ISRAEL: Same number of people, just more of them

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The monthlong stretch of the Jewish High Holidays has ended, and life in Israel is returning to normal, if sluggishly.

Army Radio reports this week that the average Israeli gained from four to 13 pounds during the long string of family get-togethers. Dietitians calculate the meal-hopping has added as much as 5,000 tons to Israel’s national weight, the equivalent of 830 elephants, give or take. (The zoo in Jerusalem already has six.)

But help is around the corner. In a few weeks, Israelis can compete in a race to the observatory at the top of Tel Aviv’s Azrieli Towers, the second highest building in Israel. That’s 49 floors, or 1,144 stairs — surely enough to burn off a pile of those calories.

— Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem