Israel Now
Welcome to “Israel Now,” a weekly Wednesday feature of our Bayit’s daily email (which will be reprinted in the upcoming Shabbat bulletin). Love, support and connection to Medinat Yisrael is a pillar of our Bayit. As we defend and advocate for our homeland to be the Jewish and democratic state of which we dream, now more than ever, we will present each week a summary of a current story or thought highlighting Israel’s leadership and progress in a technological, medical, agricultural, economic, religious, cultural, or human interest area. Thank you to our wonderful Israel Now committee for creating these summaries! Please read, enjoy and share. A dedicated email for the Israel Now committee will follow soon!
Why the Israel Action Committee?
Support for Israel has always been a central tenet of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. Particularly in these challenging times for Jews worldwide, the Bayit community recognizes the need to take a more proactive approach to deepen our connection with the Jewish State.
The Israel Action Committee (IAC) has been formed to strengthen our bonds with Israel; to further educate ourselves and others on the geopolitical, security, religious and cultural issues Israel must deal with in today’s world; to mobilize our community in promoting a more positive and nuanced public understanding of the Jewish State; and to empower those who want to get involved but don’t quite know how.
The formation of the IAC is also a response, in part, to rising global anti-Semitism—often masquerading as anti-Zionism, and the shocking hate speech and bias we’re seeing daily online, in the news, and even in our political discourse.
E-mail: Israelaction@thebayit.org
Two Goals We Hope to Meet:
(1) Deepen our connection to Medinat Yisrael by learning about its religious meaning, history and present and by highlighting its often-unsung accomplishments and exceptional worldwide contributions in science, health, technology and the arts.
(2) Promote a more vigorous understanding of Medinat Yisrael through our response to media outlets, individuals and groups whose words and actions not only undermine Israel’s security, international standing, and economic well-being, but also contribute to a climate of anti-Semitism in America.
The Israel Action Committee WANTS YOU!
The Bayit community has demonstrated its love of Israel over the years in many different ways and from many ideological perspectives. The IAC wants to mobilize these diverse views to help Israel grow from strength to strength.
For some, the IAC represents an opportunity to fulfill a religious obligation. Others may simply wish to come to the aid of the only democracy in the Middle East.
Participation in the IAC can serve as a vehicle to renew frayed links with the Jewish State or to demonstrate solidarity with a son or daughter serving in the IDF or family member living in Israel.
Are you upset with the anti-Israel bias displayed in the media? In a fighting mood to challenge local supporters of the international BDS campaign directed against Israel? Frightfully worried over the rise of anti-Semitism from the U.S. to Ukraine?
All good reasons, too, to enlist in our Israel Action Committee.
To join the Israel Action Committee please contact Israelaction@thebayit.org.
Resources
Books for Further Reading
- Chesler, Phyllis (2003). The New Anti-Semitism: The Current Crisis and What We Must Do About It. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
- Dershowitz, Alan. (2003). The Case for Israel. New York: John Wiley & Sons
- Gordis, Daniel (2019). We Stand Divided: The Rift Between American Jews and Israel. New York: Harper Collins.
- Gordis, Daniel. (2016). Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn. Ecco/Harper Collins.
- Gordis, Daniel (2012). The Promise of Israel: Why Its Seemingly Greatest Weakness is Actually its Greatest Strength. New York: Wiley.
- Halevi, Yossi Klein (2018). Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor. New York: Harper.
- Halevi, Yossi Klein (2014). Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem. New York: Harper Collins.
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Jorisch, Avi. (2018) Thou Shalt Innovate: How Israeli Ingenuity Repairs the World. New York: Gefen Publishing
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Lipstadt, Deborah. (2019). Antisemitism Here and Now. New York: Schocken/Penguin Random House.
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Shavit, Ari. (2015). My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel. New York: Spiegel & Grau/Penguin Random House.
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Weiss, Bari. (2019). How to Fight Anti-Semitism. New York: Crown.
Films Resources
- Israel Film Center, Marlene Meyerson JCC: israelfilmcenterstream.org
- Ma’aleh Film School Movie Catalog: https://www.maale.co.il/en/movies/catalog
- Netflix
- Amazon Prime