Jewish Student Union (JSU), Center for Jewish Learning and the Saul Brodsky Jewish Community Library present two programs with Zeev Ben-Shachar on Sunday, April 30, 2017 in partnership with Sh’ma: Listen! Speaker Series.

The first, Jerusalem – United for 50 Years?, will take place at the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center at 10:00 am. The 1967 Arab-Israeli War dramatically transformed the geopolitical reality in the Middle East. In six days of ferocious battle, Israel defeated three Arab armies, captured massive territory and reclaimed control of the Old City of Jerusalem, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. Fifty years later, this momentous event is a source of great pride – but also much controversy – in the Jewish world and beyond. A conversation about complexities, possibilities and pride.

Next, Ben-Shachar will speak about The BDS Movement: What’s Wrong in the Battle for Rights?, will take place at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis at 1:00 pm. The last two decades have seen an increase in anti-Israel activity on college campuses and beyond. Responses to this challenge have considerably altered over the years, so much so that supporters of Israel even debate the accurate terminology to articulate their approach (advocacy, education, literacy or engagement?). In this session, we will use the BDS campaign as an instructive case study for understanding the threats and look at relevant responses for countering them.

Zeev currently serves as Senior Israel Educator at Jerusalem U. He directs a team of educators, developing and teaching year-long classes on Israel, leadership and activism for 500 students each year, studying at 20 Israel-based gap year programs. Additionally, he oversees a team of content writers, develops online courses, documentary films and educational curricula to connect over 16,000 North American high school students, college students and adults with Israeli history and society. In 2007, Zeev helped found the Israel branch of The David Project, a major Israel advocacy organization in North America, which focuses on promoting Israel’s image on US campuses.

To RSVP for either of these events, please contact Nancy Dubman at 314-442-3771 or NDubman@JFedSTL.org. For inquiries, contact Cyndee Levy at 314-442-3754 or CLevy@JFedSTL.org.

Sponsored by the Jewish Student Union and the Center for Jewish Learning. You can also learn more about the Sh’ma: Listen! Speaker Series and apply for your organization’s speaker to be featured at JFedSTL.org/SpeakerSeries. Sh’ma Listen! is generously funded by the Lubin-Green Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, and Hank Webber and Chris Jacobs.