A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Yair Silverman

The event was co-sponsored by BMH-BJ

About The Event:

The Israeli Declaration of Independence opens with “The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped”. However, in the Jewish Tradition, the people of Israel are fashioned as freed slaves emerging from Egyptian bondage. How do our natives impact the vision of a shared future?

About The Speaker:

Rabbi Yair Silverman is co-founder and Rabbi of Moed in Zichron Yaakov, Israel. Moed brings together secular and religious Israelis in the Carmel region in Torah study and social action to reimagine and generate passionate and shared Jewish life in modern Israel. He also serves as a judge on the Rabbinic court of Giyur K’halacha for conversions. Before making aliyah in 2006, R. Yair served as the Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in Berkeley, CA. R. Yair is ordained by Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University, studied at Yeshivat Birkat Moshe, and served in a combat unit of the IDF and the reserves.

In this powerful conversation, renowned author and speaker Yossi Klein Halevi joins us for an in-depth conversation exploring the evolving perspectives on Jewish survival, from the Shoah to the profound impact of October 7th.

About The Speaker:

Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. He is co-host, together with Donniel Hartman, of the Hartman Institute’s podcast, “For Heaven’s Sake” – the number one Jewish podcast in the English-speaking world.

Halevi’s 2013 book, “Like Dreamers,” won the Jewish Book Council’s Everett Book of the Year Award. His latest book, “Letters to My Palestinian
Neighbor” is a New York Times bestseller and has appeared in a dozen languages. He is currently writing a book about the meaning of Jewish survival.

He has written for leading op-ed pages in North America and is a former contributing editor to the New Republic. He is frequently quoted on Israeli, Middle Eastern, and Jewish affairs in leading media around the world and is one of the best-known lecturers on Israeli issues in the North American Jewish community and on North American campuses.

He co-directs the Hartman Institute’s Muslim Leadership Initiative (MLI), which teaches emerging young Muslim leaders in North America about Judaism, Jewish identity, and Israel. Over 150 Muslim leaders have participated in the unique program.

Born in Brooklyn, he received his BA in Jewish studies from Brooklyn College and his MS in journalism from Northwestern University. He moved to Israel in 1982 and lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Sarah, an astrologer. They have three children.

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Yossi Klein Halevi

The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion & Jewish Community Relations of Greater Phoenix

About The Event:

Israelis and Diaspora Jews are experiencing the upheavals caused by the October 7 massacre in different ways, but we share trauma and deep unease about the future. How will Israel emerge from the crisis? What changes should we hope for in Israeli society? The Middle East? The American Jewish-Israeli relationship?

About The Speaker:

Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. He is co-host, together with Donniel Hartman, of the Hartman Institute’s podcast, “For Heaven’s Sake” – the number one Jewish podcast in the English-speaking world.

Halevi’s 2013 book, “Like Dreamers,” won the Jewish Book Council’s Everett Book of the Year Award. His latest book, “Letters to My Palestinian
Neighbor” is a New York Times bestseller and has appeared in a dozen languages. He is currently writing a book about the meaning of Jewish survival.

He has written for leading op-ed pages in North America and is a former contributing editor to the New Republic. He is frequently quoted on Israeli, Middle Eastern, and Jewish affairs in leading media around the world and is one of the best-known lecturers on Israeli issues in the North American Jewish community and on North American campuses.

He co-directs the Hartman Institute’s Muslim Leadership Initiative (MLI), which teaches emerging young Muslim leaders in North America about Judaism, Jewish identity, and Israel. Over 150 Muslim leaders have participated in the unique program.

Born in Brooklyn, he received his BA in Jewish studies from Brooklyn College and his MS in journalism from Northwestern University. He moved to Israel in 1982 and lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Sarah, an astrologer. They have three children.

The event was presented in loving memory of Gloria & Herb Zeichick.