Zaki Djemal, Regional Director for IsraAID North America – Israel’s forum for International Humanitarian Aid. Zaki was Chief Logistics Officer for Israel’s rescue mission in Haiti following the Port-au-Prince earthquake and worked in development in Nepal. He speaks about how it is that an Israeli organization has succeeded in bridging cultural barriers and establishing long-term relief programs abroad, where no other country has.
Learn more about IsraAID

Join the entire Baltimore Jewish community to celebrate Israel’s 64th birthday.

Sunday, April 29, 2012
12:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Towson University
West Village Commons*

Spectacular Israeli artist “shuk” | family activities |

comedian Benji Lovitt

Featuring a 2:00 p.m. viewing of “Israel Inside,” a new, poignant and inspiring documentary exploring how a small nation makes a big difference.

Sponsored by The Shoubin Lecture and Baltimore Hebrew Institute at Towson University; must book movie tickets in advance.

Event details, shuttle registration and movie tickets available online at www.baltglobalimpact.org/independence.

For more information, contact advocate@baltglobalimpact.org.

*Free parking. Directions online. Shuttle by reservation available. Activities will not violate the prohibitions of the Omer.

The discussion about what is it to be pro Israel is growing and growing; there are always new opinions and new points of view. It is very interesting to see the diversity in our people when you ask that question. As an Israeli that lives here I have been asked a lot of times, what is my opinion? All of those who have opinions claim that they love Israel, that they care for Israel, But is it always because of their big love of Israel? Our enemy also have opinions about Israel… I find the answer very complicated, there is not one good answer for that. Those who think that Israel is only about how it treats the Palestinians are wrong, Israel is much more then this, our young and small Jewish State is struggling for its identity since the second it was born, actually the struggle started even before that.
To be Pro Israel in my opinion begins with a deep understanding that Israel is much more then the famous conflict it is about the understanding that Israel is trying to stabilize its identity, between the religious people and not religious and ultra orthodox, Arab citizens and other minorities, refugees from Africa, security inside the country and threats from the outside and on the borders and more, and with all of that trying to be the only democracy in the region and the only Jewish State in the world.
There are at least two options to be Pro Israel; The first one is – Find for yourself one topic that you interested in, such as the Israel Palestinians conflict, ask yourself what would I do if it was for me to decide, put it out on the first newspaper that want it and here you are Pro Israel by giving advise to the Israeli government. The second is a little bit harder, start with reading, try to understand the whole picture, ask yourself how one issue influence the other one, maybe speak with some Israelis, try to put yourself in some of the situations such as what if I have to give up my house just because it will be good for the country, ask yourself questions (look for hard ones), and only then we can all start consolidate our opinion. I choose the second option.
For me to be pro something means to support it, not trying to change it all the time, its trying to see how can I help but not less important to be careful that I’m not causing any harm with my deed, to be aware that even when I totally believe that I understand everything the best way I’m helping to create and not to ruin.
When you love someone you help him even when you are not agree with him, you understand that even when you criticize him you still want to empower him and help him grow up and be stronger, and I’m sure that you never want to hurt him.
So I love Israel ….

See some more interesting opinions about “what does it mean to be pro Israel today?”

http://www.momentmag.com/moment/issues/2012/02/Symposium.html

המכבים ותורת המנהיגות היהודית
The Maccabees’ message on Jewish leadership

Dear friends,
In his speech at the UN General Assembly this year, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas (aka “Abu Mazen”) denied the ancient Jewish presence and connection to the Land of Israel. While violating the PA’s international agreements by refusing to negotiate with Israel and trying to fast-track to Palestinian statehood, Abbas in New York greeted the world “from Palestine, the Land of the Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ.” Abbas conveniently ignored obvious historical facts: had there been no Jewish Faith, Jewish People, Jewish Galilee, Jewish Nazareth, Jewish Bethlehem nor Jewish Temple in Jewish Jerusalem, there would undoubtedly have been no Jesus Christ or Christianity…

In fact, the Chanukah festival we will be celebrating actually made the later religion of Christianity possible. Because the Maccabee Revolt succeeded during the second century b.c.e. in restoring the spiritual and physical life of our People centered on the Temple in Jerusalem, it made continued Jewish existence a concrete fact. Let’s recall that the Seleucid king Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” (“the resplendent”) condemned our Faith, and tried to force our People to abandon Judaism. He enacted very specific measures to force us to adopt Hellenist (ancient Greek) beliefs and ways of life; attempting to homogenize all his subjects by imposing one faith and culture, he saw monotheistic Judaism as an obstacle that could not be overcome, so it had to be destroyed.

Chanukah is generally better known for the miracle of light than for the historic context of the heroic struggle and saga of our small People against the world’s most powerful empire which, despite great loss of life and suffering over several decades, did secure the Jewish future. It’s worthwhile to briefly recap the historical content of Chanukah, the struggle led by the Hasmonean (Maccabee) family clan and the independence they restored to our People 2,176 years ago.

• 168 bce: Antiochus bans observance of Shabbat, Jewish holidays and circumcision; he imposes celebration of pagan sacrifices to Greek gods. Matityahu Cohen ben Yohanan (Ma-Ca-BY) calls for a people’s war against the Empire under the slogan: “Mi le’Hashem – Elai!”: “Who is for God – come to me!” and begins the great saga of the Maccabees versus the Seleucids.

• 165 bce: On 25 Kislev, Yehudah HaMaccabi (“Judah Maccabee”) leads his forces to drive the enemy from Jerusalem and rededicates the Temple which had been deliberately defiled by the Hellenists. This does not mark a final Jewish victory; fighting continues intermittently for more than 20 years.

• 163 bce: Yehudah Maccabi obtains internal autonomy for his nation from Antiochus, but continues to fight for full political freedom.

• 161/160 bce: Yehudah is killed at the Battle of Elasa near Beth-Horon. Yonathan (Jonathan) is the new leader. An astute diplomat, Jonathan exploits unsettled political conditions to Jewish advantage, and the Assyrian authorities recognize him as both Governor of Judea and its High Priest.

• 143 bce: Jonathan is murdered, and Shimon (Simon), last of the five brothers who were Matityahu’s sons, becomes High Priest and Ruler of Judea. He succeeds in expelling the Assyrian/Greek forces and establishing an independent kingdom. Then, Simon is murdered by his son-in-law Ptolemy who wanted to succeed him as ruler of Judea. However, his son John Hyrcanus takes over and rules until 105 bce.

• 104 bce: Alexander Yannai takes over as the Hasmonean ruler.

• 76 bce: With the death of Yannai, his widow, Shlomtzion Hamalkah (Shlomit Alexandra or Salome Alexandra) became the Hasmonean ruler, 76-67 bce. During her reign, the Pharisees gain a position of religious and political leadership in Jewish life.

What a glorious passage in Jewish life… One that Mahmoud Abbas hides – as he does with any facts of the rich history of our People, denying our existence… His attitude sits very comfortably in the reality of post-modernism, in which actual facts are not very important in its acceptance of the validity of many “narratives.”

We can learn much of relevance for our present from the great Maccabee saga. The Maccabim developed a true example of Jewish leadership based on clear and important principles; we should teach and communicate these. Many of them can and do guide our daily work in Maccabi:

• All significant projects require clear, easily-understood and communicated objectives, able to enlist the enthusiasm of those who must take part.

• To reach stated objectives, it is imperative to be very, very strong-willed to focus energies, creativity and commitment in the right direction. Theodor Herzl’s famous phrase said it plainly and perfectly: “Im Tirtzu, ein zo Haggadah” – “If you will it, it will be no dream.”

• A project of redemption and revolutionary process must address the needs of everyone involved, providing real solutions to the reasons why they take part in the cause.

• To “make history”, a cause must have be translated into an action plan with a clear forward vision, strategies and tactics.

• Determining the priority of topics and issues of an ideology and the action it inspires, is absolutely indispensable in order to invest the highest amount of effort and energy on the points of maximum effectiveness.

• Significant projects can emerge from several individuals, but to make them truly transformational, they must have the support, involvement and work of the many.

• Truly transformational processes take time, require patience, perseverance, determination and commitment to ideals that inspire them and that must to be transmitted and continued by past, present and future leaderships.
• The success of a transformational process is always seen “at the end of the road”. An individual might participate in one of its stages without being around to see the ultimate, full resolution of all its components and aspects. It has always been so in respect of the geopolitical realities and internal challenges that Zionism and the State Israel face.

So, Chanukah brings us messages about leadership, vision, victory and success. It tells a true, specific and very moving historical saga of our People in our Land – today, our State – which led to our continuity as a Nation. Miracles of faith, struggle, individual and national human action, Divine action… and light: the light of a holiday that in the winter of Israel warms the hearts of the Jewish People everywhere, who recognize in the life of the Jewish national revival, the continuity of the message of the Maccabim which our Movement is so privileged to promote.

May this CHAG HA’URIM, the Festival of Lights,
carry the Torch of the Maccabees
to illuminate our commitment to continuing the authentic Maccabi ideals reformulated for our present and future.

May this be a very happy celebration with your families,
in the more than 400 Maccabi clubs and Jewish community centers
in 63 countries,
and in the modern Medinat Israel that so deeply and successfully
engages the spirit of the Maccabees.

Chanukah Sameach!
Chazak Ve’ematz!

RABBI CARLOS TAPIERO
Deputy Director-General
Maccabi World Union

Let’s start with a short background of this controversial campaign….
The Israeli Ministry of Absorption made a little storm in Jewish communities in North America with their campaign for Israelis to come back to Israel.
Jeffrey Goldberg’s latest post in the Atlantic was the beginning of a world wide conversation mostly between Israel and Jewish people in North America. The American Jewish community says that it is insulting to the Jewish people in USA; they say that the campaign calls Israelis to avoid marriage with American Jewish and also claim that the theme of it is that it is impossible for Jews to remain Jewish in America. The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) issued the following statement: “…While we recognize the motivations behind the ad campaign, we are strongly opposed to the messaging that American Jews do not understand Israel. We share the concerns many of you have expressed that this outrageous and insulting message could harm the Israel-Diaspora relationship. For that reason, we have made our concerns known to Israeli officials in the United States, and are delivering a strong letter to the Prime Minister’s office asking the government to stop this initiative and to reconsider the strategy behind it. We have also offered to help play a role in rethinking this effort.”
Business Insider magazine compared Prime Minister Netanyahu to the Grinch, a fictional character created by Dr. Seuss, which is used to describe a person opposed to Christmas time celebrations, while The Miami Herald published an article titled “Benjamin Netanyahu’s war on Christmas?”
It ended (did it?) only after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the Absorption Ministry on Friday to abort a new campaign that urges Israelis who live abroad to return to the Jewish state.

As an Israeli that has only lived here for only two months it was fascinating for me to read all the articles about this topic and not less fascinating was the talkbacks specially on the Israeli websites, The reaction was so strong and that is the first or second topic that comes up in any conversation I have here for the last week.
What is about this campaign that made it so controversial? There are so many topics to be involved with Israel and to say out loud your opinion, but on this one it seems that the American Jewish community was united.
What is it there that makes so many people so angry? Why isn’t it the right of Israel to call their citizens to come back home?
During my short time here I have been exposed to a great Jewish life, so pluralist, free to practice your way of Judaism, and I discover a rich Jewish life. I met many people that care so much about Israel and stand for Israel in any way they can, the connection between Israel and the American Jewry is so important and strong.
All of the above are not a secret everybody knows that USA is the most unrestricted country when it comes to religion. So if we all understand that you can live full Jewish life in the United States, doesn’t the Ministry of Absorption in Israel understand it?
I think that they understand it very good; the issue is that they didn’t say anything against the American Jewry.

If we look at the first movie and their message, we see a child trying to speak to his father in English and only when he call him in Hebrew “ABBA” the father react- the theme speaking Hebrew is harder if you don’t live in Israel.
The second movie about understands the memorial day in Israel “YOM HAZIKARON” – the theme of the movie is that you can not explain to non Israeli person how is it in Israel.
There is also a third movie about celebrating HANNUKAH or Christmas with the same theme.
It touches a nerve and for sure it is something to think about and talk about, but is it insulting to the Jewish American community??
So we already understand that the campaign was not addressed to the American Jewry, it was addressed to more then 500,000 Israelis in North America, and no, it did not say that you can not live a meaningful Jewish life here, we all know that the Jewish life here can be more pluralistic then anywhere else on the globe. But can someone argue that if you want to raise your children with Israeli cultural national hood feeling the best place to do it is Israel?

-Roey Tshuva

In additional to the great job BZD is already doing, I am here as a source for the community on anything Israel. Please use Facebook, Twitter, this blog, my email or my phone if you have any questions about things going on in Israel, if you want to plan a trip to Israel, looking for programs for gap year, to speak at your school, youth group, synagogue, or anything else to connect you to Israel. I am here for the community to help you get the most updated answers and facts.

From time to time I will put my thoughts in this blog or in our enewsletter. I will bring interesting news from Israel or different points of views of what is happening in Israel. I will be more than happy if you have any ideas or suggestions about things you want to know more about or thing you want me to write about, please send me an email to roeyt@bzdisrael.org .

Thank you to all the staff and volunteers of the BZD for the so warm welcome. I look forward as we work together to do a lot of good things for the Baltimore Jewish community.

Don’t forget – THE ULTIMATE SUMMER ISRAEL EXPERIENCE- THE BZD TEEN TRIP is getting close- tell everyone.

Here is something interesting to start our new relationship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AYNspLD-QQ&feature=related – Israel 10 most beautiful places- what do you think? Did they miss anything?

Thanks,
Yours,
Roey