Yom Ha’atzmaut: Celebrate Israel’s Independence Day Community-Wide Celebration in Palo Alto

Celebrate Israel’s Independence Day at the OFJCC’s community-wide annual party 4:30pm-10:00pm, Thursday, April 26 at the OFJCC in Palo Alto! Be sure to check out—Special guest artist Idan Raichel, the Israeli Fashion Show, Israeli Film, “Matter of Size”, Israeli dancing, and even win a roundtrip ticket to Israel on the spot!

Visit their website at www.paloaltojcc.org/israeliblend for a schedule of events as well as links purchase tickets or “coupons” for some of the festivities.

Facebook event

Register for Taglit-Birthright Israel with USCJ Today!

Connect 1 Taglit-Birthright Israel

Free Trip to Israel for Eligible Applicants

Enter the Raffle to Win a Free iPad 2, iPhone 4s and a Macbook Air!

USCJ is excited to have the opportunity to reach out to our Young Adult population, ages 22-26, for the first time by partnering with The Israel Experience Ltd. to offer a Taglit-Birthright Israel trip in the summer of 2012.Taglit-Birthright Israel provides the gift of first time, peer group, educational trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26. The USCJ Connect-1 trip is specifically crafted to reach our young adults in a Conservative movement framework, highlighting some of the many wonderful resources we have in Israel and how we are at the forefront of religious pluralism in Israel.  Because this is a Birthright Israel trip, it is not structured like our high school programs, including the ritual aspects.  Connect 1 will not include any required prayer services with the exception of Shabbat.  This is a unique opportunity to reach those young adults who have not yet been to Israel on a peer experience, and specifically, by doing so in a Conservative movement framework. 

We are currently collecting names of potential applicants at:

http://taglit.theisraelexperience.org/referral-uscj/

Refer someone and you will be entered in the raffle to win one of the prizes listed above.  The more referrals, the greater the chances!

Registration opens on February 15, 2012 for a very limited time.  All referrals will receive email registration procedures.

Accepting Applications for Israel Teaching Fellows

Israel Teaching Fellows 
Israel Teaching Fellows aims to close the achievement gap in Israel’s education system by placing outstanding college graduates as English teachers’ aides in schools throughout Israel. Fellows live in communities near Tel Aviv and work with local students in need. Thanks to Israel’s Ministry of Education and Masa Israel, the program costs only $1,000 including flight, housing, medical insurance and a monthly stipend. For more information and to apply, visit www.israelteachingfellows.org

Dr. Mitchell Bard speaking at Kol Emeth Jan. 8, 2012, 9:30 a.m.

Dr. Mitchell Bard, author of THE ARAB LOBBY

On Sunday morning, January 8th, Kol Emeth will host Dr. Mitchell
Bard—foreign policy analyst and widely-read author of THE ARAB LOBBY:
The Invisible Alliance that Undermines America’s Interests in the
Middle East.

January 8, 2012
9:30 AM – Noon
Congregation Kol Emeth
4175 Manuela Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94306

*Refreshments served
*Copies of Dr. Bard’s book will be available for purchase and signing
*Admission is free of charge, but we welcome donations

*Questions: israelaction@kolemth.org

Dr. Bard’s book investigates the scope and activities of the Arab Lobby, exposing 70 years of coercion by Saudi Arabia and the impact on American education and policies—both domestic and foreign. Documenting complicity at the highest levels of government, THE ARAB LOBBY explains how this interest group has operated beyond public scrutiny exerting tremendous influence on our legislative, educational and corporate institutions.

Bio

Dr. Mitchell Bard, a scholar and foreign policy analyst, lectures frequently on U.S.–Middle East policy. Recently, he has appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, NBC, CBC, al-Jazeera and other local and national television and radio outlets. As a recognized authority on Mideast regional issues, Dr. Bard is the Executive Director of the nonprofit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) and Director of the Jewish Virtual Library  http:/www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ the world’s most comprehensive online encyclopedia of Jewish history and culture. For three years he was the editor of the Near East Report, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) http:/www.aipac.org/ weekly newsletter on U.S. Middle East policy.
Prior to working at AIPAC, Dr. Bard served as a senior analyst in the polling division of the 1988 Bush campaign.

Sponsors- Raskin Educational Endowment, Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest, Kol Emeth Israel Action Committee, Jewish Community Relations Council, Hadassah Sequoia

Taglit-Birthright Israel with USCJ: Experience Israel through Conservative Judaism’s pluralistic lens

Taglit-Birthright Israel with USCJ
Experience Israel through Conservative Judaism’s pluralistic lens

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) Young Adult Outreach Department has just announced that they are working with the Israel Experience LTD. to offer a Taglit-Birthright Israel trip in Summer 2012  for young adults between the ages of 22- 26. They are  collecting names of potential applicants at: http://taglit.theisraelexperience.org/referral-uscj. If you refer somebody, you will be entered into a drawing to win an iPad courtesy of The Israel Experience LTD. So spread the word, refer yourself or a friend, and they’ll keep you in the loop with registration information, and more. Here’s a few more details from USCJ:

From: http://www.uscj.org/YouthYoungAdults/YoungAdultOutreach/TaglitBirthrightIsraelwithUnitedSynagogue.aspx

Are you between 22 and 26? Do you know anyone else who is? Have you and your Jewish friends not yet been to Israel for more than five days with a group of people your age?

If your answers are yes or yes and then no, do we have an offer for you!

United Synagogue’s adult outreach department is excited to announce a Taglit-Birthright Israel trip planned for this summer. Working with The Israel Experience LTD, we are collecting names of potential applicants. Refer yourself or your friends at taglit.theisraelexperience.org/referral-uscj. If you refer someone, you will be entered in a drawing to win an iPad2, courtesy of The Israel Experience.

Registration for the trip will open on February 14 and will stay open for a very short time. You are not guaranteed a space on the trip if you refer your name now, but you will be emailed as soon as registration opens.

To be eligible for the gift of a trip to Israel from Taglit-Birthright Israel, you must be Jewish and not have been on a peer trip to Israel, so participants on such programs as USY Pilgrimage, Ramah seminar, and most day school trips cannot be considered. You are eligible, however, if you were on such a trip before you were 12 years old, or if you went to Israel with your family or a multi-generational group.

Experience Israel through Conservative Judaism’s pluralistic lens, or help Taglit-Birthright Israel give that gift to someone else.

 

Event: Jews’ Next Dor Dinner inTel-Aviv

When: 8pm (Tel Aviv time), Thursday, December 22, 2011

Where: Yotvata in Town, 76 Herbert Samuel Promenade, Tel Aviv, Israel

Join Jews’ Next Dor in Israel for a vegetarian/dairy family style dinner. The Yotvata in Town restaurant is located on the Tel-Aviv promenade, with a view (and the distinct salty fragrance) of the Mediterranean. They feature many dishes based on the dairy products of the Yotvata kibbutz in the south of Israel. Price will be under the Shekel equivalent of $20.

Invite your Jewish 20 and 30 something friends to join us too.

Contact JewsNextDor@beth-david.org.

Organized by Moshe Z.
Facebook Event

“Old City to Our City” Photo Contest by Birthright Israel NEXT

So you just got back from your Israel trip (or maybe you got back three years ago) and you took a million amazing pictures!  But what do you do now that they’ve all been tagged on Facebook?  Birthright Israel NEXT Bay Area in partnership with the Peninsula JCC will be hosting a photo contest open to all Taglit-Birthight Israel alumni. Start sifting through your photos for the best of the best!  Each participant is allowed to submit three photos total. On November 10th we’ll have the contest at the Peninsula JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, CA 94303, and a winner will be chosen!

First prize is your photo professionally printed on poster sized canvas!

Get all the details to submit your image here.

Whether your entering or not, come enjoy the display and vote on your favorites.

 

“Family in Captivity” screening at OFJCC in Palo Alto – Wed. June 29 – Free

Movie: “Family In Captivity”
June 29th, 2011
7:30 pm at
Oshman, Family JCC in Palo Alto
3921 Fabian Way in Palo Alto

Next Shabbat, June 25th, marks the fifth anniversary of the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.   To assure that Gilad is not forgotten, the Shalit family allowed unprecedented access to documentarian Tal Goren who has created the powerful film:  “FAMILY IN CAPTIVITY”.

The film is an intimate story that follows the day to day efforts of the Shalit family to cope and bring Gilad home. Through their story, we exit the political realm and see the human angle of an ordeal that is relate-able to everyone, showing how these private and anonymous individuals rise to become national symbols.

On Wednesday, June 29th at 7:30 PM, the Oshman Family JCC  will screen the film in their  Schultz Cultural Arts Hall  in support of Gilad and his family.  Help us keep Gilad in our hearts and in the news!

Co-sponsored by: Israeli Cultural Connection (ICC) at the OFJCC , Jewish National Fund, Kol Emeth Israel Action Committee, Jewish Community Relations Council, Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest,

Anti-Defamation League

Community Partners: Jewish Study Network, Beth Jacob Israel Action Committee, Etz Chaiym Israel Action Committee, Emek Beracha Israel Action Committee, Congregation Beth Am and Friends of the IDF SF  Bay Area Chapter

FREE Event.

The OFJCC’s address is 3921 Fabian Way in Palo Alto. Questions? contact Ronit Jacobs at.650-223-8692 or icc@paloaltojcc.org

USCJ Official Statement on Events in Egypt

What is the Conservative Movement’s reaction to the events in Egypt? Check out The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s Official Statement and let us know what you think.

February 11, 2011

On the eve of Shabbat, we are aware of a rapidly changing situation in Egypt. Our thoughts turn to the Middle East and the balance between our hopes for the growth of democracy and the need for a stable Egyptian government to affirm thirty years of fragile peace between Israel and Egypt. Inspired by God who orders the heavens as a model for us to live in peace with one another on earth, may those engaged in conflict in Egypt find a path forward towards democracy without vengeance or ongoing conflict. May the fruits of the events of recent days include growing and deepening peace with Israel. May we soon see the fulfillment of the hope that the Middle East will be a model for collaboration across borders and cultures. Finally, we ask the government of the United States to play its role to ensure that the progress made in the region continue and deepen. Our communities hope to play an ongoing role in that work.

 

Free Israeli Wine Tasting with Hillel Grads/YoungAdults

Israeli Wine Tasting with Hillel Grads/YoungAdults

Thursday, January 27 · 7:30pm – 10:30pm

Hillel at Stanford – Taube

Come learn about wine-making in Israel and taste some terrific Israeli wine, cheese, and crackers! This event is co-sponsored by Hillel at Stanford and the Israel Center of the SFJCF.