Archive | 2010 | April

All proceeds from the tournament benefit underprivileged and special needs children through the Haifa Hoops for Kids charity foundation.

FEATURING:

Tamir Goodman, a retired professional basketball player and Director of the Haifa Hoops for Kids charity organization

NOT TO BE MISSED: Justin “Jus Fly” Darlington, World renowned dunker and Youtube sensation, will be putting on a dunk show at the tournament.

For more information about the event or to sign up visit the event’s facebook page

Or visit the event’s website @ http://haifahoopstoronto.vze.com/

An Israeli university is taking a new approach to learning by treating passengers traveling on the Israel Rail Service to a series of lectures by the institution’s top scientists.

This year, Israelis who opt to travel by train are getting more than just a ride – they’re getting an education. Thanks to an initiative from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Rail Service, train passengers are being treated to lectures by some of the university’s most prominent professors.

‘Scientists on the Train’ is a monthly series developed by the Hebrew University. A professor chooses a train to lecture in and passengers are invited to attend, free of charge.

If the event was billed as boxing’s most celebrated showcase that Israel has known, hometown girl Hagar Finer did not fail to meet expectations. Before a nationally televised audience and thousands of cheering spectators at Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv, Finer retained her WIBF bantamweight crown by handily defeating Latvian challenger Agnese Boza with a fifth-round knockout last night.

Both fighters began the match hesitantly, but the bout gained momentum in the second round. Finer lifted her arms in the air triumphantly at the bell, and justifiably so. She landed a number of crosses that kept Boza, who was at a distinct disadvantage against the taller Finer, on the defensive.

The Israeli solidified her control of the bout in the third round. Boza, who replaced Finer’s original opponent, American Stephanie Dobbs, was victimized by the champion’s devastating right hand. As time expired in the fifth round, Finer sent Boza to the canvas with a powerful right blow. Although Boza got back on her feet, the referee declared the bout over, as he ruled that the Latvian could not sustain the continue pummeling. Finer erupted in joyous celebration, embracing her trainer and manager Ra’anan Tal.

Finer credited the crowd with providing a home-field advantage that simply overwhelmed the Latvian challenger. “I hope the Israeli people will get to know her even more,” Tal said of Finer. “We want to defend the title here in Israel because the refereeing abroad is hostile against us.

“We need to support boxing. In Israel we have sports besides soccer, and Hagar’s achievements should not be for naught. We need the Israeli people to pump money into the sport.”

The evening had all the trappings of a major fight. Before the bout, Finer was greeted with a rousing ovation from an audience that included some of Israel’s most recognizable faces from the entertainment and sports world.

Her victory may prove to be a breakthrough moment for women’s boxing in Israel. Though the sport remains in its infancy in Israel, boxing organizers can take comfort in the fact that they have found a charismatic, marketable ambassador in Hagar Finer.

Source: Haaretz.com

Israeli scientists develop new milk alternative made out of chickpeas

If falafel, which is made out of chickpeas, became Israel‘s national food, perhaps milk made out of chickpeas could be the next big hit. The scientists at Volcani Center, who developed the “himtza drink” are confident that it could be a great replacement for cow’s milk.

The Agriculture Ministry, in a bid to promote Israel’s chickpea growers, understood that there is a limit to how much hummus Israelis could eat. So, they started seeking out additional foods that could be made from the legume.

The world has already grown savvy of the advantages of the chickpea, and have even started making flour from it.

“From this flour, you can make cookies, good bread. It is kosher for Passover and is acceptable for people with celiac,” said Dr. Shmuel Galili, from the Agricultural Research Organization, in an explanation of why his team decided to focus on the chickpea as a source for milk substitutes.

The recipe for making the substitute is as follows: soak chickpeas in water overnight, grind them in a blender with water, cook them, then drain the mixture and you have chickpea milk.

“Chickpeas, unlike other crops like soy beans, are a local Israeli crop, and we want to encourage farmers to increase their yield,” said Dr. Galili. “We are not familiar with such a development anywhere in the world, and hope it will develop into a true substitute to soy milk.

“People who have tasted it said it’s better tasting. Soy milk has its health benefits, but it also contains an excess of plant compounds called phytoestrogens that have a hormonal effect on people, especially pregnant women and small children. Chickpeas have less phytoestrogens,” explained Galili.

High production costs

What is the likelihood that we will see chickpea milk on the supermarket shelves? Dr. Galili recently completed the development of a methodology for producing chickpea milk. Now, his team is in the process of convincing commercial companies to look into making it a marketable product.One of the problems they will have to overcome, besides penetrating the product to the consumer market, is the high production costs of chickpea milk relative to soy milk.

In a taste test performed by Yedioth Ahronoth, the product received quite reasonable scores, ranking 3.5 in taste, 2.5 in texture, and 3 in smell on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest.

Source: Ynetnews.com

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