Front Lines JNenline NOTEBOOK This Week www.JNonline.us Teen2Teen Web Site The Patriots Are 'Israel's Team' Steve Leibowitz Jerusalem Post M y first childhood memory was from 1958.1 was 7 years old, sitting with my father at our kitchen table in Laurelton, N.Y., listening to the NFL championship between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts on the radio. The Giants lost in overtime, and it was painful. From that moment, I became a lifetime Giants fan. In recent years, the New England Patriots have also come into my life. Thanks to the unending generosity of Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his wife, Myra, American football has turned into one of the fastest growing sports in Israel. Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem is home to over 1,000 football players in four leagues. Youth programs are now operating all over the country and even a new tackle football league has gotten off the ground. Kraft Family Stadium was constructed in 1999. The Krafts gave another donation in 2005 to renovate the facility with state-of-the-art FieldTurf. Robert Kraft spoke at the re-dedication in Hebrew and told the audience, "before building the field in Jerusalem, the Patriots had never won a Super Bowl. Since building the field we have three cham- pionships." Too Big To Wave Israel now has the larg- est flag in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Equal to the size of two football stadiums when laid out, the new flag was presented to Israel, along with another large flag of the Philippines, by Sister Grace Galindez-Gupana as a commemoration of 50 years of diplomacy between the two countries. The Israel Ministry of Tourism and the Parks and Nature Authority will integrate the new flag into events planned for the 60th year of independence in 2008 as well as other major national events at some of the country's most important sites, including Masada. - Ken Guten Cohen, story development editor Close Your Eyes ... You're Getting Sleepy World Hypnotism Day will be marked with free hypnosis sessions at a an event from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Jan. 4 at the Bloomfield Hills Open Hunt Club, 405 E. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills. At this annual event, professionals come together to promote the benefits of hypnotherapy through free group sessions and lectures on such topics as smoking cessation, stress management, self-hypnosis, insomnia, sports enhancements, enhancing fertility, hynosis and chil- dren. The event is sponsored by the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association and the International Association of Counselors and Therapists. For more information, call (248) 433-3075. - Ken Guten Cohen, story development editor A8 January 3 2008 He then looked toward the heavens and said, "This could not have been by chance." Through the first 15 games this year, the Patriots were undefeated and well on their way to the playoffs and, perhaps, another Super Bowl appearance. Later in the speech, Kraft spoke of his father and how he would be proud of the football accomplishment, but would be most proud that the Kraft family owns Carmel Containers in Caesaria, employing some 600 Israeli workers. A few years ago, Kraft brought the Super Bowl's Lombardi Trophy to Israel and held it up to a large crowd, the Israeli football community that was present at Kraft Family Stadium. That was the first time the coveted tro- phy had ever left North America. A year later, the Krafts thrilled the local footballers by bringing the Super Bowl MVP quarterback, former University of Michigan star Tom Brady, to the country. The Kraft family is deeply invested in developing football in Israel. Thanks to their friendship and commitment, there are thousands of Patriot fans in Israel. The Patriots have earned the right to be known as Israel's team in the NFL. Steve Leibowitz is president of American Football in Israel and director of Kraft Family Stadium. He is also editor of Israel Broadcasting Authority News. Seeking Solomon's Fortress Dr. Craig Bowman, professor of Hebrew Bible and Archaeology at Rochester College in Rochester Hills, is on an archaeological excava- tion in southern Israel with four students and one alumnus. The Tel Tamar Archaeological Study Tour is part of the Global Explorational Opportunities program. Students can earn credit for a biblical archaeology class during their 17 days in Israel and Jordan. The trip ends Jan. 17. There are 38 people involved from Michigan, Texas and Oregon. While in Israel, participants will visit several ancient cities of bibli- cal importance, including Caesarea, Nazareth, Jerusalem, Megiddo and Jordan's Petra. Tamar (aka En Hazeva) is believed to be the site of a 10th-century B.C.E. fortress built during the reign of King Solomon as described in 1 Kings 9:18. The Tamar fortress is part of a network of contemporary military establishments built to safeguard ancient copper mining and trade that originated just to the east of Tamar in Jordan. During previous trips, the excavation group was able to unearth among thousands of artifacts several significant pieces of Edomite and Midianite pottery in addition to a single rare fragment from a Cypro-Phoenician juglet dated to the 10th century B.C.E. Bowman recently presented this assemblage of potsherds from the ruins at Tamar at an annual international meeting of scholars in San Diego. "Very little of Tamar has been published yet," says Bowman. "But the response to our presentation was quite favorable, urging us to secure funding to finish the dig and put the final excavation reports into print." - Robert A. Sklar, editor To support the excavation work, call Craig Bowman at (248) 218-2143 or e-mail him at cbowman@rc.edu . 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