Israel: Lessons for the Here and Now

Join us for a series of three fabulous teachers on Israel, exploring both recent and distant  history, providing insights to better understand where we are right now and what the foundation of our tradition teaches us. These programs are free for congregants and $18 per person, per class for non-congregants. 

Israel Now: Looking In and Looking Out

Tuesday, February 10th, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm at NSCI

Led by Mike Hollander

The past two and a half years has been one of the most challenging periods Israel has faced in its short existence. This session will assess Israel’s military and diplomatic successes and failures with its neighbors, and will examine its internal challenges as we approach elections by the end of October.

Mike Hollander received his bachelor’s degree in History from York University, Toronto; studied toward a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University; and completed a Masters at the Cambridge Center for Jewish-Christian Relations. Jewish education has always been Mike’s passion and the journeys he leads in Israel and throughout Europe make for a rich educational experience. He has been a scholar-in-residence and taught Jewish communities throughout North America. We are lucky to have Mike as a friend and repeat Jewish educator here at NSCI.

A Concise History of Zionism

Tuesday, February 17th, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm on Zoom

Led by Professor Paul Liptz

Zionism. We hear the word tossed around frequently and so often misused and misunderstood. Join Professor Paul Liptz from Tel Aviv University for a history lesson and insight into what Zionism was and is; our long, rich history of religious and political Zionism; and how it is a core of Jewish history and practice.

Professor Paul Liptz was on the Tel Aviv University faculty for 40 years. He taught at Hebrew Union College (HUC) for 25 years and has been heavily involved in programs related to the Reform movement, through modern Jewish history, Israeli society, and the Middle East. 

The Impact of the Hamas–Israel War on Israel, the Middle East, and Diaspora Jewries

Wednesday, March 4th, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm on Zoom

Led by Professor Kenneth Stein

One of the foremost scholars on the Arab–Israeli conflict will offer a geopolitical analysis of the 2023–2025 Hamas-Israel War with lessons learned for Israel, Jewish diasporas across the world, and the regional dynamics in the Middle East. Participants will gain insight into how the war and the aftermath generated unanticipated consequences that continue to shape public discourse, alliances, and policy debates.

Dr. Kenneth W. Stein is one of the most respected American scholars of modern Middle Eastern history, with particular expertise on the modern Middle East, on Israel and the Arab–Israeli conflict, and the history of Zionism. For almost five decades he taught at Emory University, where he established in 1998 the Emory Institute for the Study of Modern Israel, the first of its kind in the U. S.