1 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18 & SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19: Just in time for Halloween, the Theatre Group of Millis will perform Ken Ludwigs Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes mystery/comedy.

Performance dates are Friday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

The worlds most famous detective and his trusty sidekick Watson face down their most notorious case of all in this madcap retelling of the ultimate Victorian whodunit from the mastermind of mayhem, Ken Ludwig.

A stunningly nimble cast of five takes on nearly 40 characters, coming on and off stage almost as quickly as the twists and turns of this complex plot, as Holmes and Watson race against time to crack the mystery of The Hound of the Baskervilles before a family curse dooms its newest heir.

The intrepid investigators search for the (anything but) elementary truth comes complete with a dizzying web of clues, outlandish accents, disguises and deceit. Does a wild hellhound prowl the moors of Devonshire? Can these heroes discover the truth in time? Can costume changes really be that fast?

Baskerville performs at Millis High School theater, 245 Plain St., Millis. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors andstudents. Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.millistheatre.org or at the door.

2 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19: Internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble Windborne will perform at the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse, 262 Chestnut St., Franklin.

Windborne is a group of vocal chameleons who specialize in close harmony singing, shifting effortlessly between drastically different styles of traditional music within the same concert. Their musical knowledge spans many continents and cultures, but they remain deeply rooted in American folk singing traditions. Their singing is a feast of a cappella harmony.

Read more about Windborne at http://www.windbornesingers.com/

Singer-songwriter Michele Kelly will open the show.

The Circle of Friends Coffeehouse is a non-profit organization affiliated with Franklin's First Universalist Society. Concerts are presented in a smoke- and alcohol-free environment at the Society's handicapped accessible Meetinghouse. Beverages and gourmet desserts will be available.

Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the concert begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20. For tickets and more information, visit http://www.circlefolk.org/

3 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20: The Medway Elementary PTO (MEPTO) is holding its pumpkin fair, 12-4 p.m., at Medway Middle School, 145 Holliston St., Medway. There will be pumpkin painting, bounce houses, games for kids, vendor tables, sand art, and more.

This event will be held in conjunction with Medway Youth Soccer Day and Medway Parks and Recreation will be there with a pumpkin decorating contest, 1-3 p.m. To register, visit http://www.MedwayParksRec.com.

Also coming up, on Oct. 29, is Trunk or Treat with Medway Parks and Recreation at Oakland Park, 1-3 p.m. Visit http://www.MedwayParksRec.com for more details.

4 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20: The Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC) will present Roald Dahls Matilda the Musical choreographed by original Broadway cast member Clay Thomson and starring Broadways Sam Zeller as Trunchbull, 7 p.m., at THE BLACK BOX, 15 W. Central St., Franklin.

Inspired by the twisted genius of Roald Dahl, the Tony Award-winning Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical is the captivating masterpiece from the Royal Shakespeare Company that revels in the anarchy of childhood, the power of imagination, and the inspiring story of a girl who dreams of a better life. With book by Dennis Kelly and original songs by Tim Minchin, Matilda has won 47 international awards and continues to thrill sold-out audiences of all ages around the world.

The production stars Franklins Aida Ryan DiChiara in the title role. Aida is a fifth grader at Oak Street Elementary, who studies singing, acting, and dancing at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts.

For tickets ($34) and more information, visit http://www.FPAConline.com or call 508-528-3370.

5 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26: The Baba Siri Chand Yoga and Retreat Center at the Guru Ram Das Ashram, 368 Village St., Millis, will hold its annual Fall Yoga Festival, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

This year will be an excellent opportunity for beginning yogis to give Kundalini Yoga a try. It will feature lifelong yoga therapist and healer Dr. Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa, who is the founding director of the Guru Ram Das Center for Medicine & Humanology in Espanola, New Mexico. Shanti Shanti Kaurs yoga classes uplift and energize every person present, whether it is their first yoga class ever, or next in a seasoned practice.

The festival will also feature two musical guests.

Spirit Voyage recording artist Sirgun Kaur is a sacred songstress and spiritual coach who helps sensitive people focus their thoughts and become intuitive healers. She will also teach a workshop on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. called Emotions as Super Powers.

The Wolf Cry Singers, an intertribal women's hand drum group from Massachusetts, will also bless the festival will ancient healing songs from Native American traditions.

The organizers intend for all participants to feel the wisdom of Mother Earth within them.

The day will be complete with a global bazaar, delicious food court, and healing arts. To learn more and register visit the Baba Siri Chand Yoga Center & Retreat Center website at http://www.yogaattheashram.org/annual-kundalini-yoga-fall-festival/ or call the office at 508-376-4525.

Yoga at the Ashram is a non-profit organization founded in Millis in 1970. The yoga center is committed to providing affordable yoga and meditation via daily classes, workshops, and retreats in yoga, meditation, healing and humanology. It also offers innovative educational practices & programs, including world-class trainings, courses, workshops, and healing modalities, supported with Ayurvedic-inspired nutrition. It is located in the spiritually uplifting environment of the yoga centers host, Guru Ram Das Ashram, a place of peaceful meditation for over 45 years.

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5 Things To Do - Wicked Local Bellingham

Gandhi has said very little about poetry, though he had deep spiritual links with the Bhakti and Sufi poets.

By K Satchidanandan

Gandhi has called himself an artist of non-violence. That makes it easy for artists, including poets who are artists of the word, to connect with the great man and his lasting legacy. Gandhi has said very little about poetry, though he had deep spiritual links with the Bhakti and Sufi poets and had carefully and critically read Gita, if we consider that an example of Indias poetry which is, at times, nothing but philosophy in verse. But his very life was like that of poetry, ever- seeking, ever-evolving, profoundly conscious of the power of words to establish connections among apparently distant and even contradictory things, employing suggestive symbols picked up from the kitchen and the work place, creating new meanings out of paradoxes and retreating into suggestive silence when words seemed to fail.

One day a lean poem/ reached Gandhis ashram/ to have a glimpse of the man.

Gandhi spinning away/ his thread towards Ram/ took no notice of the poem/ waiting at his door/ ashamed as he was no bhajan. The poem cleared his throat/ and Gandhi looked at him sideways/ through those glasses/ that had seen Hell. Have you ever spun thread? he asked,/

Ever pulled a scavengers cart?/ Ever stood the smoke/ of an early morning kitchen?/ Have you ever starved?

The poem said: I was born/ in the woods, in a hunters mouth.

A fisherman brought me up in his hamlet. Yet, I know no work, I only sing.

First I sang in the courts/ then I was plump and handsome;/ but am on the streets now, half-starved.

Thats better, Gandhi said/ with a sly smile, but you must/ give up this habit/of speaking in Sanskrit at times.

Go to the fields, listen to/ the peasants speech.

The poem turned into a grain/ and lay waiting in the fields/ for the tiller to come and upturn the virgin soil/ moist with the new rain.

Gandhi and the Tree Gandhi was walking in the sun/ that had survived Noakhali. Come, have some rest. Gandhi turned back:/ It was a shady tree. You? It is not yet time/ for me to rest, replied Gandhi.

The tree complained: The world/ is in a hurry. I have grown old;/ no more do I flower nor bear fruit: / even birds have abandoned me.Dont worry, Gandhi said,/ You are waiting for the axe/ and I, for the bullet.

Dont say that, the tree was in agony,/ Someone will need that shade. The memory of spring escaped/ the tree as a sigh. Pray, said Gandhi. If you dont stop, I/ will have to walk with you,/ the tree now began to walk with Gandhi.

A wind blew. A bird/ flew to the tree. See, I am in bloom again/ the tree laughed with white flowers. You have started walking? Then/ I can cease, Gandhis blood/ whispered as it gushed out,/ like a prayer for every being. See, my flowers are growing red, cried out/ the emancipated tree.

Three birds that had/ dreamt of fruits came flying from the East.

Ninety years ago,/ we extracted from the sweat of/ the oceans ceaseless waves, a handful of salt:/ a blossom of tender white in a lean raised hand.

One hand suddenly turned into/ six thousand manacled ones:/ millions of fists raised against/ an empire where the sun never set.From that day truth in our land/ came to be called imprisoned salt.

Ram, Allah, Khuda, Messiah,/ that salt was everything to us:/ the prophetess who emerged from/ the seafoam and arrived in the kitchen,/ the white-winged angel, the eternal saviour of our dreams.

A handful of liberty,/ a handful of equality, a handful of love,/ a handful of kindness, a Buddha of salt. Today once again we raise/ a flag of white salt/ in the background of/ the oceans dark turquoise blue:/ the fleeting vision of dark-haired freedom/ slipping off from our little hands,/ the snowy elaboration of fair equality/ that we still keen our ears for,/ a calloused hand with the scent of sweat our flesh and tears have,/ a handful of the dark-edged salt of justice/ studded with the sand grains of rebellion/ that Gandhi had raised in Dandi/ ninety years ago.

(Satchidanandan is a poet and bilingual literary critic. Translated from Malayalam by the author)

See the original post:

Gained in Translation: Gandhi, the eternal poet - The Indian Express

Dear Editor,

The emergency crew at Guyana Power and Light (GPL) in Region 6 is very unethical, inefficient and disrespectful. The persons who answer the emergency number 333 2186 appear to be working in isolation. Repeated calls were made to them about frequent explosions and fire whenever a tree in my yard comes into contact with GPLs main electrical wires. We have made several requests to have the tree removed but the employees of GPL are unresponsive.

On September 10, 2019 around 00:50 hours, there was a loud explosion and a big blaze. Shortly after, two of GPLs main electrical wires cut and there was fire on the street in front of my gate. GTT power lines were damaged and contact with GPL was made via cell calls, in order for them to disconnect the power.

On September 10, the GPL crew repaired the wires, ignored the threat and restored the power.

On September 22, a message was sent to GPLs Facebook page which is active. There was only an automated response.

Repeated calls were made to the company to have the tree removed but to no avail A Mr. Williams visited with a GPL vehicle, accompanied by two others, on Saturday, September 28 around 17:00 hours and claimed that GPL could not do anything about the tree.

Subsequently, the Public Utilities Commission was contacted on October 8, 2019.

On October 14 around 18:45 hours, there was a loud explosion and a big blaze again, and there was fire in my yard. Then, there was a power outage. When contact was made at 333 2186, the person who answered asserted that they were aware of the problem, there was a power outage and the crew was on its way.

Three persons came with a GPL vehicle and they witnessed the fire in my yard. While talking to us, the power was restored, followed by another loud explosion and blaze. The three men abandoned the GPL vehicle and dashed to the main road. There was a power outage again.

A few minutes later, the GPL emergency/ response crew went back to the GPL vehicle and drove away.

Calls were made to the emergency number to inform them about the dangerous situation. In spite of the calls, GPL restored the power that night. As a result of the frequent fires, the main wires are now brittle.

On Wednesday, October 16, 2019, a Mr Ashram visited with a GPL crew, in a GPL vehicle, to inform us that they will be there on October 17th to remove the tree. He left a contact number. Several calls were made to him on October 17th but to no avail. The employee who answered the emergency number yesterday afternoon (October 17th) appears to be working in isolation. She claimed that she had no idea about the situation and we should contact Ashram, the GPL employee.

The employees of Guyana Power and Light in Region 6, especially those who manage the Emergency Section, need to be proactive. Their efficiency and lack of ethics must not be tolerated. They must not continue to endanger the lives of citizens.

Yours faithfully,

Salome Hooper

View post:

GPL in Region Six has not addressed this fire threat in my yard despite frequent calls - Stabroek News

Teams from the Income Tax Department launched surprise raids on the Ekam campus, also known as Kalki Ashram and Oneness University, along the Chittoor-Tamil Nadu border, on Wednesday morning.

All three gates of the sprawling campus were shut, with entry and exit being restricted by the Tamil Nadu Police.

Eight teams of I-T officials along with policemen arrived at the ashram to conduct simultaneous searches at posh structures on the 500-acre campus. Reports said that similar raids had commenced on the establishments of Ekam elsewhere in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

At the time of the raids, the Amma Bhagwan couple and their son Krishnaji were in Tamil Nadu. The I-T officials are said to be questioning a man named Lokesh Dasaji, said to be a close confidante of the Amma Bhagwan couple and the prime administrator of the campus.

The raids are attributed to the alleged irregularities in the management of funds of the Kalki Trust, coupled with allegations that Krishnaji, the couples son, was into real estate business with huge investments.

The raids were still on at the time of filing this report on Wednesday. Heavily guarded by police at the entrances, nobody was allowed to enter or exit the campus. Communication was also cut off as the I-T officials had confiscated the mobile phones of all the employees on the campus. No I-T official was available for comment.

Sri Bhagavan (born Vijay Kumar Naidu) established an ashram at the Chittoor-TN border where thousands of devotees began arriving from across the country. Spiritual sessions are conducted by the administrators of the ashram trust, mostly for affluent individuals and notable personalities from the film industry.

Some of the prominent political figures who have visited the campus include former TDP Ministers Ganta Srinivasa Rao and P. Narayana. The trust has launched several charity programmes in the industrial belt.

For over a decade, Sri Bhagavan, a self-styled godman, faced serious allegations of land-grabbing in the industrial belt of Varadaiahpalem and B.N. Kandriga mandals. When the ashram was established a couple of decades ago, an acre of land was worth a few lakhs, which has now soared to crores.

Sources said that during 2010-14, the ashram authorities were served notices pertaining to huge discrepancies between the ashrams assets and its annual income tax returns.

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I-T Dept. searches Kalki Ashram near Chittoor - The Hindu

Even as Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has directed the authorities not to disturb the New Type Model (NTM) Government Kannada Higher Primary School on N.S. Road following the proposed construction of a Swami Vivekananda Memorial (Viveka Smaraka) at the site, Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, Mysuru has felt that the opposition to the project was unjustifiable since it was not merely a memorial but a centre for the empowerment of youth, imparting them value education as envisioned by the spiritual leader.

Some Kannada activists had taken exception to the apparent closure of the Kannada school for facilitating the construction and also argued that the school itself was part of Mysurus heritage since it was more than 100 years old. Some of the activists met the Chief Minister and sought his intervention for saving the school. The Chief Ministers directive is to construct the memorial on the remaining area of the site where the school is located.

The project was proposed at the site since Swami Vivekananda stayed there during his visit to Mysuru in the 1880s.

In a statement issued here following reports in the press over the issue, the ashram said many government schools had been shut down in Mysuru in the recent years. They include the government school at Lakshmipuram where writer R.K. Narayan studied, which was closed five to six years ago, besides the schools near the old bus-stand here and the one at Ittigegud near the Mysuru zoo for lack of students.

When no opposition was expressed to the closure of these schools during that time, why is there opposition to the merger of NTM School with another school and the ashrams plans for the construction of the memorial at the site? the statement asked.

We are just implementing the directive issued by the Centre, said the statement issued by the ashram president Swami Muktidanandaji.

The ashram said the NTM School is not being shut down but will be merged with the Devaraja Government Primary School which is nearby and maintained that merger will not affect the children or the parents arguing that it will be give good learning environment for the children.

The statement said the memorial will function as a service centre (Seva Kendra) and cultural centre too. It has been proposed to introduce courses for the personality development of youths besides organising discourses daily for inspiring and guiding the youth and spreading moral education.

Arguing that it had been engaged in pro-Kannada activities, the ashram said many stalwarts of Kannada literature who had associated with the ashram and its activities had unequivocally appreciated its services and contribution to Kannada language. In the last 60 years, the ashrams publishing division published about 400 Kannada books and selling them at a nominal rate with the idea of reaching out the knowledge to the people, the statement added.

It was wrong to spread misinformation among the people on the ashrams visions and plans. The memorial will not only benefit the local people but also the people from surrounding places as it will function as the centre for the youth, spreading moral, spiritual and religious education. It will emerge as a major tourist destination too. The ashram therefore seeks support and cooperation for making it happen, according to the release.

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Continued here:

Opposition to memorial uncalled for, says ashram - The Hindu

Express News Service

DEHRADUN: Superstar Rajinikanth visited Swamy Dayanand's ashram in Rishikesh on Mondayand is expected to go to Kedarnath too.

The actor regularly retreats to the Himalayas to meditate.

Sumit Adlakha, a resident of Dehradun and a family friend of the superstar family said, "Rajini Sir is on a devotional visit to Uttarakhand with his daughter Aishwarya Dhanush. He will visitingKedarnath temple tomorrow and Badarinath shrine a day later."

The celebrity father-daughter duo will leave for Ranikhet then, where Rajinikanth will have a meditation session.

Rajinikanth had landed at Dehradun airport on Sunday and left for Rishikesh after meeting Adlakha at his house.

The superstar is said to be a devotee of Maha Avtar Baba, and will spend some time in his cave too.

It is believed that Babaji lived in a cave, which is almost an hour away from Dunagiri in Kumaons Almora district. Rajinikanth has been going to the cave for over a decade.

The saint finds mention in Yogananda Parmahansa's 'The Autobiography of a Yogi'.

The Tamil superstar last visited Ranikhet in2018.

(With inputs from online desk)

See more here:

Superstar Rajinikanth in Uttarakhand on spiritual tour with daughter Aishwarya Dhanush - The New Indian Express

234pp, Rs 499; Simon & Schuster

Somewhere in the mid-1990s, boys of an elite boarding school on the outskirts of Calcutta are watching a curly-haired 16-year-old Indian cricketer play the Pakistanis in Peshawar. In the common room of Bliss Hall, the tension of an impending loss is fanned further by the sound of firecrackers going off in Mosulgaon, a nearby Muslim settlement that is cheering for Pakistan. Anirvan, a class 7 student, cannot take his eyes off the curly-haired Sachin Tendulkar on TV or his mind off Kajol, the boy next to him. He takes Kajols palm in his, caresses his fingers -- the anxiety of the moment was a disease and one had to share it till the TV is abruptly turned off.

The all-boys boarding is run by a Hindu monastic order and a lot transpires under the eagle eyes of the monks as the middle-school boys shuffle between Bliss and Conscience halls of the ashram spread over many acres of grabbed land 80 villages, it is rumoured.

The Scent of God is Anirvan or Yogis story (Kajol calls him Yogi). Anirvan loves the scents and sounds of the ashram and dreams of becoming a monk as his grandmother had hoped he would one day thereby enabling seven generations of the family before and after her to attain salvation. He lacks the genius to crack IIT or become a football player, even though the monks egg the boys on with, Youll be a lot closer to god if you played football than if you read the Gita.

It is his love for words that makes him a star at school. His English teacher Sushant Kane or SrK (short for Senior Kane) recognises his talent in debating, while the dreaded warden of Bliss Hall, Kamal Swami, who disciplines boys with his eyes, recognises his ability to meditate and tune out like a real yogi. A future monk?

Anirvan is in awe of the thirty-something Kamal Swami. He secretly admires the silent monk, The Lord Lotus, his glowing skin, his scent, the whiff of cardamom, and his flowing saffron robe. A prayer hall that walked, he thinks. The swami, too, goes easy on Anirvan, gently teaching him how to blow the conch before prayer.

The boys are subjected to ruthless discipline. They have to sweat it out on the cricket field and football ground, excel in mathematics and science, prepare to crack top exams without as much as a fan in their hostel rooms, and at the end of the day, bathe in the aroma of incense and flowers in the prayer hall. Minor slips are greeted with beatings. Those who excel in exams and are also fair-complexioned and good-looking are given special attention -- premium rooms right next to the monks.

Anirvan is drawn into the world of monks, the world of saffron. He sees beauty and power in saffron that no colour in this world could match, even as he is curious about the world outside the ashram. The rather reluctant ashram resident Sushant Kanes anecdotes about this other world and its fantastical life intrigues him: The monks say the world is MayaIts not the world; they have Maya here. The incense and the flowers and the music.

SrK offers Anirvan more food for thought. Why were juicy chicken drumsticks served to a student after a brutal beating by a monk? Did the monks beat up the boys because they couldnt really do what they wanted to? Or did they?

Anirvan decides to visit the world outside the ashram with SrK -- the world of prostitutes, bootleggers and wily politicians and stand up for those who need him.

In the ashram, Kajol stays real. When he fails to persuade Anirvan to return to school and worry about exams, he disconnects himself and focusses on what he does best -- prepare to crack the IIT exam.

Saikat Majumdars writing is powerful. It reveals and conceals at the same time. Every word is carefully crafted and the subtle carelessness in every sentence opens an ocean of interpretations. The poetry-prose captures the tension of the two entangled world orders, spiritual and material, where desires range from same-sex love relationships to flourishing post-IIT careers. The Anirvans and Kajols of the ashram are not allowed to nibble the goodies of both these worlds, they are ordained to let go of one.

Saikat Majumdar(Courtesy the publisher )

The beautiful feel of silk and saffron evaporates as soon as the book is put away. The reader looks for answers, aches to see beyond the sensory and the illusory world of the monks, itches to fill in the blanks on what transpires when the boys shuttle between Bliss and Conscience Halls. You want to know if it is old-fashioned to be conscientious in churches, madrasas and ashrams.

Read more:Book Review: A Patchwork Family by Mukta Sathe

The sense that does prevail is of the blurring fine line between the pure and the profane, love and lust, and how deeply flawed our education system is; a system that can frown upon imparting sex education but can trick and trap innocent boys into doing the unimaginable.

First Published:Oct 11, 2019 19:25 IST

See the article here:

Review: The Scent of God by Saikat Majumdar - Hindustan Times

Directed by: Rajesh DeshpandeCast: Sharad Ponkshe, Shruja Prabhudesai, Jayant Ghate, Krushna Rajshekhar, Vighnesh Joshi, Pankaj Khamkar, Omkar Karve, Makarand Navghare, Prakash Sable, Rutuja Chipade and Kapil RedekarDuration: 3 hoursLanguage: MarathiRating: 3.5/ 5

The name of the play Himalayachi Savali, originally written by Vasant Kanetkar in 1972 and revived by director Rajesh Deshpande, translates to the Shadow of Himalayas. The story revolves around Nanasaheb a professor deeply committed to his ashram that works towards the upliftment of young widows. It describes what it feels like to live in the shadow of a great man. Furthermore, it delves into the complex dynamics of a family one where all the members want the best for each other, but differ greatly in perspectives. Nanasaheb is so deeply involved in his charity, that he often ends up neglecting his home and his family in the bargain. This often leads to tension and resentment among his daughter, sons and wife.

See the rest here:

Theatre Review: Himalaychi Savali - Times of India

It is reported that Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth jetted off to the Himalayas for a spiritual vacation recently. Usually, he heads to the place every time he wraps up a film, and before commencing his next movie. He was accompanied by his elder daughter Aishwarya Dhanush. On his spiritual trip, Rajinikanth reached Haridwar and visited Swami Dayanand Saraswati Ashram in Rishikesh on Sunday. He has been visiting the ashram for several years and enjoying the simplicity of life there. He paid a visit at the samadhi of his spiritual guru Swami Dayanand Saraswati who breathed his last at his Rishikesh ashram in 2015 and then visited his room where he meditated for about 10 minutes. He sought blessings from Swami Shuddhanand Maharaj, who is the Spiritual head of Shri Dayanand Ashram Ganga Dhareshwar Trust. In the evening, he attended Ganga aarti at the Triveni Ganga ghat. He also visited Swargarashram area in Pauri Garhwal and Ramjhula-Muni-Ki-Reti in Tehri Garhwal. Rajinikanth then headed to Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines on Monday and reports say that he stayed at Rudraprayag the whole night. As per the locales, he then left for Garhwal Himalayas to introspect and find peace.

Excerpt from:

Rajinikanth meditates in Rishikesh on his way to Garhwal Himalayas - Times of India

Israel has won a total of nine Olympic medals since its debut in 1952 as a country officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee in the Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki. Israels first medal came in 1992 when Yael Arad nabbed silver in judo. The countrys first and only gold medal for Israel went to Gal Fridman in mens windsurfing at the Olympics in Athens in 2004.

At the last summer Olympics in Rio in 2016, Israeli judokas Yarden Gerbi and Or Sasson claimed bronze medals in the womens 63kg and mens +100kg events, respectively. That year, Israel was proud to have sent its largest delegation to the sporting event with 47 athletes competing in 17 sports. It broke Israels previous record of 43 athletes sent to Beijing in 2008.

SEE ALSO: Israels Olympic Committee Partners With Technion For Joint Sports Research Center

And now, Israel is going even bigger with plans to send an estimated 85 athletes to compete in 18 sports in the summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in July 2020. This is according to Vered Buskila, a three-time Olympic sailor who is now vice president of the Olympic Committee of Israel. In a sit-down interview with NoCamels not far from the Olympic Committees headquarters in Tel Aviv, Buskila says more athletes have yet to qualify including Israeli hopefuls for sports like track & field and swimming.

In Tokyo next summer, Israel will be sending its biggest delegation ever, Buskila tells NoCamels, This is a crazy number by Israeli standards. Thats something that we never thought could happen in the near future, she says.

Buskila says what makes the large 2020 delegation even more unprecedented is that the countrys national Olympic Committee changed some of the qualification rules after the 2016 games and made it even more difficult for Israeli athletes to qualify for the Olympics.

We got a lot of criticism about that, she adds.

David Wiseman, a native Australian who runs the English-language Follow Team Israel Facebook page with Canadian-Israeli Shari Wright Pilo since the London Olympics in 2012, is impressed with the number of athletes who will be representing Israel next summer.

Baseball alone is sending 24, he tells NoCamels, referring to the first Israeli team to qualify for the games, This is also the first time sports such as surfing and equestrian are being represented by Israeli athletes.

(Buskila says the baseball aspect is a huge, amazing surprise.)

Wiseman and Pilo created the Follow Team Israel page as a bridge between fans and athletes, he explains. The pair wanted to build awareness of Jewish and Israeli competitors and their incredible achievements and sacrifices.

Buskila, who began sailing at the age of eight as an extracurricular activity in her hometown of Bat Yam and won her first world championships at age 15 in the Womens 420 yachting event, says she understands what the athletes are going through, as she experienced it firsthand as a competitive sailor.

Now that I look back I understand that my talent was determination and persistence, she explains, When I won the world championships, it was decided. Thats what Im going to do for the rest of my life.

After competing for the third time in London 2012, Buskila announced her retirement and went on to earn a law degree and becoming a notable figure in the Olympic Committee of Israel. Her job entails speaking to people around the world on Israels progress in sports.

Buskila explains that Israel expects to have 10 athletes advancing to the finals in Tokyo. In Rio, we had five. We want to double it. We aim to win two medals, she says, We never had more than two medals at the same Olympic Games so maybe this will be our year.

Three would be amazing, she adds, after a pause.

If we can have the best army in the world and the best high-tech in the world, why cant we have the best athletes? she says.

Israeli teams and individual athletes have already qualified for sports like baseball, rhythmic gymnastics, artistic gymnastics, equestrian show jumping, cycling, sailing, and surfing.

More are (likely) on their way. Lets not count out current judo world champion Sagi Muki, windsurfing world champion silver medalist Katy Spychakov and top Israeli runner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter. Also, Israeli swimmers, both mixed team and individuals, are looking very good this year, Buskila says.

In the meantime, get to know some of the Israeli athletes and the sports they will be competing in next summer.

Israels baseball team made history last month by defeating South Africa 11-1 during a six-team Europe/Africa Olympic qualifying tournament in Italy, securing a spot in the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo next summer.

Its the first time a baseball team for Israel has qualified for the Olympic Games and the first time an Israeli sports team has qualified since the national soccer team in 1976.

Israel will be competing against five other teams in Tokyo. Japan is the only other nation that has qualified so far. Two teams will qualify through the 2019 WBSC Premier12 tournament in November 2019, another through the Americas Qualifying Event in March 2020, and the last qualifier will be the winner of the final qualifying tournament early next year.

See you in Tokyo, Israel Baseball!

Israels first place finish in the Europe/Africa qualifying tournament secures their spot for #Tokyo2020.@ILBaseball @wbsc @baseball @Tokyo2020

(: Israel Baseball) pic.twitter.com/xZ8l6FyzkH

If soccer just edges out basketball as the most popular sport in the country, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, how did baseball, a sport with a much smaller local following, become the first sport whose athletes qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games?

Prior to the 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC), Israels national baseball team was ranked 41st in the world (and 16th in Europe.) Things began to change in 2017 when Israels team came in 6th at the WBC and ranked 19th in the world. It was around this time that Eric Holtz, a US-born baseball coach who had played for the Israel Baseball League in 2007 and lived in Israel for 10 weeks, was asked to head coach the Israel Senior National Team.

While the national team didnt move ahead in 2017, it turned things around in 2019, effectively winning the 2019 European Baseball Championship B-Pool (the second tier of European Baseball mens competition) in early July 2019.

The team is a mix of local talent and Jewish Americans, who became Israeli citizens as a requirement for the Olympics.

Israels baseball team is made up of 24 Israelis,' Holtz tells NoCamels. Everyone is a passport holder or citizen of Israel. Fourteen or 15 of the guys have made aliyah over the past 18 months. Most of the players are from the minor leagues, but a few have played in the major leagues and a few are native Israelis, including the pitcher Shlomo Lipetz, who was born in Tel Aviv.

This is the ultimate dream come true, said Peter Kurz, Israel Association of Baseball president and general manager of Team Israel in a statement on the Israel Association of Baseball (IAB) website. It was almost too impossible to imagine but with the astounding performances of a dedicated team that always believed in itself.

Rhythmic gymnastics has an avid following in Israel. Thats because Linoy Ashram, an Israeli individual rhythmic gymnast, is considered the countrys best shot at a medal next summer.

The 20-year-old gymnast from Rishon Lezion, has dominated the sport since her first international competition at 12 years old.

She has made a significant mark on the sport for Israel, becoming the first Israeli rhythmic gymnast to win an individual all-around medal at the 2017 World Championships where she snapped up a bronze medal behind Russian twins Dina and Arina Averina. She is also the first Israeli gymnast to win gold in the all-around competition at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup series, nabbing first place at the 2018 Guadalajara World Cup. She is the first Israeli to win gold in a World Cup series apparatus final and the first Israeli gymnast to win gold at the Grand Prix Final.

Since 2017, Ashram has won a total of six silver and five bronze medals in World Championship events.

Also making a name for herself in rhythmic gymnastics is Nicol Zelikman, an individual rhythmic gymnast who scored a bronze for the hoop apparatus at the 2019 European Championships and helped Israel nab a silver medal in the team all-around competition at the 2019 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. She also qualified for the Tokyo games by placing 11th in the all-around competition. (The top 16 earn a spot to compete in the Olympics.)

This is the first time Israel will have two representatives at the Olympics in rhythmic gymnastics since 2008.

Israeli equestrian show jumpers qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in July, making it the first time that Israel has earned a spot in the games in this sport.

Four Israeli riders Daniel Bluman, Ashlee Bond, Elad Yaniv, and Danielle Goldstein Waldman edged ahead of Poland at the Olympic qualifier for Group C (Central and Eastern Europe) in Moscow to secure a place in the Tokyo Olympics next year.

Bluman is a returning member to the summer games. He is a native of Colombia and rode for Colombia in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Goldstein Waldman is a native of New York.

Israeli gymnast Artem Dolgopyat, 22, recently celebrated a victory, snagging a silver medal in the mens floor exercise at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart, German, and earning a spot to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

This is the gymnasts second silver medal at the World Championships. He won a silver medal in the same event in 2017.

Israeli gymnast Alexander Shatilov, who has already represented Israel at the last three summer Olympic Games, also qualified for Tokyo 2020 during the World Championships by placing seventh out of the twelve gymnasts eligible for qualification.

Israeli sailors Gil Cohen and Noa Lasry secured a quota for the Israeli delegation by finishing 11th in the womens 470 event at the 2018 Sailing World Championships in Denmark. Mia Morris finished in 12th place in the womens RS:X event and Ofek Elimelech finished in 14th place in the mens RS:X competition, securing two more quotas.

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Israeli road racing cyclists secured Israel a place at the Tokyo Olympics by finishing in the top 10 at the 2019 world championships in England.

Israeli shooter Sergy Rikhter secured quotas for Israel in the mens 10-meter air rifle shooting event by winning the gold medal at the 2019 European Games.

Anat Lelior secured qualification for Israel as the highest-ranked surfer from Europe and one of the top 30 surfers in the overall open division at the 2019 World Surfing Games.

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