Tag: Peace & Reconciliation
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An American Pastor Builds Bridges of Peace between Israelis and Palestinians
With the passing of John Lewis, great men are on my mind and I thought that this was a good time to speak about some of them that I know and respect deeply. In May I wrote an update on my favorite Peacemakers in Israel, Roots/Shorashim/Judur. I first met Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and Ali Abu…
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May You Be Blessed with a Peace-filled Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving! As the year is ending, many of us take time to think about our life. How we are grateful for family and friends (family we choose), having a roof over our heads, the freedom to worship as we want—the list goes on and on—the fact that we have so many gifts to be…
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Graduation and Life’s Transitions
Graduation and life’s transitions are on my mind. My son just graduated high school. Life is every cliché, time does fly by. He is smart, kind, got accepted into a great college and has a bright future ahead of him. At graduation, my Valedictorian looked like a Jewish Christmas tree with all of his medals,…
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What do Israel and Charlottesville Have in Common? Facing Anti-Semitism
As I watched the tragic scene of the car crashing into the crowd of counter-protestors in Charlottesville, for a minute I thought I was looking at another Palestinian car ramming in Israel — one of the latest weapons of choice over the last few years to kill Jews. There have been 60 Israelis murdered by Palestinians…
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Jerusalem 101, Trying to Understand a Complicated City — Part I
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem let my right hand forget her cunning. Bible Jerusalem — Yerushalayim the Hebrew name originates from two words — Ir and Shalem. Ir means city. Shalem comes from Shalom, which means Peace. City of Peace. Sounds great — what happened?1 My intention in writing this was to try to…