Penn turns tables on BDS

  Last weekend while many of us were preparing to celebrate Tu B'Shevat and watch the Super Bowl, there was a BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel) conference on the U-Penn campus. Many of us were happy to hear Professor Alan Dershowitz speak last Thursday night about Israel's strong track record on human rights. In fact Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and she supports a robust press. In fact nowhere will you find more freedom of expression than in Israel.

     I want to thank my friends for helping to facilitate the live stream presentation of Professor Dershowitz interview on the large screen in our sanctuary. We would have attended the interview in person, had it not been sold out. In fact while 200 people, including 30 students, attended the BDS conference thousands of people heard Professor Dershowitz and 300 hundred student supporters packed the Invest in Israel Party the next day (at Smokes) where $5,000 was raised for the One Family Charity. In addition, 48 students hosted 800 guests for a Shabbat Dinner last Friday night featuring a D'Var Torah focused on Israel.

     Because the college campus environment is a place for the free exchange of ideas, that is where some of the most passionate debates about Israel take place. Even though the BDS movement's leaders were able to exercise their freedom of speech and slander Israel, the Jewish community lead by Penn Hillel and the Philadelphia Federation were able to tell the truth about Israel without resorting to confrontational debates. This might not be the case on another campus. Every university has its own unique culture and a constantly changing student body.

     In our religious school and Israel Forum classes we help our students to understand why Israel is unique and has a right to exist. We seek to become knowledgeable about Israeli current events and conversant with her culture, language, and history. That doesn't mean that we necessarily have to agree with every decision that the democratically elected government makes and that doesn't mean that we deny the Palestinians their culture or history. In fact we seek to peacefully coexist.

     One of the best ways that we can support Israel is by making friends, creating bridges of understanding, and finding common cause with our non-Jewish neighbors and with diverse peoples of other backgrounds. Please set aside the afternoon of March 25^th for our second annual Salute to Israel program at the congregation.