also aimed to “proactively” combat antisemitism, Philos Project
Director of Hispanic Affairs Jesse Rojo said, “to show our baseball players that
they can make a difference, not wait for someone to come out with an antisemitic
tweet to do something.”
Israelis Are Gaining Weight and Smoking More,
New Report Finds
Israel is in the midst of a national obesity epidemic, Israeli health care workers
are warning, jns.org reported.

“We’re in the midst of a global epidemic that has reached Israel — the obesity
epidemic,” said Dr. Dan Oyero, a specialist in family medicine and an obesity
doctor at Maccabi Health Services, according to Ynet.

“Obesity is a chronic, multi-systemic disease that must be treated professionally
since it leads to many illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease and mental and
emotional problems,” he said.

According to a National Program for Quality Indicators report released on
Nov. 22, both obesity and smoking are rising in Israel.

“The data shows that the epidemic is weakening among the overall population,
but we know that those in a low socio-economic group are more exposed to it,”
Oyero said.

The data regarding Israelis’ cigarette consumption also is concerning.

Approximately 20.1% of Israelis aged 16 to 74 smoke, up from 19.6% in 2019.

“In recent years, we’re seeing an increase in smokers in the overall population
and also among teenagers,” said Professor Yossi Azouri, an expert in family med-
icine at Maccabi Health Services, according to the report.

Birthright Israel to Scale Back Again, Slashes Free Trips by Up
to a Third
Birthright Israel is drastically cutting back on the number of free trips it plans
to offer to Jewish young adults, scaling back its operations by up to a third, the
organization announced on Nov. 21, according to JTA.org.

The cuts come amid what the organization said is a mix of financial pressures,
chiefly inflation and heightened travel expenses in a post-COVID world. It plans
to make added appeals to its top donors but still expects to heavily reduce its
Israel trips in 2023 to as few as 23,500 participants, down from 35,000 this year
and 45,000 annually pre-pandemic.

“The significant cost increases of our program mean that we will not be able
to accommodate as many applicants in the coming years,” Birthright CEO Gidi
Mark said in a statement.

However, Birthright’s own fundraising has not been affected. A Birthright
spokesperson told JTA that the organization expects its funding to increase from
2022 to 2023, but that the growth won’t be enough to compensate for the rise in
expenses and inflation.

Earlier this year Birthright said it would lower the maximum participation age
to 26, after five years of allowing Jews aged 27 to 32 to enroll. The group’s lead-
ership said at the time that the increased age limit was backfiring by convincing
younger Jews to keep delaying their trips. JE
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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