Category: Uncategorized

This article was originally published in the Jerusalem Post on June 28, 2018.

Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.

This month, we had the privilege to learn more about the devastating and cruel truths of the Holocaust. We traveled to six countries – the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Germany – with 100 leading American philanthropists and scholars, and together, we tried to wrap our heads around the scope of the genocide carried out by Nazi Germany and its European collaborators.

We saw the horrific conditions suffered by the Jews in Auschwitz-Birkenau, which were built with a single purpose: to eradicate the Jewish and Gypsy peoples. We saw mass graves in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland, where hundreds of thousands of Jewish families perished by firing squads because their gentile neighbors collaborated with or joined in when the German Killing Machine arrived. At the Rumbula Forest Memorial, we paid our respects to some of the 2.4 million Jews who were killed in the Hidden Holocaust by bullets – some, murdered by neighbors they had grown up alongside.

Far too many people view these places as simply historical sites, where you can learn something about the past, but nothing about the future. Many – including some within the Jewish community – can’t comprehend that the antisemitism that existed in Nazi Germany might happen again, especially in America.

Facing these horrors up close focused our attention on the relevance of the Holocaust to our present day. How can we ensure that Never Again isn’t just a slogan, but a mindset and an action plan?

Three lessons from our journey stand out.

First, events like the Holocaust don’t happen overnight. They result from a process of systematic racism, intimidation, and discrimination that lasts many years.

Antisemitism had long been present across Europe. Nazi Germany harnessed that hatred to humiliate, marginalize, and weaken the Jewish people, as it prepared to unleash the largest genocide in history. During the first six years of Hitler’s rule, more than 400 decree’s and regulations that Boycotted, Delegitimized and Sanctioned (BDS) all aspects of Jews’ public and private lives. Jews were dehumanized in the eyes of the public until gentiles believed genocide was a reasonable course of a final solution.

The parallels to recent events should not be lost on us. In the last two decades, America and, in particular, Europe have seen a steady rise in antisemitism from the radical Right, the radical Left and from radical Muslims. A growing alliance between radical leftists and radical Islamists has produced figures like Jeremy Corbyn, the head of the British Labour Party, who ignores and even espouses vile antisemitism.

This alliance has driven the rise of figures on the radical Right in Germany, Poland, Italy, Estonia and elsewhere, who are committed to denying the Holocaust, and trade in antisemitic stereotypes.

It seems the only thing shared by all the radical movements is their hatred of the Jewish people. While European governments publicly express strong support for the importance of protecting their Jewish communities, history tells us that nothing lasts forever.
We witnessed this trend up close. In many of our meetings, European officials blamed the Holocaust solely on Germany – not the collaborationist leaders of their countries. None of these countries seemed to take ownership of their actions during the Holocaust. This denial has become public policy. For instance, a law recently passed in Poland made it illegal to acknowledge the Polish people’s complicity in death camps, outlawing the phrase “Polish death camps.” At the same time, and some Germans – including the third largest party in the parliament – are now working to minimize the Holocaust, claiming it was a small spec of “bird poop” in their 1,000 years of glorious history.

This brings us to our second lesson: we must recognize and fight against antisemitism with all of our power whenever we encounter it.

When we don’t act, we legitimize antisemitism, allowing it to become mainstream. We become an accomplice to its growth and influence.

Before and during World War II, Jewish communities across Europe cried out for help. World powers were overwhelmingly silent. Jews trying to flee were turned away by countries across Europe and the Americas, with Britain blocking immigration to what is now Israel.

Unfortunately, some Jewish communities in Europe and elsewhere now downplay or even ignore the dangers the Jewish people face. We found this in some of our conversations with European-Jewish leaders, who expressed their unwavering confidence in their local government’s willingness and ability to protect them.

Jews in America today have the power to stand up, speak out, and fight back against the antisemites. We should use this power now – before it’s no longer available.

This brings us to our third lesson. We must support Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people and ultimate insurance policy for all Jews.

Israel did not exist during the time of the Holocaust. It has already saved millions of Jews fleeing antisemitism around the world. In its infancy, Israel accepted Holocaust survivors from displaced persons camps. It launched countless operations to save Jews facing existential threats across the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and Europe. In the 90s, the Jewish homeland welcomed approximately 1.6 million Jews from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia, who had endured harsh antisemitism and hatred. More recently, rising antisemitism in Venezuela brought over half of the country’s Jews to Israel.

Israel has changed the game when it comes to the security of the Jewish people. This point was driven home for us during the trip, by Maj. General Amir Eshel – the former commander of the Israel Air Force, who accompanied us to Auschwitz. In 2003, Eshel led a squadron of IAF F-15s in a flyover of Auschwitz, issuing an eternal promise from the cockpit that the IDF is “the shield of the Jewish people and its nation, Israel.”

Remembering the Holocaust is not enough. We must turn the tragedies of the past into lessons for the future. Nothing less than the continuation of the Jewish people is at stake. It’s in our hands to ensure that Never Again really means Never Again.

The writers are Israeli-American philanthropists and co-founders of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation. Gila is the president of Stand By Me and Adam is the national chairman of the Israeli-American Council.

This article was originally published in The Jerusalem Post on May 9, 2018.

Both the US and Israel have withstood existential threats through courage and patriotism of their people.

Israel’s 70th birthday on May 14th has brought a surge of pride across America, as we #Celebrate70.

From the halls of Congress to hundreds of college campuses, to more than 16 Celebrate Israel Festivals in major cities from coast to coast, people across the country are sharing videos, images, words and melodies to rejoice in the miracle of the modern Jewish state and marvel at its unbelievable accomplishments.

The events this month have put on display the deep well of support that Israel enjoys in America, a sentiment that goes back throughout our country’s history. America’s second president, John Adams, once wrote, “The Jews are the most glorious Nation that ever inhabited this Earth” and “I really wish the Jews again in Judea an independent nation.” On May 14, 1948, a few hours after Israel announced its independence, president Harry Truman ignored strategic advice from the secretary of state because of his moral imperative to recognize the new Israeli government led by David Ben-Gurion.

The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel, called for the relocation of the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This year Jews around the world celebrated President Donald Trump’s official recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the opening of the US Embassy there.

These decisions have been rooted in our common values and common experience. Both America and Israel were established by people in search of religious freedom and tolerance. Both were founded on the Western values of democracy, Judeo-Christian values, free speech and freedom of the press.

The American Dream is much like the Zionist Dream, rooted in the principle that everyone should have the right to self-determination and the opportunity to achieve success through hard work and determination.

Somehow, thousands of miles away and surrounded by enemies and with no natural resources, Israel has achieved just that.

Both the US and Israel have withstood existential threats through courage and patriotism of their people.

When I was born, Israel was less than four years old. My parents immigrated to Israel in 1948 from Latin America and joined a long line of Zionists who fought for the right of Jewish self-determination. My father fought in the 1948 War of Independence and in the 1956 war. When I was serving in the army in 1973, I fought in the Yom Kippur War that changed the history of the Jewish people – and strengthened Israel’s reputation as a country that would not back down.

America also fought a war for its independence, and it was not until Andrew Jackson’s decisive victory in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812, that foreign nations recognized that America was an independent power with the right to exist. Now America is the strongest country in the world and Israel is a powerful nation standing strong against all odds.

The US and Israel are both deeply committed to helping the world. The US government works to spread democracy. American businesses bring life-changing inventions to countries who need it most and US-based charities aid people and support causes around the world. Israel follows America’s lead in helping make the world a better place. Israel established the first stable and successful democracy in the Middle East. After 70 years of growth, it has developed into the start-up nation – bringing innovations to the world – and is a light unto nations, providing aid to people in countries such as Nepal, Sierra Leone, Syria, Mexico, and Haiti.

Cultural diversity is at the center of both of our thriving democracies. America is of course, the original melting pot, bringing together immigrants from virtually every other country on earth, and Israel does the same. Over millennia, the Jewish people spread to every corner of the planet – Ethiopia, Iraq, Iran, the USSR, Morocco, Brazil, the US and more – and the dispersion collectively became known as the Diaspora.

Israel is where we have come together again. Israeli Jews have taken their traditions from Austria and Zimbabwe, from Berlin and from Bangalore and brought them together in the Jewish homeland, creating a rich melting pot of cultures.

Israeli society takes the “melting pot” phenomenon a step further with its mandatory army conscription, which gives citizens of all backgrounds the opportunity to succeed and develop national pride. I witnessed it first-hand during my mandatory IDF service. People from different countries, who practice different religions, who have different skin colors, who were born to different family circumstances, all start at the same humbling place. And all – Mizrahi, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Druze, Bedouin, Coptic, Arab Muslim, Assyrian and more – can be part of the Israeli army.

When we #Celebrate70, we don’t honor only Israel’s incredible accomplishments, but Israel’s shared values and strong alliance with America. From partnerships in business, innovation, technology, and academia to celebrating history and culture, Israel and America are great allies. Our shared dreams, our shared values, and our shared commitment mean that this year, Americans across the country are proud to say, “Happy Birthday Israel, and many more.”

The author is an Israeli-American philanthropist, national chairman of the Israeli-American Council, real estate entrepreneur and president of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation.

This article was originally published in the Times of Israel by Jacob Maslow on May 8, 2018.

A new anthology of Jewish thought called The Zionist Ideas: Visions for the Jewish Homeland – Then, Now, and Tomorrow was recently published. It is being hailed by many as the most comprehensive Zionist collection ever published because it includes over 170 different Jewish visionaries. This book, written by Gil Troy, includes a forward by Natan Sharansky and recognizes Adam Milstein as a torchbearer of cultural Zionism.

The Zionist Ideas builds on a classic Jewish book, The Zionist Idea by Arthur Hertzberg. Troy’s new book includes visionaries from the 1800s and includes women, mizrahim, and others who were left out in The Zionist Idea. This comprehensive book on Zionist thought traces the works of Jewish pioneers, builders of the modern day Zionist blueprint, and torchbearers who are carrying on cultural traditions and beliefs.

Adam Milstein is featured as a torchbearer along with other influential Zionists such as A.B. Yehoshua, Saul Singer, Sharon Shalom, and Rachel Sharansky Danziger.

About The Zionist Ideas by Gil Troy

Troy’s comprehensive look at Jewish visionaries looks at three different time periods, starting in the 1800s. He then breaks it down further into six different schools of Zionist thought:

•         Political
•         Revisionist
•         Labor
•         Religious
•         Cultural
•         Diaspora

The first part of this book explores the legacies and backstories of the pioneers who founded the Jewish state. This section includes people like Theodor Herzl, A.D. Gordon, and Abraham Isaac. Each of the pioneers in this section is from the pre-1948 era.

The next section covers the builders and influencers of Zionism between 1949 and 2000. These are the leaders and visionaries who implemented and modernized the Jewish state and blueprint. Zionists featured in this era include David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Leon Uris, and Mordecai Kaplan. The third section, where Adam Milstein is featured, is about today’s Jewish “torch leaders.” These are the people currently making an impact on the Jewish culture by reinvigorating the state and reassessing it where needed.

Adam Milstein’s Work Included in The Zionist Ideas

Israeliness is the Answer (2016) by Adam Milstein was included under the category of Cultural Zionism in part three of the book on Torchbearers. The focus of Cultural Zionism is the revitalization of the Jewish heritage and culture.

In Adam Milstein’s 2016 article in The Jerusalem Post, titled Israeliness Is the Answer, he discusses how many American Jews have become disconnected with their faith, particularly millennials. Milstein writes about the value of engaging younger generations with the State of Israel. He argues that even though many people claim that Israel is a source of conflict that drives these young adults away from their heritage, it is actually what connects them to it. Adam Milstein is a big supporter of programs such as the Birthright, which sends young people to Israel on a 10-day trip. Milstein believes that this exposure to their heritage and culture gives them a new sense of identity and connection to where they came from, leaving them in a state of “Israeliness”, which is a good thing.

This “Israeliness” reminds them of where they came from and where the Jewish people are going. They see the contributions that their people have made to the world and that being Jewish extends far beyond attending synagogue. By visiting Israel, Jewish Americans can gain a new sense of their own identity.

Adam Milstein strongly believes that Israeli-Americans are an untapped resource in maintaining the culture and traditions of the Jewish people. He is on a mission to bring “Israeliness” to America. The Israel American Council (IAC), an organization that Adam Milstein co-founded and serves on as the Chairman of the Board, is now the fastest growing American Jewish organization in the nation.

The IAC has started numerous programs to connect people to Israeliness and Jewish culture and traditions. Some of these programs include Sifriyat Pijama B’America, which sends children’s books written in Hebrew and about Jewish values to families to read, or IAC Michelanu, which is a Hebrew-language Jewish program that is on college campuses.

Adam Milstein’s Background

Adam Milstein is a philanthropist, activist, and co-founder of the IAC. He is also a real estate developer and managing partner at Hager Pacific. Adam Milstein was born in Haifa. During the Yom Kippur War he served in the IDF. Milstein graduated from the Technion in 1978 and moved to the United States in 1981 to pursue his MBA at the University of Southern California (USC). After graduating from USC, he found success in commercial real estate and continues to work in this industry. However, he dedicates much of his time to charitable causes that promote the Jewish culture and Israel.

In addition to his role as Chairman of the Board for the IAC, Adam Milstein and his wife, Gila founded the Adam and Gila Milstein Foundation, where they support numerous pro-Israel organizations. Milstein is also the co-founder of Sifriyat Pijama B’America. He also serves on the boards of many other pro-Israel organizations including Stand With Us, Hasbara Fellowships and Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC). Milstein is also a National Council member of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

With his lifetime dedication to furthering the causes and values of the Jewish people, it comes as no surprise that Adam Milstein would be considered an important figure in carrying on the traditions and values of the Jewish people here in America and in Israel. Or, that he would be included in the most comprehensive collection to date of visionaries and influencers in the Zionist movement.

According to a recent interview in the Jewish Journal, Adam Milstein states that “there is nobody better than an Israeli American to be an advocate for the state of Israel.” He wants people to understand that being Jewish is more than just being a part of a synagogue. It includes the culture, the food, the dancing, and so much more. ‘Israeliness” is a heritage that he works tirelessly to preserve – unconditionally and unapologetically.

This article was originally published in the Jewish Journal by RYAN TOROK on April 11, 2018.

Adam Milstein has been dedicated in a few pages in this new book called: The Zionist Ideas, Vision for the Jewish Homeland – Then, Now, Tomorrow.

It was written by Gil Troy, a Distinguished Scholar of North American History at McGill University.

The book received a forward by Natan Sharansky. 

The most comprehensive Zionist collection ever published, The Zionist Ideas: Visions for the Jewish Homeland—Then, Now, Tomorrow sheds light on the surprisingly diverse and shared visions for realizing Israel as a democratic Jewish state. Building on Arthur Hertzberg’s classic, The Zionist Idea, Gil Troy explores the backstories, dreams, and legacies of more than 170 passionate Jewish visionaries—quadruple Hertzberg’s original number and now including women, mizrachim, and others—from the 1800s to today.

Troy divides the thinkers into six Zionist schools of thought—Political, Revisionist, Labor, Religious, Cultural, and Diaspora Zionism—and reveals the breadth of the debate and surprising syntheses. He also presents the visionaries within three major stages of Zionist development, demonstrating the length and evolution of the conversation. Part 1 (pre-1948) introduces the pioneers who founded the Jewish state, such as Herzl, Gordon, Jabotinsky, Kook, Ha’am, and Szold. Part 2 (1948 to 2000) features builders who actualized and modernized the Zionist blueprints, such as Ben-Gurion, Berlin, Meir, Begin, Soloveitchik, Uris, and Kaplan. Part 3 showcases today’s torchbearers, including Barak, Grossman, Shaked, Lau, Yehoshua, and Sacks.

This mosaic of voices will engage equally diverse readers in reinvigorating the Zionist conversation—weighing and developing the moral, social, and political character of the Jewish state of today and tomorrow.

https://jps.org/wp-cont…/…/2018/02/Zionist-Ideas-excerpt.pdf

This article was originally published in the Times of Israel on April 5, 2018.

Jewish history teaches us that it takes great leaders to overcome major challenges.

At the turn of the century, Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, founder of Revisionist Zionism Ze’ev Jabotinsky, World Zionist Organization president Chaim Weizmann, Israel’s first female prime minister Golda Meir, and Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold saw growing antisemitism and acted to lay the foundations for an independent Jewish state.

During World War II, Mordechai Anielewicz led Jews to fight Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, at the same time that Peter Bergson (a disciple of Jabotinsky) managed a heroic campaign to form a Jewish army to fight for the allies, while raising awareness about the destruction of European Jewry.

A few years later, Col. Mickey Marcus, a tough Brooklyn street kid who built a strong reputation as an American military leader in WWII, left his home in America to help save Israel in 1948 and become its first modern general.

Today, the Jewish people face a new set of challenges.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which seeks to eradicate the State of Israel, is being waged around the world. It is working to divide the State of Israel from the Jewish family around the world, transforming from the glue that unites the Jewish American community into a wedge that separates it.

These extreme challenges demand action. They demand great leadership from us the Jewish people in the Diaspora.

The Jewish American community needs to identify, encourage and support heroes of our time: our Mordechai Anielewicz, our Ben-Gurion, our Henrietta Szold, our Mickey Marcus and our Golda Meir. We need leaders who will ensure the Jewish future in America by engaging and inspiring the next generation to be courageous Zionist leaders, fight antisemitism and support the Jewish people in America and the Jewish homeland, which will always be in Israel.

I have great hope and optimism that these high-caliber leaders will emerge. This is because I meet them every day.

In my work as a pro-Israel philanthropist and activist, I meet with the next generation of pro-Israel activists – passionate, innovative and incredibly hard-working leaders – who are rising to meet the challenges of our time.

I see these leaders in the young people who return home from Birthright, energized by their new connection to Israel, with a new understanding about the necessity of instilling a strong Jewish identity in their children.

I see them in Israeli-American Council, where young Israeli-Americans are being activated as a living bridge between America and Israel, as they work to strengthen our American Jewish community.

I see them in the teenagers participating in the Tzofim and B’nei Akiva youth groups – many of whom eventually make aliya and serve in the IDF.

I see them around the U.S. and around the world, fighting against antisemitism and for the global Jewish community.

These are the people who will shape the Jewish future.

Our job is to give them the platform to develop and the tools to succeed. All of us must support and empower the next generation of leaders with pride, courage, and resources. Why? If you are proud of your Jewish identity and heritage, you will be willing to fight and defend it. When you understand the history of your people, then you understand why it is so important for us to defend your community.

The task of being a great leader is not easy: leaders face isolation, ridicule and tough decisions. For instance, Jabotinsky was often condemned for his efforts to create a separate Jewish nation. But great leaders are necessary. We must invest in them, cultivate them and support them. This is how we support the next Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir and Henrietta Szold. This is how the next generation will be stronger than the last. And this is how the Jewish future will be secured.

This article was originally published in The Jerusalem Post on February 27, 2018.

Jewish history teaches us that it takes great leaders to overcome major challenges.

At the turn of the century, Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, founder of Revisionist Zionism Ze’ev Jabotinsky, World Zionist Organization president Chaim Weizmann, Israel’s first female prime minister Golda Meir, and Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold saw growing antisemitism and acted to lay the foundations for an independent Jewish state.

During World War II, Mordechai Anielewicz led Jews to fight Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, at the same time that Peter Bergson (a disciple of Jabotinsky) managed a heroic campaign to form a Jewish army to fight for the allies while raising awareness about the destruction of European Jewry.

A few years later, Col. Mickey Marcus, a tough Brooklyn street kid who built a strong reputation as an American military leader in WWII, left his home in America to help save Israel in 1948 and become its first modern general.
Today, the Jewish people face a new set of challenges.

Antisemitism is on the rise on the Right and on the Left. In the US alone, antisemitic incidents rose 67% in 2017 compared to 2016 – and in Europe, increases in antisemitic messages in media and social media has fostered a reality in which only half of Jews feel safe wearing visible signs of their Jewishness. A poll released in February 2017 by the Jewish Federation of San Francisco found that only 21% of millennials in their community are very emotionally attached to Israel, and only 26% think it is very important to be Jewish, reflecting disturbing trends we saw in the 2013 Pew Survey of Jewish Americans and other research studies.

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which seeks to eradicate the State of Israel, is being waged around the world. It is working to divide the State of Israel from the Jewish family around the world, transforming from the glue that unites the Jewish American community into a wedge that separates it.

These extreme challenges demand action. They demand great leadership from us the Jewish people in the Diaspora.

The Jewish American community needs to identify, encourage and support heroes of our time: our Mordechai Anielewicz, our Ben-Gurion, our Henrietta Szold, our Mickey Marcus and our Golda Meir. We need leaders who will ensure the Jewish future in America by engaging and inspiring the next generation to be courageous Zionist leaders, fight antisemitism and support the Jewish people in America and the Jewish homeland, which will always be in Israel.

I have great hope and optimism that these high-caliber leaders will emerge. This is because I meet them every day.
In my work as a pro-Israel philanthropist and activist, I meet with the next generation of pro-Israel activists – passionate, innovative and incredibly hard-working leaders – who are rising to meet the challenges of our time.

I see these leaders in the young people who return home from Birthright, energized by their new connection to Israel, with a new understanding about the necessity of instilling a strong Jewish identity in their children.

I see them in Israeli-American Council, where young Israeli-Americans are being activated as a living bridge between America and Israel, as they work to strengthen our American Jewish community.

I see them in the teenagers participating in the Tzofim and B’nei Akiva youth groups – many of whom eventually make aliya and serve in the IDF.

This month, I will see them in Washington among the hundreds of college students that the Milstein Family Foundation brings to the AIPAC Policy Conference.

These are the people who will shape the Jewish future.

Our job is to give them the platform to develop and the tools to succeed. All of us must support and empower the next generation of leaders with pride, courage, and resources. Why? If you are proud of your Jewish identity and heritage, you will be willing to fight and defend it. When you understand the history of your people, then you understand why it is so important for us to defend your community.

The task of being a great leader is not easy: leaders face isolation, ridicule and tough decisions. For instance, Jabotinsky was often condemned for his efforts to create a separate Jewish nation. But great leaders are necessary. We must invest in them, cultivate them and support them. This is how we support the next Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, and Henrietta Szold. This is how the next generation will be stronger than the last. And this is how the Jewish future will be secured.

The author is an Israeli-American philanthropist, national chairman of the Israeli-American Council, real estate entrepreneur and president of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit major Israeli tour spots, you can now experience some of them through virtual reality tours on the Virtually Israel 2.0 website.

A project of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation and the MERONA Leadership Foundation, Virtually Israel 2.0 features the following videos:

• Beaches
• Bible Land Museums
• Dead Sea Scrolls
• Independence Hall
• Jerusalem & the Dead Sea
• Sarona Market
• Startup Market
• Taglit Innovation
• Tel Aviv & Jaffa
• Tel Aviv Balloon Ride
• Tower of David Museum

Philanthropist Adam Milstein told the Journal in a phone interview that the idea for virtual reality videos came about three years ago, when virtual reality was becoming “very, very popular” and was clearly where the future is headed. They initially produced two virtual reality videos two years ago and they were very well-received among various Jewish organizations.

“We wanted to give people a much wider variety,” said Milstein. “We wanted to give them all the different things in Israel that will interest Jews and non-Jews, so we’re giving them a lot of tourist attractions.”

Milstein explained that they had a team of volunteers that went to those specific areas in Israel that took footage and pictures of the tourist sites from different angles in order to create the virtual reality videos. He added that more videos could be on the way.

“Based on our success, we’ll do more things that people feel we didn’t cover in the first ones,” said Milstein.

Milstein hopes that the videos cause people to understand the truth about Israel.

“Israel is not a war zone. It’s not a place of the conflict between the Palestinian and the Israeli,” said Milstein. “It’s a place of peace and prosperity and happiness and innovation, a place that anybody should go and enjoy. We’re showing Israel the way it is, the real colors, we don’t let the media contaminate the image that we have on Israel.”

“The main takeaway is we’re using innovation to tell the truth about Israel.”

The videos are all available on 2D and can be seen in 3D on platforms like Google Cardboard.

Original post: Jewish Journal

BY AARON BANDLER | PUBLISHED JAN 31, 2018

The Israeli-American Council’s Fourth Annual National Conference in Washington, D.C., held last month felt like a long-overdue family reunion. Enveloping warmth and a powerful sense of togetherness, the love for Israel was infectious, radiating to and from all the participants.

In the corridors of the Washington Convention Center, teenagers spoke with unique pride about their hybrid Israeli-American identity, rooted in the idea that they are deeply connected to their home in America while maintaining a strong affinity to their Jewish homeland in Israel.

Groups of Jewish-American and Israeli-American young professionals exchanged business cards and then headed to a packed dance floor, moving and shaking the steel floors of the convention center to the beat of Israeli music. A young Jewish couple —  the man from New York, the woman from Tel Aviv — joined with their 2-year-old and hundreds of other young families in a circle with picture books in Hebrew and English.

Groups singing Israeli songs blended with panel discussions about what it means to be Israeli and Jewish in America, centered around the idea that we were connected by the Israeliness in our character and the love for Israel in our heart. Many echoed the sentiment that Israeli Americans and Jewish Americans are one family, need each other and complement each other.

This sense of unity extended to the event’s political conversations. The politicians at the conference held views that spanned the ideological spectrum. They shared these radically different views on stage – in very frank conversations. All received thundering applause from the mixed crowd. In the many conference sessions and events, it was clear that Israeliness is a unifying force that can overcome political disagreements.

We live during a time of growing gaps and serious challenges in the Jewish community — both inside American Jewry and between Israel and the Diaspora. How do we address a declining Jewish population in the face of assimilation? How do we overcome divides among our different denominations, political orientations, ethnic backgrounds and geographic centers? How do we ensure that Israel is not a wedge that divides our community, but rather the glue that holds us together and strengthens us?

The nearly 3,000 participants in the Washington conference suggested the role that Israeli Americans can and do play as important partners for American Jewish institutions in addressing these questions and as bridge builders to the State of Israel and its people.

There are three unique value propositions that Israeli Americans — and groups like ours that represent them — can bring to the table for the Jewish community.

The first is our Israeliness, a character and multifaceted quality that brings together many aspects of our identity: Jewish values, the Hebrew language, Israeli culture, pride in our history and heritage, the unique accomplishments of the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and above all, a belief that “All the people of Israel are responsible for one another.”

Through Israeliness, our community is bringing new people into our communal conversations and re-engaging others from a wide variety of backgrounds. We understand the importance of Israel not just as a vibrant country and proud culture, but as a crucial part of our spiritual beliefs as Jews. We speak Hebrew at home and at shul — the same language with two unique and intertwined purposes. Our community offers new ways to engage with Israel and Judaism itself.

The second value proposition is our deep love for Israel, rooted in personal experience and an appreciation that it is not just the homeland of the Jewish people, but a source of our pride, common history, culture, courage, and strength. We recognize that Israel isn’t perfect but accept and support it without any preconditions.

As a result, Israeli Americans are uniquely equipped to advocate for Israel. The Israeli-American Council, for example, has worked to advocate for laws that keep states like California, Nevada, and Texas from allowing taxpayer funds to support groups that discriminate against Israelis with economic boycotts. In partnership with existing organizations like AIPAC and Jewish federations, the Israeli-American Coalition for Action and the Israeli-American community have acted to advance bipartisan support for the Taylor Force Act, the Israel Anti-Boycott Act and other important pieces of legislation.

The third value proposition is our willingness and ability to think outside the box. Israeli Americans have much to learn from the American Diaspora community about how Jewish culture and community can flourish outside of a Jewish state. Yet we are also contributing fresh perspectives that have brought a range of programs to American Jewish life – initiatives that are engaging not only Israeli Americans but also Jewish Americans of all ages.

By uniting Israeli Americans and partnering with existing Jewish-American institutions, we believe that we can strengthen the American communities we live in and build their connection to Israel. Our vision for the coming decades is optimistic: Where some see challenges and gaps, we see promise and opportunity to reignite Jewish life, re-inspire Jewish pride, and courage, and re-imagine our existing institutions so that they serve the next generation in our community.

By working together as one big Jewish family, Israeli Americans and Jewish Americans of all backgrounds can forge the future we desire.

(Adam Milstein is a co-founder and the chairman of the board of the Israeli-American Council.) 

Original post: JTA