Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas more than five years ago, was released today as part of a lopsided prisoner exchange. It is a day of mixed emotions for Israelis and Jews and other supporters of Israel throughout the world.

"This collective willingness to expose ourselves to the risk of a future terrorist attack, if necessary, to secure Shalit's release speaks volumes about Israelis' strong sense that we are all in this Zionist project together, in good times and in bad," the Jerusalem Post observed today in an editorial.

"It's not that we are insensitive to the feelings of past terrorist victims' families and loved ones. Nor are we unaware that many, even most, of those who will be released will return to violent terrorism," the paper added. "It's just that none of these potential future dangers seems to be able to trump the fact that right now an Israeli soldier's life is being saved."

The Birmingham Jewish Federation extends our thoughts and prayers to the people of Israel at this difficult time and on this day of mixed emotions. May the Israel Defense Forces remain strong and the people of Israel soon know the peace that they yearn for and deserve.

Photo is of Gilad Shalit being interviewed today on Egyptian TV.

The redemption of the Jewish people in their biblical homeland and the rebirth of Israel as a modern state mark perhaps the most dramatic and successful story of triumph over tragedy in the annals of mankind.

The two stories below, taken together, reflect this extraordinary saga. The first deals with Israel's remarkable record of Nobel Prize winners and the second highlights Birmingham's efforts to remember and teach the Holocaust.

The uniqueness of the Jewish story has been our ability to overcome and triumph; we have done it by always believing in the future, having confidence in our capabilities and never forgetting the past. We are proud of the role that The Birmingham Jewish Federation has played -- and will continue to play -- in the attainment of Jewish achievement and fulfillment of Jewish destiny.

Israeli professor Daniel Shechtman recently won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of quasicrystals, a regular pattern of atoms that never repeat themselves, an idea once thought to be impossible.

Shechtman, of the Technion Faculty of Materials Engineering, is the 10th Israeli to win a prestigious Nobel Prize in the country's 63-year history. Located in Haifa, the Technion is a world renown institute for technology and intensive research, Shechtman is the third member of the Technion faculty to be awarded a Nobel Prize.

Israeli Consul General to the Southeast Opher Aviran was in Birmingham the day of the announcement. The Consul General was part of a visiting delegation to promote economic development opportunities between Birmingham and Israeli businesses. The Birmingham Jewish Federation helped arrange the visit. At a breakfast meeting that morning, the Consul General beamed as he welcomed the group. "What a nice morning to wake up to; another Israeli scientist has won a Nobel Prize," he said.

For ten Israelis to have received Nobel Prizes since Israel's rebirth as a modern nation in 1948 is nothing short of remarkable. Israel, a tiny country besieged by enemies for 63 years, has only 7.8 million people -- about the same number as Alabama and Mississippi combined. Israel's Nobel Prizes have come in an array of areas.

The Birmingham Jewish Federation remains deeply proud of the role it has played in making what Israel is today, through our continued fundraising, advocacy, educational programs, visits to Israel and people to people exchanges.

To learn more about Israel's achievements, go to the below Israel21c link or read Start-up Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, which provides great insight into Israel's innovation and achievements.

In February 2011, The BJF helped sponsor a women's interfaith journey to Israel. The group is pictured above at the Technion in the Beth S. Perlman Entrance Lobby. Beth, sister of Birmingham community member Marjorie Perlman, is the President of the Baltimore Chapter of the American Technion Society and a member of the National Board. Beth dedicated the lobby in memory of her father, Alan Perlman of Forest Hills, NY.

The Birmingham Holocaust Education Center (BHEC), Alabama Holocaust Commission and Temple Emanu-El will present a lecture by Deborah A. Batiste, the Anti-Defamation League's "Echoes and Reflections" project director, on Weds., Oct. 26, at 7 pm at Temple Emanu-El. The public is invited. Ms. Batiste will speak on, "What Our Students Must Learn About the Holocaust."

Today's teachers face an almost unimaginable amount of content to be covered in any given school year. The BHEC worries that the study of the Holocaust is all too often reduced to nameless, faceless facts and figures and lost is the opportunity for students to address questions about what it means to be a human being.

"We must teach our students about the Holocaust in ways that challenge them to consider critical moral issues, human behavior, and the dynamics of being a citizen in a democratic society," said the BHEC in its announcement of the program. "We must do everything we can to help our students see the lessons of the Holocaust as a call to action in their own lives."

"Echoes and Reflections" is the result of an unprecedented partnership among three leaders in education: The Anti-Defamation League, the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, and Yad Vashem. This project includes everything teachers need to teach about the Holocaust and its lessons for today.

The BHEC and ADL are among the 32 agencies and programs that receive funding from The Birmingham Jewish Federation Annual Campaign.