Israel Today May 2013

An Israel Awareness Publication

eHillel.org Sivan 5773/May 2013

ISRAEL TODAY Volume 1, Issue

Iran Continues Growing Nuclear Program

By Jonathan Allen. Grade 10

Tensions have increased as new information about Iran’s nuclear program skyrockets by the day. Iran has ramped up its construction with 3,000 newer and faster centrifuges. This will allow Iran to speed up its production of uranium, which may be converted into weapons grade uranium and used in nuclear weapons. There are currently two facilities monitored by the IAEA in which Iran is enriching their uranium.

What many don’t know is that Iran has a Plan B. Approximately 150 miles southwest of Tehran, the capital of Iran, lays a water plant, which is believed to be creating heavy-water for the production of plutonium for a nuclear bomb. Now that we are on the verge of approaching Prime Minister Netanyahu’s red line, it seems smart of Iran to create an alternative path to building nuclear weapons. In the midst of this chaos, U.S. officials along with five allies, together dubbed the P5+1, met with Iranian officials in Kazakhstan in an effort to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program. Additionally, President Barack Obama met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel.

This meeting was focused on hindering Iran from successfully creating a nuclear weapon before the clock runs short.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tours a nuclear plant in Iran.

Credit: themoderatevoice.com

Sophia Brener - Israel Advocacy Club President Reine Shattah - Israel Today Editor Rabbi Uri Pilichowski - Faculty Advisor

The Man You Need to Know: Yair Lapid

By Alexandra Mundlak, Grade 9 Yair Lapid is an Israeli politician and a member of the second-largest party of the Knesset: Yesh Atid. His career originally started when he wrote for the IDF’s weekly magazine as a military correspondent. As his career began to grow, he became the editor of a local Tel Aviv newspaper, which led to him hosting a talk show. After that, he published a series of books and in 2005 was voted one of the “greatest Israelis of all time” (Ynet).

Subsequently, he performed as an actor.

All this led to the career he’s currently in: politics. Lapid recently announced he would give up journalism to become a politician.

Yesh Atid’s Leader Yair Lapid Credit: anneinpt.wordpress.com

Lapid has caused a problem for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in that he refused to join a coalition with ultraorthodox parties, such as Shas. These political parties have historically been very important for Netanyahu’s Likud party to be able to form a majority coalition and, thus, keep control of the Knesset.

The ultra-orthodox parties have a deep dislike for Lapid, who becomes more popular by the day in Israel. The problem at hand is that Lapid reflects a belief held by many Israelis: Why should the ultraorthodox be exempt from serving in the armed forces? Lapid believes that every Israeli, religious or not, should protect the country by serving in the army. In the coming weeks and months, Lapid will become an even more powerful political force in the country. His enemies will become louder about their dislike for him; therefore, Netanyahu’s alliance with him will constantly come at the expense of old ultra-orthodox allies, all in order to keep control of the government.

Israel Today is a publication of Scheck Hillel Community School. It is written by the school’s Israel Advocacy Club, a group committed to educating and raising awareness about news and issues connected to Israel. With passionate spirit, vast knowledge and clear vision, club members train to become articulate spokespeople and advocates who meet with politicians and other community leaders to make a difference locally and globally. eHillel.org/IsraelToday

Dvar Torah & Advocacy

Opinion: Appropriate Support for Israel

By Rabbi Uri Pilichowski, Faculty Advisor

By By Jacob Green, Grade 10

In this week’s Torah portion, we study the story of the spies. The first verse of this episode reads, “Send, for yourself, men, and have them scout the Land of Cana’an, which I am giving to Bnei Yisroel; one man, one man each, for his father’s tribe you shall send them, each leader among them.”

(Bamidbar 13:2)

Jerusalem where many religions enjoy the freedom to practice Credit: wikimedia.org

IDF soldiers at the Kotel Credit: IDF Blog

The Ramban explains that the people wanted to send spies in order to know the roads and paths to take while in Israel. They would then lead the armies to where they had to go, which cities to attack first, and so forth. Sending spies was a strategically sound plan, and Moshe and Yehoshua did this before their wars. G-d instructed His nation not to rely on miracles. Moshe asked Hashem for permission to send the spies, and G-d gave it. Although Moshe’s intention when sending the spies was to find out where to attack first, Moshe asked them to give their opinion of the land for he knew it was a good land and wanted the spies to come back and say so. Moshe wanted them to see for themselves in order to satisfy the people’s need for a good plan.

Confidence in battle is important, and knowledge that you are well-equipped is essential for victory, yet the people in the desert were faulted for not having sufficient faith in G-d to reject contradictory claims made by those ignoring G-d’s words.

Thankfully, today we are blessed by both an army sufficiently equipped to defend itself and faith to know it is Divinely guarded. While our detractors follow the evil spies, decrying our ability to defend ourselves, we know the opposite to be true. Today’s IDF stands as one of the greatest armies in the world.

We all have our own opinions about Israel’s domestic issues and how its government operates. We all feel a need to try to push our ideas onto others or even onto our own elected officials. Though I’m sure your opinion is the correct course of action, we Americans sleeping soundly in our extra-sized king beds need to know our boundaries in Israel’s domestic affairs. We are 6,000 miles away from the action. It is Israelis’ lives at stake – not our own. It is difficult for people who are completely safe to make choices for those who aren’t. The citizens of Israel elected their own officials, and Israelis deserve to know that the government is doing everything in its power to keep them safe. Israelis are an independent people with the right to make its own choices.

We cannot possibly even start to fathom what it’s like to have 15 seconds to run to a shelter to escape an incoming rocket. Therefore, since our families’ lives aren’t at stake, it is not our place to tell Israelis how to run their affairs.

However, we still want to support Israel in whatever way we can.

How can we support Israel without conveying opinions? The best way is to have faith in the Israeli government, regardless if it is in line with our opinions. We have to have confidence that it is making decisions in pursuit of the safety of the entire land of Israel.

America and Israel: Shared Values

exercise and believe in any religion. This vastly diverse country is made up of Mormons, Jews, Catholics, Muslims and Atheists...all with the same freedom to worship or not to worship.

By Sophia Brener, Class of 2013

The State of Israel and the United States share a core value: freedom of religion. The United States was built on a central idea that all people have the right and the privilege to

An opposing argument is that Israel represents the Jewish people as a whole and, hence, any Jewish person can influence policy. I still believe that the former argument tops the latter, because Israel deserves our total, unpretentious support.

With this in mind, the next time you sit next to our members of Congress, remember that they probably didn’t get elected because of their outstanding knowledge in foreign affairs.

Be smart and advocate the Israeli government’s agenda and support for our one and only Jewish State. The last thing we need is a divided Pro-Israel movement, especially if the Pro-Israel community of America finds itself separated from the Israel it is attempting to support.

Similarly, Israel grants every one of its citizens the opportunity to practice any religion. This tiny country located in the middle of a volatile region, where religious freedom is a foreign concept, is central to three of the most practiced religions in the world: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It’s because of shared values like freedom of religion that the bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable.

From early childhood through Grade 12, Scheck Hillel Community School inspires students to become exemplary global citizens with enduring Jewish identity through an innovative curriculum enriched by co-curricular experiences. All of this is set within a nurturing, international community united by core values. Hillel is one of the largest Jewish day schools in the nation.