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Voices of Israel 2025


This speaker series will elevate voices of Israel and explore the following topics:
art and Midrash post October 7th, first-hand analysis from Kibbutz Hannaton to
Columbia University and a book discussion on "Dual Loyalty."
What does it mean to be proud Jews and proud Zionists in today's world? 

RABBI MATTHEW BERKOWITZ
(joining us from Israel on Zoom)
View bio HERE.

"Of Memory and Massacre: Israeli Art Post October 7th"

 In this session we will explore the visual art that has been created in response to the horrific events of October 7th.
We will focus our journey on the work of Michel Kichka, Zoya Cherkassky and Or Yogev. 
In addition I will showcase a moving Kol HaOt exhibit inspired by the Ot Chaim Project;
commemorative posters were commissioned from fourteen Israeli artists and each is woven into a verse from the third chapter of Ecclesiastes.
This time together will provide an important artistic oeuvre into the world that has been Israel after the atrocities of October.

 

TAMAR BIALA
(joining us from Israel on Zoom)
View bio HERE.

"After Simchat Torah: Israeli Women Writing Midrash"

The remarkably rich world of Midrash, the product of centuries of Jewish creativity, has been created entirely by men.
Recent years have seen new midrashim written by learned, committed and creative women.
This session will present midrashim by various Israeli women grappling with the experience of living through October 7 and its aftermath.

RABBI YOAV ENDE
SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT - IN-PERSON
View bio HERE.

"Despair and Hope: Building the Future of Israel in a Time of War"

BENJAMIN BERMAN GLADSTONE
(joining us from Columbia University on Zoom)
View bio HERE.

"The Zionist Revolution"

On many campuses, “Zionism” has become a dirty word.
To Jews around the world, however, it has been not only a life-saving social and political movement,
but also a revolutionary idea: the reclamation of an indigenous homeland
and a struggle for the equality, safety, and freedom of a downtrodden minority.
Join Dr. Berman-Gladstone for a sampler of the content he is teaching at Columbia,
which pays special attention to the oft-forgotten histories and ideas of Middle Eastern and North African Zionists.

RABBI NOLAN LEBOVITZ
(SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT - IN-PERSON)
View bio HERE.

"How has the October 7 Masacre and Fallout Changed the American Community?"

    

Following October 7, Rabbi Lebovitz synthesizes the Jewish turning point in history with lessons from the
past—arguing that it is a moral imperative to radically change the way we engage with both Israel and the United States.
Proudly declaring Jewish loyalty forges a new path forward imbued with pride in peoplehood and collective destiny.
Challenging the trope commonly cast against the Jewish people in diaspora, Lebovitz argues that affirming
dual loyalty serves as our best hope to shape a brighter tomorrow here in the United States and for our sense of Jewish peoplehood.

Sat, March 22 2025 22 Adar 5785