Podcast 150 – A Soldier on the Gaza Border
Once again, hundreds of rockets are launched at Israel by Islamic Jihad in Gaza. After reviewing and explaining this particular round of the conflict, Alan and Mike interview Eli Goldman.…
Ad Kan! Up to here! Where do we draw the line?
Last week a rocket was fired from Gaza, hitting a house in Mishmeret, some 20 miles North of Tel Aviv. All hell broke loose. All headlines and all politicians were…
What drives Israelis to the center? Yossi Klein HaLevi VIDEO
Yossi Klein Halevi speaks of rejecting two forms of forgetting. He suggests that there are those who forget that Israel has mortal enemies, and those who forget that Israel is an oppressor. The fact that our mortal enemies are also the victims of our oppression, suggests HaLevi, creates the paradox of the Israeli soul.
The complexities of Gaza – film guide to “Precious Life”
In 2010 the Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar made a documentary about a Gazan family that brings their baby for a life-saving transplant in an Israeli hospital. The movie is built with great sensitivity and an eye for painful irony and complexity galore. We have created a discussion guide for the film.
Gaza conflict 2014 – the Shorts
You may have noticed that we have been trying to post conversation-provoking statuses on our facebook page. Here are some of them in one document for your use. Feel free…
Echoes of Gaza
The commander of the IDF Givati Brigade wrote in biblical passion to his soldiers of our fight against “Gazan terrorists”. His words and rhetoric were met with a great deal of controversy.
Some voices asked:
- Does Vinter’s language suggest our conflict with the Palestinians is the extension of a religious war rooted in the Bible, and not an example of a State defending itself against a terror organization?
- Do we wish for the soldiers of the IDF to see their battle as religious?
- What should be the rhetorical tone of our wartime statements?
- How do our Jewish sources refer to war, and to this particular piece of land now called the Gaza Strip?
Vinter’s comment was not without current or biblical context. Controversy in the Bnei Akiva movement also raged recently after the three kidnapped youths were found murdered, when the Secretary General Rabbi Rabbi Noam Perel wrote on his facebook that: “An entire nation and thousands of years of history demand revenge,” and specifically referred to how the Israeli “army of avengers” should not to stop at “300 Philistine foreskins.”
How does Biblical Gaza echo in our conversations about current Gaza?
How do mythical references to Philistines connect with Palestinians of today?
We invite you to dig into the biblical echoes of this piece of land.
Is it worth it? Program for adults and teens
Before even beginning to talk about Israel, it’s worth checking some basic assumptions.
Here is an easy one.
If someone put a gun to your head and told you to hand over your iPhone or they’d shoot, we’re guessing you would rush to say goodbye to instagram.
We reckon you might not even put up a fight to save your car, if the fight meant risking your life.
How about your house?
Is there anything, or anyone, for whom you would risk your life?
Or in Tom Petty’s words:
Well I know what’s right,
I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin’ me around
But I’ll stand my ground, and I won’t back down
Is there anything you “won’t back down” from?
It’s a question worth asking before condemning warfare out of hand:
Is there anything worth fighting for? (more…)
Save a Child’s Heart
Click here for downloadable pdf
Children with Sick Hearts Abroad, Resources They Need in Israel
Right this moment, thousands of infants and children across the world are suffering from heart disease. Some of these children have access to the treatment that can help them. Unfortunately, many children do not. Many of these children suffer from congenital heart disease, which is responsible for more deaths in the first year of life than any other birth defects.
