By Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande
I feel very fortunate as a Christian to have been able to visit two of the actual sites I have heard about in Sunday sermons and read about my whole life. First I visited The Basilica of the Beatitudes, which is on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee on the traditional site of Jesus’ delivery of the Sermon on the Mount.
We were also brought to the location of the Biblical account of Jesus instructing His disciples to throw their nets over the right side of the boat and then their nets were overflowing with fish. The spot where Jesus was cooking the fish is preserved: Sacellum Primatus Sancti Petri, the Table of Christ. I also saw a boat that was recently discovered by two fishermen on the shores of the Sea of Galilee that carbon dates back to the time of Christ.
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Posted: August 8th, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Caroline Casagrande, NJ State Legislature | Tags: Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, Caroline Casagrande, Israel trip, Project Interchange | 7 Comments »
By Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande
Before coming to Israel I read the book StartUp Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle by Dan Senor and Saul Singer. It describes how Israel’s policies on immigration, research and development, and military service have lead to a tech boom here. Israel has more companies on the NASDAQ than Korea, Japan, Singapore, India and all of Europe combined. We heard from the CFO of an angel investment company today, who explained Israel’s multifaceted success story. A portion of that success can be attributed to the elite tech units in Israel’s Army.
Before entering college most of the nation’s young people receive millions of dollars in training in the military where they also have access to Generals. Students call teachers by their first names here, which they say leads to a business culture that’s flat and very helpful in a start up environment. Israel has a Chief Scientist who has the responsibility of fostering research and development. There are also great incubator programs subsidized by the government that include free educational seminar speakers and workspace. A percentage of the property tax portion of the rent for tech company start-ups is forgiven.
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Posted: August 8th, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Caroline Casagrande, NJ State Legislature | Tags: Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, Caroline Casagrande, Israel, Israel trip, Project Interchange | Comments Off on Project Interchange trip to Israel: Day 2
Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande
By Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande
I am here in beautiful Israel as part of Project Interchange, a program of the American Jewish Council. Despite the worldwide travel alert, I feel very safe.
For my first seminar, we had a fascinating introduction to Israeli society and politics with Dr. Elinat Wilf, a former member of Knesset. She described Israel for us as an idea of the mind. At the end of the Seder you say, “To next year in Jerusalem.” The worldwide Jewish community decided to make that happen literally by founding Israel. It is an incredibly diverse nation of immigrants. It is a Jewish state, which can be confusing for Americans, who are used to the separation of church and state. Zionism is an idea about bringing ethnic Jews together. I found it very surprising when our speaker identified herself as a Jew who is an atheist. She said many people in Israel are non-practicing Jews religiously, but practice the culture. Israel has a very sizable minority population – approximately 20 percent Muslim and Christian.
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Posted: August 8th, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Caroline Casagrande, NJ State Legislature | Tags: Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, Caroline Casagrande, Israel, Project Interchange | 2 Comments »
By Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande
