33. Astonishing

In any comparison of the lives and accomplishments of a civilization - Israel is beyond simply "awesome". It is "astonishing".

Factoid: Depite being a comparative small and young country Israel has 9 Nobel laureates. They are;
Ada E. Yonath, Chemistry, 2009

Robert Aumann, Economics, 2005

Aaron Ciechanover, Chemistry, 2004

Avram Hershko, Chemistry, 2004

Daniel Kahneman, Economics, 2002

Yitzhak Rabin, Peace, 1994

Shimon Peres, Peace, 1994

Menachem Begin, Peace, 1978

Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Literature, 1966

32. Tipat Halav (well baby clinics)

When my wife gave birth to our first child, she was registered in the hospital under her maiden name. A few weeks after our daughter was born, we got a phone call from our local Tipat Halav clinic. Because of the difference in last names, they did not realize that I had already brought the baby in for her first checkup.

In other words: Tipat Halav makes sure that your baby gets the medical attention it needs. If you don't bring your baby in, they will call you to remind you. This way, every baby gets the care it needs, no matter what.

Isn't that awesome?

Factoid: The National Health Insurance Law sets forth the state's responsibility to provide health services for all residents of the country. Medical services are provided through four health insurance companies (sick funds) also known as Kupat Holim.

31. Bat Mitzvah Program

Jerusalem is an awesome place in Israel. The Kotel is such an amazing place. They have a program there for bar and bat mitzvah’s. They take you on a tour of the Kotel tunnels and connect it to your parsha. That was my favorite part.

Factoid: The tunnel at the Kotel (Minheret Hakotel) is adjacent to the Western Wall and is located under buildings of the Old City of Jerusalem. While the open-air portion of the Western Wall is approximately 60 m long, the majority of its original length is hidden underground. The tunnel allows access to an additional 485 meters of the wall.

30. Food

You can find foods from all over the world.

Factoid: Humus, falafel, goulash, or couscous are only some of the choices of ethnic cuisine that are available in Israel. Jews have returned from more than 80 different countries, bringing with them the foods and recipes they developed during their wanderings. These traditions have commingled with other Jewish recipes, dietary laws, and the native ingredients of the Land of Israel to create an awesome culinary experience.

29. Me'arat HaMachpela

The most amazing thing about Israel is the Me'arat HaMachpela.

Factoid: The Cave of Machpela (the Tomb of the Patriarchs) is located in the ancient city of Hebron. The site is the burial place of three Biblical couples: Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Rebekah; Jacob and Leah. According to Midrash and other sources the Cave of the Patriarchs also contains the head of Esau.

28. Acco

Acco - where I have a pen pal.

Factoid: The city of Acre or Acco is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, dating back to the time of the Pharaoh Thutmose III (1504-1450 BCE). Acre has a population of approximately 46,000 people.

27. Red Chicken Lollipops

Israel is the only place that they sell lollipops that look like red chickens.

Factoid: The Red Heifer (פרה אדמה‎; Parah Adumah) in Judaism, is a sacrificial cow whose ashes are used for the ritual purification of people who come into contact with a corpse. However, we have not found any references in the Torah to red chicken lollipops.

26. Cell Phone

Israel made the cell phone which is the best thing ever to me.

Factoid: The cell phone was invented by Motorola, with it’s largest R&D center in Israel. Other cell phone applications invented in Israel - GPS, text and IM.

25. Accents

Israel has such cool monuments and even better Israeli accents from the people.

Factoid: In the 15th edition of Ethnologue - it lists 33 different languages and dialects spoken in local communities in Israel.

24. Rhythmic Gymnastic

Israel has an awesome rhythmic gymnastics program.

Factoid: At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Israel came in sixth in the final round of the rhythmic gymnastics competition.