The Pulse of Israel: WHAT WE ARE STANDING IN
These words are from a presentation I gave at a Jewish National Fund – USA engagement in Denver, June 10, 2026 at Temple Emanuel. I want to begin with a moment of honesty. I travel. I speak. I meet Jewish communities across the United States and the world. And there is something extraordinarily special when…
Vision & Practice: Don’t Lose the Trees for the Forest
The best leaders hold the long view and the present moment at the same time. Some organizations are caught in…
Don’t Lose the Trees for the Forest
A Jewish people in crisis needs both the long view and the present moment You’ve heard the saying: don’t lose…
We Teach Who We Are: A Practical Guide for Classroom Educators
Teaching About Israel in Times of Crisis Table of Contents Introduction: The Educator at the Center Chapter 1: Understanding the…
The Global Jewish-Israel Syntheses Imagine: We Are All Israeli
I was thinking, growing up, my world was a tapestry of hyphenated identities. There was my Russian-American friend, my Italian-American…
It is true that many of us were not alive to witness the birth of the modern State of Israel or any of the existential challenges the state and her people faced for that matter – but does that mean we can’t relate to those challenges, find pride in her accomplishments and stand upon the…
Not quite. It turns out that many Jews regardless of their citizenship identify with the People of Israel/Jewish Peoplehood. For some the relationship is prompted by threats against Jews and the state of Israel generating a tremendous amount of talk-back and interest. The recent attack on Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria, the rise of anti-Semitism…
I’m afraid so. Are we the People/Nation of Israel or the Jewish People? This could explain some of the disconnect we witness taking place among Jews (People of Israel) around the world. If Judaism’s ancestry is the tribe of Judah, and Judah was the son of Israel (Jacob), then aren’t we all Israelis?
Exodus describes the Israelites as a “stiff necked people”; I prefer a “Resilient People”. Resilience is an individual’s tendency to cope with stress and adversity. This coping may result in the individual “bouncing back” to a previous state of normal functioning, or using the experience of exposure to adversity to function better than expected. Resilience…
Yitro, (Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law), a priest of Median “…heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel…” freeing them from slavery and guiding them through the Sinai wilderness (Ex. 18:1). This notion of hearing/knowing all that God has done is magnified here in Israel throughout the Jewish calendar. Since making Aliyah this…