City Notes: International Sailing Week held in Haifa waters

Roundup of local stories from across the country.

By COMPILEDTAMARA ZIEVE
International Sailing Week in Haifa. (photo credit: COURTESY HAIFA MUNICIPALITY)
International Sailing Week in Haifa.
(photo credit: COURTESY HAIFA MUNICIPALITY)
NORTH
International Sailing Week began last week in Haifa, continuing through this Wednesday. Run by the Sports Authority and the Haifa Cruises Association, it included two major events: the International Winter Sailing competition and the European Cup.
The European Cup came to Haifa after gaining approval from the world committee of the Laser Olympics class. The committee stated that from now on, there would be a competition every December in the city, in light of the period’s ideal conditions in Haifa Bay.
Over 500 sailors, windsurfers and surfers signed up to participate in the event. Among the competitors were representatives of sailing clubs in Israel and abroad, alongside Israeli competitors in training for the World Championship.
Hadera teacher one of year’s 100 outstanding educators
Aviva Amar, a teacher at the staterun Shilo religious school in Hadera’s Givat Olga, was selected as one of the 100 outstanding educators of 5775.
Every year, the Education Ministry and the Religious Education Administration compile a list of the chosen 100 teachers; selection criteria include creative education, Torah education, and initiatives in teaching and pedagogy they have led.
According to the Local website, Amar won upon recommendation of the school’s principal and supervisory staff. Amar has been with Shilo for 24 years, as a Bible and language teacher; she is also the coordinator of an “education for change” program. She was praised for developing unique and innovative initiatives in the field of language, promoting reading and writing processes and learning strategies.
CENTER
Woman found dead in Rishon Lezion apartment
A woman in her 50s was found stabbed to death in an Arnon Street apartment in Rishon Lezion on Monday morning, Magen David Adom EMS reported. Police launched an investigation into the incident.
TA woman in serious condition after choking on jelly doughnut
 A Tel Aviv woman in her 60s is in serious condition after choking on a jelly doughnut, MDA reported Sunday.
Paramedics on the scene were able to remove the piece of food from her trachea, then took her to the city’s Ichilov Hospital.
Samsung Israel closes Hanukka with event for children at Schneider Hospital
Samsung Israel was set to hold a special Hanukka event on Tuesday, the last night of Hanukka, at Schneider Children’s Medical Center for Israel in Petah Tikva. The company’s entire staff was recruited to run children’s activities and “Samsung’s Dream Library” was scheduled to be inaugurated during the event, comprising a new educational/technological complex in the hospital’s hematology- oncology department.
Samsung says that for the first time in Israel, via advanced technological means, children in isolation will be able to take part in enrichment classes and activities taking place in the department’s main educational room, using Samsung S Tab devices and a smart board – enabling patients to video chat with other classmates, express their views, respond and really feel part of what is happening in the classroom.
The guest list included Korean Ambassador Kim Il-soo, Samsung Israel’s CEO, Schneider director Prof. Joseph Press, hematology-oncology department director Prof. Yitzhak Yaniv and Labor MK Miki Rosenthal.
Survivors light hanukkia hidden from Nazis
At the Reuth Medical & Rehabilitation Center on Sunday evening, Holocaust survivors treated in the geriatrics ward gathered to light the sixth Hanukka candle together with residents of the Reuth Association’s Beit Bracha, protected community housing for low-income seniors.
The hanukkia they lit together is 200 years old; during World War II, it belonged to a Polish family. When the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, the father of the family decided to hide and/or destroy any sign of Judaism in the house. He only preserved the ancient menorah, which he buried in the ground outside.
After the war, the hanukkia was found in an arbitrary excavation and sold to the families of the late Rabbi Shapira and Ivi Ne’eman, who decided to donate it to the rehabilitation center for the candle-lighting event.
Auschwitz survivor Stephen Weiss, who lit the candles, said: “I never lost hope. This menorah, hidden from the Nazis, comes out again, tonight, during Hanukka in Israel after so many years, symbolizing our victory.”
“We have a great country, a nation that knows to cherish and remembers all that we went through in Europe. Thanks to this wonder called the State of Israel, the Jewish people will not know another Holocaust, and will continue to celebrate Hanukka with great pride, their heads held high.”
SOUTH
Shomer Israel group holds nighttime Negev trip
The Shomer Israel organization organized a nighttime trip to the Negev this weekend. Setting off from Tel Aviv’s Arlosoroff Station on Thursday night, participants were scheduled to head south to Ashba Farm near Kibbutz Retaim, an organic farm started in 2005 that specialized in olives, grapes, other fruits and vegetables, and spices. With the stated aim of showing solidarity with Israelis from all over the country, the group was set to spend the night around bonfires, eating poike and mixing with young Sabras, heading back to Tel Aviv at 5 a.m. Friday.
Shomer Israel events cater to young Israelis in their 20s and 30s. The organization guards the land with observation posts on large tracks of farm and ranch land in the Negev and Galilee, manned by volunteers. It also runs a young leadership program, agricultural volunteering and coordinated student volunteering on single-family farms in the Negev.
80 Eilat residents hold communal 80th birthday celebration
Eighty Eilat residents born in 1934 celebrated at a joint birthday party on Sunday, as they marked the beginning of their eighth decade of life.
The Local website reported that Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak Halevi wished every one of them a happy birthday, and that the next stage of their lives be full of goodness, happiness, health and peace, saying, “I am happy that the number of elderly residents in Eilat increases from year to year, and I always enjoy celebrating with them in their golden age.”
The celebratory event was held at the Robin House community center, where the senior citizens enjoyed a festive lunch and a performance by the Smile Dance Company. Their birthday cake was donated by the Dan Eilat Hotel, and each 80-year-old received the gift of a luxurious blanket, necklace and flower.