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.
Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Ceremony — Streaming of the Ceremony with Dinner
Monday, Apr. 20 @ 5:30 pm
Click here to RSVP (Advance registration required)
You are invited to join fellow congregants in the Social Hall for a streaming of the 21st annual Israeli-Palestinian Joint Memorial Day Ceremony. Held on the eve of Yom HaZikaron in Israel, this powerful gathering brings together bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families to mourn their loved ones and affirm a shared commitment to peace.
At 5:30 pm, we’ll gather in the Social Hall for dinner and schmoozing. The streaming will begin promptly at 6:00 pm and will include testimonies, musical performances, and messages of peace from human rights leaders. Organized by Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle – Families Forum, this ceremony offers an annual reminder that, even in the face of loss, we can still choose humanity and hope.
Resilience and Return: Segev Kalfon’s Survival of Captivity in Gaza
Sunday, April 26 @ 3:00 pm at Society Hill Synagogue
Segev Kalfon was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023, and survived 738 days of captivity in Gaza before his return home. Join us as Segev shares his remarkable story of the resilience, determination, and faith which sustained him in captivity. He will discuss the strength, purpose, and hope that can emerge even in the darkest of circumstances.
After Segev‘s talk, we will have a brief commemoration of Yom HaZikaron, Remembrance Day for Israel‘s Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism, which this year is just a few days before Segev‘s visit.
The entire program, with Segev’s talk and the brief ceremony, will be held in Society Hill Synagogue’s Sanctuary, with a reception and Israeli hors d’oeuvres to follow in the Social Hall.
$18 Members of Society Hill Synagogue and/or Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel • $36 General Public • $180 Sponsorship • Free for Students with ID
* All Proceeds Support Segev’s Recovery
This program is presented by Society Hill Synagogue’s Israel Connections Subcommittee in partnership with Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel and the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
Read some of Rabbi Kamesar's Divrei Torah (words of Torah) about Israel:
Finding God in Alienation
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, About a month after October 7, my wife Caroline, stretching to find something with which to introduce the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — and, more precisely, a pathway through it to a better future — to
Gut-Wrenching Reporting
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, It is heartbreaking to continue to reflect on the war flowing out of the October 7 massacre. I wrestle with whether ongoing commentary from me is worthwhile or whether we all just
The Return of Hostages: Where Do We Go From Here?
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, This has been both an inspiring and continuously heartbreaking week; the latter word—heartbreaking—I’ve been using so often lately as to put it in danger of becoming trite, and yet that is the
Reflections on the Israel March in DC
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, I joined over 290,000 people at the National Mall in Washington DC on Tuesday for the March for Israel, March to Free Hostages, and March Against Antisemitism. While I did not agree with everyone
Questions — and an attempt at answers — on the ongoing war
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Each week I wrestle anew with the events unfolding in Israel, Gaza, and around the globe, thinking about them in different ways. This week, is strikes me that the national and international discourse about Israel and
Ongoing Struggling With Israel, Gaza, And Antisemitism
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Each week, I struggle with the events in Israel, Gaza, and around the globe. And when I say struggle, I really mean it: Struggle with how we got here, struggle with what we do next; struggle