From Auschwitz to America: Lessons from Europe’s Killing Fields

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  Read More…

Why Americans Are Celebrating Israel’s 70th

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  Read More…

Adam Milstein Has Been Featured in the Most Comprehensive Zionist Collection to Date

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  Read More…

Adam Milstein: Promoter of Israeliness

This article was originally published in the Jewish Journal by RYAN TOROK on April 11, 2018. Photo by Ryan Torok. Adam Milstein is a managing partner at Hager Pacific Properties but is probably best known as the co-founder and chairman of the Israeli-American Council (IAC), a national organization that engages Israeli Americans through a variety of programming, including annual Yom HaAtzmaut celebrations, young adult groups, and children’s educational communities. He and his wife, Gila, run the Adam and Gila Milstein Foundation, which, among other activities, provides subsidies for high school students to attend the annual AIPAC (America Israel Public Affairs Committee) Policy  Read More…

The Zionist Ideas by Gil Troy

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  Read More…

Diaspora Jews Will Rise to Meet Our Challenges With Israel in Our Hearts

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  Read More…

Why I’m Optimistic About the Jewish Future in America

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  Read More…

You Can Now Experience Israeli Tour Spots On Virtual Reality

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  Read More…

Pride and Courage: Gifts for our Children in 2018

This month, we recounted the heroic story of the Maccabees, the Jewish rebel group that lived in the Land of Israel in the second century BCE, which makes clear that we must have pride, courage, and passion to fight for our survival and freedom as a people. During the time of the Maccabees, the Land of Israel was dominated by Greek armies. Many Jews, especially the cosmopolitan elite, sought to assimilate into the Greek culture as a road to political and economic power. The Maccabees – a small group of Jews determined to protect their Jewish identity and homeland –  Read More…

Israeli Americans can be the glue that builds a stronger Jewish community

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  Read More…