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\nSaturday\, May 26 - Sunday\, May 27
JCC in Manhattan
Join the New Israel Fund for sessions exploring the Jewish roots o f our social justice work in Israel:
\nChosen for Change: Divine Election\, Social
Justice\, and the Future of Israel
Saturday\, May 26th @ 1
1:15 pm
The idea of the Chosen People is one of the most
profound -- and profoundly controversial -- tenets of Judaism. Sometimes m
isunderstood as a claim of superiority or a mandate for conquest\, it is f
requently rejected or adopted without much discussion. And yet\, divine el
ection is at the heart not only of the Jewish past\, but of the Jewish fut
ure as well: As Israel struggles with a string of existential crises\, the
Jewish state and its supporters would do well to look to the notion of ch
osenness as a blueprint for change. Liel Leibovitz\, the co-author\, with
Todd Gitlin\, of The Chosen Peoples: America\, Israel\, and the Ordeals of Divine
Election\, will give a brief history of this controversial idea and
discuss the ways in which it could be applied to promote social justice\,
equality\, and peace.
| \n
| \n\n Liel Leibovitz is a senior writer for Tablet Magazine and the author of several books\, inclu ding The Chosen Peoples: Americ a\, Israel\, and the Ordeals of Divine Election\, co-written with T odd Gitlin. He's also an assistant professor of communications at New York University\, researching the ontology of video games\, which means he spe nds more time playing games than a grown man should. \n | \n
After Schechter: Approaches to LGBTQ Inclusion in Israel
Sunday\, May 27 @ 12:30 am
Five years after Con
servative seminaries in the United States decided to ordain lesbian and ga
y rabbinical candidates\, the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem h
as finall
y followed suit. Mikie Goldstein\, an Israeli student at the Jewish
Theological Seminary in New York and NIF Rabbinic Intern\, will explore th
e current options open to religiously oriented LGBTQ members of Israeli so
ciety\, and what can be done to promote further inclusion. Explore religio
us texts and Conservative responsa around these issues\, and learn how act
ivists are building a more pluralistic Jewish community in Israel.
| \n | \n\n Mikie Goldstein is an Israeli rabbinical s tudent at the Jewish Theological Seminary\, New York. Born in the UK and raised in a modern Orthodox home\, Mikie made aliya in 1989 to Jerusalem\ , where it was difficult to find a spiritual home as a religious gay man. Mikie has been active in the Israel AIDS Task Force\, Jerusalem Open Hou se and Masorti (Conservative) Movement and will return to Israel after his ordination\, in 2014\, to work as a pulpit rabbi in a Masorti synagogue. Mikie and his partner were married in Jerusalem\, in a religious ceremon y\, in 1995. \n | \n
