| This week we marked the 23rd Yartzeit (anniversary) of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Hundreds of BINA student-participants came together for a special day that included: study sessions on topics such as “managing machloket” (disagreement), Israel as a Jewish AND Democratic state, tours of south Tel Aviv, visiting the Knesset, and exploring the Rabin Museum.
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This time of year, as we commemorate Rabin, we must remember that his murder was preceded by a period of intense polarization and incitement. BINA, having been founded in the aftermath of the assassination, continues to address these issues, as Israel, the US and other democratic societies struggle to maintain a civil discourse.
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BINA’s media delegation, supported by the UJA Federation of New York, traveled to NYC last week to learn about the American Jewish community. The group of 15 Israeli journalists started their journey with questions such as: Does the American Jewish community care about Israel? Why? Should Israel care more about American Jewry? What are the boundaries to their intervention in Israeli democratic processes? What are the biggest challenges of American Jews? If they care about Israel why don’t they come and live here?
After an intense week in NY meeting leadership from across a broad range of communal, educational and media organizations to build a picture of American Jewish life, from HIAS and the Tenement Museum, the NY Times and the Wall street Journal to Solomon Schechter and Harlem Hebrew Charter School, the group emerged with insights such as: “As a secular Israeli, the trip made me think differently about my own Jewish identity...I saw the beautiful sides of Judaism and was moved by their unwavering commitment to Israel”, “As an orthodox Jew, I realize we can not give up on the liberal streams of Judaism”, “As an Arab Israeli, I now know how much Israel needs American Jewry”. They also emerged with more questions and concerns like: “How can we bring these issues to the awareness of the Israeli public?”, or “American Jews may love Israel, but less and less”, or “The different stances on the definition of who is a Jew may be insurmountable”.
We hope that this experience will contribute to a shift in discourse in Israel on the issue of Jewish identity and Israel’s relationship to the second largest Jewish community in the world.
Glance through our photo album to follow this exciting journey!
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Thanks to everyone who joined BINA for holiday events in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Beer Sheva, Haifa, Kfar Saba and Dharamshala, India!
This year BINA welcomed hundreds of Israelis and others seeking meaningful, cultural non-traditional, non-synagogue experiences on the Jewish fall holidays. We marked the day with diverse range of events and activities including, lectures, workshops, limmud sessions, discussion circle, music, spoken word, poetry and much more.
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“Israel doesn’t need more or less religion - it needs more Jewish culture"
by Noga Brenner Samia
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"BINA’s approach is to strengthen the non-religious, cultural aspects of Judaism: Jewish learning and literacy, Jewish values of social action and collective responsibility, community building and communal Jewish expression — whether they choose to have religion (of any type) in their lives or not…” BINA’s Deputy Director, Noga Brenner Samia, on the debate over the proper place for Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israeli society.
Read the full article in Forward.com >>
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"Succot is an opportunity to talk about homelessness, affordable housing, poverty...we leave our permanent homes and go out into our flimsy succah...into nature, it doesn't matter where you came from, in nature
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we're all equal. Succot is a great equalizer." BINA Deputy Director, Noga Brenner Samia on i24NEWS English talking about the holiday of Succot and its lessons of social justice and call to action.
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| HOW A VISIT TO A SMALL VILLAGE IN RWANDA REMINDED ME OF THE TRUE MEANING OF YOM KIPPUR
"Yom Kippur, in my eyes, is a powerful gift that we received from Jewish tradition. Not just the day itself, but as a practice in life – stop everything, conduct true self-reflection, become
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better than you were, improve what needs to be improved, seek out injustice and change it, fix what needs to be fixed, and most importantly – do it together." Mor Shimonie, BINA's Alumni Community Manager recently travelled to Rwanda as part of the first cohort of the OLAM Impact Fellowships program, to strengthen their organization’s commitment to global service and development. In this blog, Mor writes about her experience.
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| Meet Tal Shaked, co-director of the Secular Yeshiva Network
Tal Shaked was born and raised in Jerusalem in a secular family. She worked as a lawyer for 6 years in the district attorney’s office before attending one of BINA’s Parashat HaShavua sessions, where she felt that for the first time ever she was experiencing Judaism in a way that resonated with her progressive, democratic and pluralistic values. This
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led to her decision join BINA and she became the first head of BINA's secular yeshiva in Tel Aviv. Today, she heads up BINA's secular yeshiva network throughout Israel. Tal lives in Kfar Bin-Nun with her husband and their three children. She enjoys swimming, traveling, and playing the tabla, an instrument she discovered while in India.
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Make a Difference! Gain New Skills! Live in Tel Aviv!
Applications are NOW OPEN for the Spring 2019 cohort of Tikkun Olam in Tel Aviv-Jaffa - a 5-month award-winning service-learning and internship program based in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel! Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
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BINA: The Jewish Movement for Social Change, operates under the Israeli nonprofit "Merchavim Chevra Lechinuch Vetarbut".
BINA operates under the Israeli nonprofit Merchavim, with the support of the Kibbutz Movement and the Posen Foundation. BINA is proudly funded by the UJA-Federation of New York, as well as additional supporters, including: Avi Chai Foundation, Champaign-Urbana Jewish Federation, Federation CJA Montreal, Feldman Foundation, Gimprich Foundation, Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Jewish Federation of Greater Metrowest, Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix, Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), Leichtag Foundation, Levi Lassen Foundation, Littauer Foundation, Matanel Foundation, Montefiore Endowment, Morris Levinson Foundation, Shahaf Foundation, Alan B. Slifka Foundation, Ziering Family Foundation, dozens of municipalities across Israel and hundreds of private donors.
WWW.BINA.ORG.IL/EN
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