Our Israel Committee helps nurture our connection to Israel by fostering education and promoting meaningful engagement with the Jewish homeland through programs, activities, and fundraising.
If your have an question or concern about Israel and our congregation, or if you’re interested in getting involved in the committee, please reach out to israel(at)societyhillsynagogue.org.
Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzma’ut
Wednesday, April 30 @ 6:00 pm
Come together to observe Yom Hazikaron, Remembrance Day for Israel’s Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism, and to celebrate Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Israel’s Independence Day.
Different from how most Americans experience Memorial Day and Independence Day, in Israel, Yom Hazikaron immediately precedes Yom Ha’atzma’ut — a profound, emotional acknowledgement that freedom isn’t free.
The somber nature of Yom Hazikaron is juxtaposed with the joy and exhilaration of Yom Ha’atzma’ut. As the State of Israel marks its 77th year of independence, we will seek to channel this unique blend of emotions with a 25-minute Yom Hazikaron ceremony, including poems, songs, and prayers in memory of the fallen, which will conclude with the siren heard throughout Israel on Yom Hazikaron, as everything stops, and people stand at attention.
We will then celebrate Yom Ha’atzma’ut with an Israeli dinner, backgammon, Israel bingo, and a giant Israel map puzzle, soundtracked by Israeli pop music. Join us to remember and rejoice — Am Yisrael Hai!
Shabbat Lunch ‘n’ Learn — Making a Difference: My Volunteer Experience in Israel
Saturday, Jan. 25
It was wonderful to be together with so many congregants and friends at our recent Shabbat Kiddush Lunch ‘n’ Learn, sponsored by the Israel Connections Subcommittee!
David Levine moderated an inspiring and moving conversation with panelists Holden and Felise Nagelberg, Val and Mike Yasner, Rob Einhorn, and Rafi Licht (pictured), who shared their experiences volunteering with various organizations in Israel before and since October 7, 2023.
Here are links to some of the organizations and volunteering portals discussed at the Lunch ‘n’ Learn:
Read some of Rabbi Kamesar's Divrei Torah (words of Torah) about Israel:
Identity, Israel, and Shared Humanity
Dear Friends, Each week I reflect, professionally, on a couple of fronts: for Friday nights, I try to write in a spirit that reflects the spirit of Shabbat—a poetic sensibility angled towards Shabbat as a palace in time, a foretaste
Pesah, Protest, and Poetry
We just got finished celebrating beautiful, if painful, Passover Seders in our homes and in community.
I wanted to begin by sharing the words with which I opened our Seder here at Society Hill Synagogue, with over 150 people across the generations crammed warmly in our social hall:
Finding God in Alienation
Dear Friends, About a month after October 7, my wife Caroline, stretching to find something with which to introduce the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — and, more precisely, a pathway through it to a better future — to our daughters Lila, 4
Gut-Wrenching Reporting
Dear Friends, It is heartbreaking to continue to reflect on the war flowing out of the October 7 massacre. I wrestle with whether ongoing commentary from me is worthwhile or whether we all just need a break. Of course we
The Return of Hostages: Where Do We Go From Here?
Dear Friends, This has been both an inspiring and continuously heartbreaking week; the latter word—heartbreaking—I’ve been using so often lately as to put it in danger of becoming trite, and yet that is the effect of the images we see
Reflections on the Israel March in DC
Dear Friends, I joined over 290,000 people at the National Mall in Washington DC on Tuesday for the March for Israel, March to Free Hostages, and March Against Antisemitism. While I did not agree with everyone that was selected to