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Program on "What Makes an Army Jewish?"

Two IDF veterans speak on "Ethics and Tradition: the IDF in an Age of Checkpoints, Village Sweeps and Targeted Killings"

What Makes an Army Jewish?
Ethics and Tradition: The IDF in an Age of Checkpoints, Village Sweeps and Targeted Killings

Thursday, February 14, 7:30 pm
Discounted Member Price - $6; Seniors, Students, Under 25 - $4

CLICK HERE for online registration

Join us in dialogue with two Israel Defense Force veterans and a Jewish educator. We will take on life and death questions that stem from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and confrontation with the Arab populations of the West Bank and Gaza. Dilemmas on preserving and taking life will be explored from Jewish tradition. One IDF veteran sees his experience as an occupier as degrading Palestinian life and Israel itself, while the other views IDF operations as life-saving necessities.

Yehuda Shaul is a young orthodox Israeli whose experience as a soldier in Hebron led to the 2002 founding of Breaking the Silence, a group of IDF veterans who give public witness to the impact of their service in the West Bank and Gaza. With photo exhibitions on life and actions in the Territories and through the soldiers' personal testimonies, they focus on the moral cost of occupation on Palestinian civilians and on Israeli society. Yehuda questions how an occupying army can remain true to Judaism.

Adam Harmon, author of The Lonely Soldier, is an American-Israeli who has served with elite IDF units for over 13 years and has helped capture leading organizers of terror and prevented suicide attacks. Adam believes that ongoing IDF operations must continue as long as the Palestinian leadership remains unable to fulfill its basic security commitments under Oslo and the Road Map. He asserts that IDF policy minimizes civilian casualties and enables soldiers to make moral choices.

Avi West is Director, Shulamith Reich Elster Resource Center, and Master Teacher at the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning. Avi uses Jewish traditions to enlighten contemporary issues, notably in a provocative dialogue on the 2007 Theater J American-Israeli production of Motti Lerner's Pangs of the Messiah.

Don't miss a profound journey with these three engaged individuals on what unites and divides us. 

Visit www.washingtondcjcc.org/dialogues for links to Robbie Gringras website, other Israel-related sites about the two events, and to documents on Conversation Israel. Watch for workshop and dialogue updates, and early announcements about upcoming Embassy nights and new dialogues!