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 you have a question about Israel and our congregation, or if you’re interested in getting involved in the committee, please reach out to israel(at)societyhillsynagogue.org.
Upcoming Events:
October 7 Community Remembrance
Wednesday, October 7 @ 6:00-8:15 pm
In Lower Merion, PA; exact location will be sent to registered participants before the event
Click here to register
Exhibit Open — 6:00-7:00 pm
Program — 7:00-7:45 pm
Reflections — 7:45-8:15 pm
Shabbat Kiddush Lunch ‘n’ Learn: Exploring Israel Through Contemporary Israeli Art
Saturday, October 10, following Shabbat morning services
Join us on October 10 for a Shabbat Kiddush Lunch ‘n’ Learn presented by the Israel Connections Subcommittee, with Dr. Martin (“Marty”) Rosenberg, Society Hill Synagogue member and Emeritus Professor of Art History at Rutgers University, taking a look back at Visions of Place: Complex Geographies in Contemporary Israeli Art, the acclaimed exhibition he co-curated in 2015.
Through the work of 36 contemporary Israeli artists from diverse backgrounds — including Jewish, Arab Muslim, Arab Christian, and Druze communities — Marty will explore many perspectives that shape Israeli society today, what we can learn about daily life in Israel through art, and why the exhibition’s themes remain increasingly relevant today.
Read some of Rabbi Kamesar's Divrei Torah (words of Torah) about Israel:
Jewish Wisdom on Character and Leadership Amid Political Change
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Yet again, I write in response to unfolding developments in one of the most eventful months in electoral politics in modern American history, with reverberations for the Jewish community, for Israel, and for the
The Power of Hope: A Cornerstone of the Jewish Experience
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar There’s one part of my previously emailed d’var torah that I kind of want to take back. In it, I shared the truism that “hope is not a strategy” (juxtaposing it to the notion
Balancing Compassion and Critique: A Yom Kippur Perspective on Israel
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, I’m sometimes reminded of the adage about Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, that it has the capacity to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. That is, some of us go
The Jewish Story
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, I wanted to share just briefly a bit about the mentality I’m holding each week when I write about Israel, Gaza, and the Middle East. I’m Jewish. I’m not breaking any news here when
Identity, Israel, and Shared Humanity
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar 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
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: