Category: Science and Health

A 65-year-old woman named Leah Biton who suffered an unusual fracture in her spine and was unable to get around is now able to walk without pain just two days after a Shaare Zedek Medical Center (SZMC) team in Jerusalem carried out innovative surgery for the first time in Israel.  The groundbreaking technology with a […]

Which is better for health – chicken, fish, or beef? Dr. Maya Roseman explained: “From a nutritional point of view – there is almost no difference between them. All of them have about 25 grams of protein per hundred grams, a quality protein that is important for building muscles. They all have iron and vitamin […]

Figs are delicious — dried, fresh, whatever. Yum! But nazirite vows aren’t about what’s delicious, but about what’s defined by the Torah. And Numbers 6:4 is very clear that a nazirite shall abstain from wine, grapes and any kind of intoxicant. It says nothing about figs. So the mishnah on today’s daf asks: What happens […]

Protection against an increased risk of pregnancy complications is provided by the COVID-19 Omicron booster vaccine, according to a new study at the University of Oxford in the UK and the Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem. The main researcher from Israel, Dr. Michal Lifshitz – a nurse researcher in the obstetrics and gynecology division at […]

The tradition of eating dried carob pods and various other fruits to mark Tu Bishvat – the Jewish New Year of Trees – is not and should not be observed by Israelis. The custom originated with the Jews who lived in the Diaspora and suffered from a lack of fresh fruit in the winter season, […]

Your political views and how you vote can be foretold by what’s going on in your brain. A first-of-its-kind study at Tel Aviv University (TAU) scanned the brains of dozens of politically involved participants while they watched campaign ads and speeches by parties from both ends of the political spectrum, just before one of the […]

Kiddush is a blessing traditionally made over a cup of wine that sanctifies Shabbat and holidays. Kiddush, which means “holiness” in Hebrew, is also recited at Havdalah and at lifecycle events, such as weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs and the bris.  When saying Kiddush over wine or grape juice, the blessing is: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ אֱֹלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ […]

Doctors at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon successfully implemented a new treatment for pancreatic cancer this week.  The treatment, which had never been attempted previously in Israel, involved the injection of a radioactive substance called Oncosil into a patient diagnosed with advanced-stage pancreatic cancer. This innovative treatment is approved by the United States Food and […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that COVID-19 continues to constitute a public health emergency of international concern, its highest form of alert. The pandemic was likely at a “transition point” that continues to need careful management to “mitigate the potential negative consequences”, the agency added in a statement. It is three years […]

People with autism spectrum disorder supposedly are “indifferent to pain,” but a new Tel Aviv University (TAU) study has found that they experience pain at a higher intensity than the general population and are less adaptable to the sensation. The researchers expressed the hope that the findings of their study will lead to more appropriate […]