Me at a SHIUR event at Soho House Tel Aviv
help me put on a special
shabbat event in Israel
Hi Everyone,
I am co-hosting a special Shabbat event this May in Tel Aviv, and I’d be grateful for your support in helping make this event happen (scroll down for more details on this).
Since the war began, many eyes have been looking at Israel and the Jewish people. And it is difficult to look at these two “things” separately; but there are a couple of things which I feel are incredibly necessary to address. The first, is the Jewish people, though having a very interesting and almost eternal history, are not only that. The Holocaust (which is to what many people today limit Jews to) is not who we are; it’s just a chapter (though a very painful one) in our history. To understand who we are and what we stand for, the Torah and all that came after is the key to get to know us, and why and how we’ve managed somehow to remain in history.
On the other side, Israel, though a country with a Jewish majority, is not composed only by Jews. Muslims, Christians, Bedouins, Druze and other minorities are part of the society.
I think it is also important for them to understand with whom they are living with, and why do we as a People have repeated year after year, after every Passover that the next year, “next year in Jerusalem.”
SHIUR, to which I’m proud to say I’ve been part of since its beginnings in Israel, is a place where these two things come together. It’s a space where real conversation happens, where real ideas, spirituality, philosophy, art, and many more topics are raised to get to know each other through lenses of openness and real tolerance.
The reason I explain this is because I am hoping to help SHIUR sustainable and allow this community I am part of to grow. We are looking to be able to continue our programmin: weekly shiurim, shabbat dinners (including the one I am co-hosting this month), as well as programming with Bedouin and Israeli Arabs.
I would be grateful for your support in making this Shabbat event happen and for any support in bringing SHIUR back to Tel Aviv. Please have a look below at ways you can support us and at pictures from our previous events.
Thank you!
Tito
PS—SHIUR is a US 501 c 3 not for profit organization (EIN: 86-3431923), so the good news is that your donation is tax deductible (for US tax payers)! You can donate via the links below, or if you’d like to give via a corporate matching platform like Benevity let me know & I’ll send you the details. To give with your Donor Advised Fund click here
Sponsorship Options
About SHIUR in Israel…
We believe, now it is crucial to work on “internal defense” by engaging with intellectual and spiritual questions that shape our sense of what Israel stands for and what it means to be Jewish and or Israelis (this includes all Arab and non-Jewish inhabitants and citizens). Given the global nature of discourse about the War, engaging in discourse with our international community is key.
Support our important actions involving Jewish & Arab, secular & religious coexistence and unity programming, including:
Regular in-person SHIUR gatherings in art galleries, cultural spaces, and other locations, where Jews and Arabs, Israelis and foreigners, come together through text-based discourse, led from both within the community as well as with different guest scholars. Thinking together, reading together, developing ideas and experiences together–is vital now as different narratives attempt to draw us apart.
Jewish tradition, practice and ritual offers us a unique and meaningful way to engage with the challenges of our time. From re-imagining Shabbat and Havdalah rituals, to innovative readings of classical Jewish and Hebrew texts will allow for transformative encounters, growth, and a new sense of community and identity.
Original cultural programming in Israel
Art plays a vital role in times of war and instability. We support and create original art, music, and cultural events directly relating to what’s happening in Israel. We also have events in Europe and North America that are directly related to our activities in Israel—building bridges between all our communities.
