2 Samuel 7:23 (New International Version)

1. Israel 2 Samuel 7:23 (New International Version) 23 And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? [a]

2. Location

3. Israel is in the Middle East and shares borders with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. It is connected to Europe, Africa, and Asia. Israel’s size is only 85x290 miles at its widest point. Alabama is 191x332 miles. Location & Population • Israel’s population is 7.4 million. The Jews make up 75.6% of the population and the non Jewish are about 24.2%.

4. Climate & Water Israel’s climate alters especially in the North and the South. In the North the precipitation rates are about 20-30 inches. In the far South it is only about an inch. The South’s summers are hot and dry; and they have comfortable winters. In the North they have hot and humid summers with rainy, mild winters.

5. The terrain features vary with the land like the following: forested highlands, fertile green valleys, Mountainous deserts, coastal plain, and the semitropical Jordan Valley with the Dead Sea. Semi-arid terrain takes up roughly half of the country. Terrain

6. http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles2/relinisr-consensus.htm Religion

7. The main religion of Israel is Judaism. Came from population. • Israel Jews are divided into four groups starting with the following: ultra-Orthodox (haredim), religious Zionists (datiim), traditional Jews (masortiim), and secular (hilonim). Religion

8. Culture • They have a culture similar to ours as far as activities. They have literature, theater, concerts, radio, television, entertainment, museums, and galleries • Hebrew and Arabic are Israel’s official language, although, that is not the only language you will hear in there. Satellite and Cable have changed their culture.

9. Electronics are Israel’s strongpoint in industry, and the brutal climate is very hard to produce any type of cultivation. They produce most of their own food. They also trade with most of the continents. Economy On 14 May 1948, Israel proclaimed its independence.

10. In Israel the women have to serve for the military. Although they don’t have to serve as long as the men, they still serve for a little less than 2 years. Israel’s recruitment rate is very high, in fact, it is one of the largest in the world. There are exceptions to women serving; a few of these are being married, or having children, and not being physically fit. All of the recruits have to complete a basic training program. They teach them to be able to shoot, first aid, discipline, fitness, and facts on chemical and biological warfare. Military

11. Stolen Torah scrolls returned May 3, 2010 (JTA) -- Five Torah scrolls stolen from a Brooklyn synagogue were returned. A person who said he knew the thieves brought the Torah scrolls, discovered stolen April 28 from the Khal Yirei Hashem Synagogue, also known as the Karlsburg Synagogue, in the Borough Park section to the office of Brooklyn's district attorney on Sunday. A reward of $10,000 had been offered for the return of the Torah scrolls, which are worth more than $30,000 each. Two silver crowns and breast plates also were reported missing. The scrolls had been stolen from a safe with a combination lock and there was no sign of forced entry, leading police to investigate the theft as an inside job, the New York Daily News reported.  The Torah are the Five Books of Moses. Current Event

12. Historical Figure Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, born sometime around May 1900, and dying June 3 1989, was the religious and military leader of Israel, where he became a scholar. Popularly recognized as a grand ayatollah in the early 1960s, he was imprisoned and then exiled (1964) for his criticism of the government of Israel. He settled first in Iraq, where he taught at the shrine city of Al-Najaf for 7 years, and then Paris, where he continued to speak out against the shah. foreign policies were both anti-Western and anticommunist. During the first year of his leadership, Iranian militants attacked the U.S. embassy in Tehran, exacerbating tensions with the U.S.

13. ISRAEL IN BRIEF http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Israel+Ministry+of+Foreign+Affairs.htm • Who serves in the army? http://www.mahal-idf-volunteers.org/information/background/content.htm#who Religion in Israel:/A Consensus for Jewish Tradition/Daniel J. Elazar/How Religious are Israeli Jews? http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles2/relinisr-consensus.htm References The Written Law (The Torah)http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/The_Written_Law.htmlhttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/The_Written_Law.html • Stolen Torah scrolls returned • http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/05/03/2394618/stolen-torah-scrolls-returned Historical figure/ http://www.answers.com/topic/ruhollah-khomeini