CRC presents Israel Leadership Institute: Tackling the tough questions about Israel you’ll face in college

San Antonio, TX – Have you wondered how will I respond if I’m asked: Why does Israel exist? What is BDS? Do the Palestinians deserve a homeland? Is it ok to love Israel and admit it does things you disagree with? How does being Jewish impact my relationship with Israel? Can I support Israel and still support progressive causes in college? What if I’m challenged for being Jewish and supporting Israel? Can you be pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian? What are the things about Israel I am proud of? Is Anti-Zionism Anti-Semitism? These are tough questions, especially for Jewish students on college campuses, to answer.

The Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio has developed a brand new program for pre-college teens to answer these questions and more: Israel Leadership Institute. This intensive, 5 course curriculum will help teens form honest answers to the tough questions they will hear about Israel in college. The program is designed for a small cohort of San Antonio Jewish students entering college or their senior year in high school (if space available, exceptions might be made for students entering junior year of high school). The Israel Leadership Institute is at no cost to the students and is generously sponsored by the Norman and Anita Davis CRC Endowment Fund.

This program deepens one’s understanding of Israel through exciting and interactive one hour sessions to be held on zoom during the last two weeks of July 2020. Each participant will receive “Israel in a box” including interactive materials for the program, an Israeli cookbook, and a special cohort t-shirt. It will be led by Natalie Steiner, Jewish Student Life Coordinator of Hillel San Antonio.

 

Goals:
-Deepen the understanding of Israel
-Develop transferable skills in tough conversations about Israel
-Inspire teens to have a greater sense of Jewish pride and in the state of Israel
-Influence participants to have stakes in Israel’s future

Sessions:
1) The Many Histories of the People of Israel- Was there an Israel before Israel?
2) Current Political Controversies- How did we get here?
3) Faces of Israel/Israel through the Lens of Food
4) Anti-Zionism, is it Antisemitism?
5) Start up Nation