Vote for the World Zionist Congress!
The election for the World Zionist Congress, the international “parliament of the Jewish people.” opened yesterday, January 21.
News from Israel is constant, ever-changing, and complex. From Israeli elections with a plethora of political parties to military escalations to the acceptance of non-Orthodox rabbis, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the depth and breadth of information that fills our newspapers, radio streams, and TV screens.
On the second Thursday of each month, Rabbi Michael Graetz, a founder of the Masorti movement in Israel and a former interim rabbi and scholar-in-residence at Park Avenue Synagogue, leads our Insights from Israel class. Meeting with us via Skype from his home in Israel, Rabbi Graetz brings us the latest breaking stories. Together, we discuss what is really at stake, and come away from this hour of learning with a better understanding of what it means, why it matters, and how it affects us here in the US.
Here is a sample of articles we discussed last year:
• “After flareup, military warns current Gaza policies leading region back to war” (Judah Ari Gross, Times of Israel)
• “Is Benjamin Netanyahu about to go rogue in Jerusalem?” (Mick Dumper, The Guardian)
• “Arab-Jewish Municipal Coalitions Bring New Hope” (Alexander Shapiro, Times of Israel)
• “Pilot, Poet, Scuba Diver, Lefty – the non-Orthodox Rabbi Bringing Unorthodox Views to City Hall” (Judy Maltz, Haaretz)
• “Are We a Nation or a Religion?” (Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, The New York Jewish Week)
• “Exclusive: PA Signs Secret Inspections Deal with U.N. Nuclear Agency” (Yossi Melman, Jerusalem Post)
Join us for the first discussion of the year on September 12 at 12:00 pm at the Eli M. Black Lifelong Learning Center. Want to know what we’ll be talking about? That, my friends, depends on the news and on Rabbi Graetz! Whatever is important that week, he will bring you his Insights from Israel live on Thursday at noon