Relationships, Israel & American Jewry

How would you define the relationship between Israelis and American Jewry? Would it surprise you that it’s really not as simple as it used to be? What use to be the big brother/ small brother, now seems to be more of a love / hate relationship. These are the voices of the elephants in the room, as they were called at Siach. It’s safe to state that this was the core concern that underlined the entire conference, and all left with a new understanding of the bonds and chasms between the two biggest Jewish communities in the world today. Personally, we found them quite distressful at first, but when we scratched the surface, we could feel the love is still there.

The First Siach Conf.

Siach is an Environment and Social Justice Conversation that launched on May 2011, acting as a global network of experienced Jewish environment and social justice professionals, as well as highly dedicated lay leaders, from Israel, North America, and Europe. Its goal is to connect and foster collaboration based upon a shared passion and commitment to Tzedek and Tikkun Olam.

Siach is an initiative organized by Bema’aglei Tzedek (Israel), Hazon (USA) and the The Jewish Social Action Forum (UK) and is generously supported by the UJA Federation of New York.

Leadel joined Siach as a media partner and will be presenting a series of spotlights dedicated to sharing some of the ideas and thoughts that came up during this fascinating and important encounter.