Israel (Yisrael)

Mount Zion Israel Kivvun 5779 Goals
Wrestling with Our Relationship with Israel

In Hebrew, Israel is “Yisrael” which means “to wrestle with God.” Israel refers to four separate arenas: a people, a land, a country (state), and a government.

Our purpose is to inspire אהבת ישראל ahavat Yisrael, a love for the people, land, and country of Israel, and to help congregants articulate their views of the government of Israel and current events.
We have four goals:

1. We will help our members feel capable of speaking about Israel in a safe environment of empathetic thinking and open dialogue.
2. We will teach the history and contemporary cultures of Israel.
   • We will focus on the history of Zionism, structure of the Israeli political system, Jewish and Palestinian narratives of the past, and the cultures of all of Israel’s citizens.
   • In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we will emphasize learning the values behind different positions (e.g., justice, self-preservation, peace, compromise, land, etc.) and unpack the terms used (e.g., why is the same land called “Disputed Territories”, “Occupation”, “Judea-Samaria”, “West Bank”, and “Palestine”?).
3. We will advocate for religious pluralism in Israel.
4. We will strengthen our connections with our partner synagogues in Modiin and Rosh HaAyin and our Federation partnership region, Sovev Kinneret.