ENGAGE WITH ISRAEL
Events, Programs, & Resources
EVENTS COMING UP
Israel National Observances in Brooklyn
Beyond Blue & White: Israeli Culture on Screen
Sunday, April 19
Location TBA
A special Israeli Independence Day event for young adults ages 25-45 in Brooklyn, celebrating Israel through culture, conversation, and community, featuring Israeli filmmaker Rafael Balulu.
Yom HaZikaron
Monday, April 20
7:15pm at BHS
(doors open at 6:45pm)
The Brooklyn Jewish community gathers for a shared Yom HaZikaron ceremony commemorating Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror.
Please allow additional time for security screening and bag check upon arrival.
Tekes HaMaavar
Tuesday, April 21
Park Slope Jewish Center
“Ceremony of Transition” from Yom HaZikaron to Yom HaAtzmaut.
Yom HaAtzmaut
Wednesday, April 22
7:00pm BHS
Celebration of Israel Independence Day with the BHS Community.
Israel Day Parade on Fifth
Sunday, May 31
11:00am
A NYC parade and meaningful gathering in celebration of Israel. BHS is a participant with coordinated groups and activities.
Israel Programming & Classes
The Haggadot of Hope exhibition features original Haggadah texts, including new materials created after October 7. Highlighting historic and contemporary voices from Gaza border kibbutzim, the program explores themes of freedom, resilience, and renewal through an interactive, guided experience in collaboration with educators from the Shitim Institute in Israel.
Haggadot of Hope
Wednesday, March 25
BHS
A 4-part series exploring politics, identity, and the tensions within Israeli society, and how history and culture — expressed through music, poetry, film, and media — shape today and the path forward.
Fractures and Voices
Tuesdays, April 28 - May 19
7:00pm at BHS
Reform Judaism & Zionism: An Evolution
Mondays, May 25 - June 15
BHS
This course explores the shift in Reform Judaism from early anti-Zionism to strong support for a Jewish state, shaped by antisemitism, the Holocaust, and key platforms like the 1937 Columbus and 1997 Miami statements. Taught by Rabbi Josh Weinberg of the Union for Reform Judaism and ARZA.
Israel Film Festival
June 9-16
BHS
14th Annual Israel Film Festival in concert with the Manhattan JCC and Israel Film Center. Stay tuned for information about the film and date of a screening at BHS.
GET INVOLVED AT BHS
BHS Israel Matters Group
Like Jews throughout the diaspora, our community is deeply affected by events taking place in Israel today. Whatever our personal or political differences may be, we are united in fear, worry, and sadness. Too many of us are experiencing this crisis in isolation. The information we receive about not only the current conflict, and but also the historical and political forces driving it, is highly varied, which compounds feelings of separation and distance. Some of us hear regularly from sources in Israel, or closely follow Israeli news media, while others of us do not know where to look for the kind of information that can help bring clarity and understanding to a situation that is complicated and confusing. This BHS group is organized around the principle that Israel Matters.
Informally organized and self-guided, this group serves as a forum for sharing information about Israel in all its dimensions and from all perspectives. The BHS Israel Matters group welcomes learning about different ways American Jewry can support Israel's democracy and the Israeli Reform Movement at this critical time. We gather both in person and online to discuss Israeli history, culture, and emerging information. We are organized and managed by lay leaders.
Topics of interest include: Unpacking Israeli History; the Hartman Institute podcast - What Matters Now; URJ [The Reform Movement] response to ‘How can the American Community support Israel?’; resources from leading newspapers, political, religious current literature, music, culture, films, etc.
For information about joining this group, please contact our clergy assistant at clergyassistant@bhsbrooklyn.org
BHS Israel Film Group
The Film Group meets biweekly to watch and discuss Israeli films available for streaming. Conversations are wide-ranging and engaging, with each film offering a window into Israeli culture, society, and history. BHS members are welcome to join, whether regularly or as your schedule allows. If you’re interested in joining, keep an eye on our events page for film group meeting dates and movie selections. For any questions, please reach out to lisa.kopel@bhsbrooklyn.org.
Partnerships at BHS
BHS Religious School Mifgash Program
Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, together with the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ), participates in the Yachdav’s educational twinning program, which matches students in Jewish supplementary schools, grades 4-11, with their peers in Israeli Reform Jewish schools. BHS began our Mifgash (encounter between Diaspora Jews and their Israeli peers) Program with the Hadarim School in Rishon Lezion, Israel in 2016.
Our 4th graders along with 5th graders in Rishon Lezion come together two times a school year on a virtual call to learn about what life is like for 4th and 5th graders in Israel and in Brooklyn. With the help of our BHS Faculty and the Israeli teachers, students prepare questions in English and Hebrew, share pictures, stories, play games and converse with their peers. The goal is to begin fostering a relationship for our students with Israel.
Meet Our Israeli Shlicha & Shinishit
BHS is proud to partner with The Jewish Agency for Israel, bringing Israeli emissaries into our community and across the Brooklyn area, in meaningful and complementary ways. Through this partnership, we welcome a Shlicha — an official Israeli emissary who helps strengthen Jewish community life, foster connection to Israel, and expand opportunities for engagement — and Shinshinim (an abbreviation of the Hebrew phrase sh’nat sheirut, meaning “year of service”).
Shinshinim are young Israeli post–high school graduates who defer their mandatory IDF service for one year to serve as educational emissaries in Jewish communities. Working through The Jewish Agency for Israel and local organizations, they engage children, teens, and adults through Israeli culture, Hebrew language, and personal connection to Israel. Shinshinim have been part of the BHS community since 2013, and together with our Shlicha, play an important role in building meaningful connections between our community and Israel.
Lior Lekner | Senior Shlicha in Brooklyn for the Jewish Agency For Israel (JAFI)
With over two decades of experience in informal education, community building, and cultivating a pluralistic Jewish identity rooted in Zionist heritage, Lior is a dedicated educator who empowers teens to explore their Jewish identities with curiosity, confidence, and a thoughtful understanding of Israel and its complexities.
Lior holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and History and a Master’s degree in Biblical Studies. Originally from Tel Aviv, she has been an active member of the innovative educational community of Kibbutz Na’aran in the Jordan Valley. She now lives in Brooklyn with her partner, Omer, and their three children, and looks forward to building meaningful relationships with teens and families across the community.
Ayala works with our BHS Religious School and Hebrew High students on Tuesday and Wednesdays.
Ayala is from Kiryat Ono. In her free time, she really enjoys doing yoga and pilates, baking, and surfing. Ayala enjoys working with kids and traveling. But most of all, she loves spending time with her family and friends.
“I am really excited about this shlichut because it’s a unique opportunity to engage with the Jewish community for a whole year. I look forward to learning from you about your connection to Israel, and also sharing my own story.”
Ayala Itshayek | Shininit working with schools and congregations in Brooklyn, including BHS
STAY INFORMED
Journalism
-
Israel News, the Middle East, and the Jewish World
-
News from Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish World
-
News from Israel, Middle East, and Jewish World Coverage
-
All news from the Middle East, Israel, and the Jewish World
-
For a secure, Jewish, and democratic Israel
Podcasts
-
A weekly exploration of one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World right now. Created by The Times of Israel.
-
Join self-confessed history nerd Dr. Noam Weissman on a journey through the fascinating and sometimes controversial events and personalities that have shaped Israel’s past and present. Each week, Noam explores the layers of Israeli history, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the cultural forces at play—drawing on a variety of sources and perspectives. Whether you’re a history enthusiast or simply looking to better understand this complex region, you’ll find a nuanced, authentic, and thought-provoking take on Israel—free from oversimplification and political spin.
-
Yonit Levi of Israel's Channel 12 News and Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian are two of the most prominent journalists in the world today. They are also Jews. Each week, join what MSNBC's Rachel Maddow calls "two great, smart smart smart hosts" as they dissect and debate current events shaping Israel, Jewish life - and the wider world. Their blend of nuanced discussion and sparkling conversation, featuring a dazzling range of guests, is why New Yorker editor David Remnick calls himself a “proud, avid listener," why Ira Glass says he "completely enjoys this show" and why Malcolm Gladwell calls it an "incredibly fun podcast". For a weekly fix of globally informed talk – including nominations for the greatest act of chutzpah and outstanding mensch of the previous seven days – there’s only one destination. Make every Friday morning Unholy.
-
Political and geopolitical analysis from the world's top experts, hosted by Dan Senor.
-
Hosted by Noah Efron, Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman, Linda Gradstein, and Miriam Herschlag
An inside view of how Israel can warm your heart and make your blood boil. It’s a show hosted by folks who live in and love Israel even though it drives them crazy, and who each week discuss the latest in Israeli politics, culture and society.
-
Now officially part of the Unpacked family. Smart, engaging, and inspiring content about Israel, Judaism, and the Jewish experience.
-
Welcome to Israel Story – the award-winning podcast that tells extraordinary tales about ordinary Israelis. Often called “the Israeli ‘This American Life,'” we bring you quirky, unpredictable, interesting and moving stories about a place we all think we know a lot about, but really don’t. Produced in partnership with The Jerusalem Foundation and The Times of Israel.
-
For Heaven’s Sake is a weekly podcast presented by Ark Media and the Shalom Hartman Institute, hosted by Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi. The podcast draws its name from the Jewish concept of machloket l’shem shemayim, “disagreeing for the sake of heaven,” which is exactly what takes place each week as Donniel and Yossi discuss the moral aspects of topics affecting Israel, world Jewry, and the future of Zionism.
-
Hosted by Haviv Rettig Gur
"Ask Haviv Anything" is a podcast about history, a podcast you, dear listener, will help to shape and direct, focusing not just on what I want to talk about but on what you want to learn and discuss. Nothing is off limits. We're going to talk about big and painful things, and also beautiful and fascinating things, wars and identities and painful history. And also more light-hearted things. Humor matters, especially when facing tough subjects.
RECOMMENDED READING BY OUR CLERGY
-
![]()
Can We Talk About Israel?: A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted by Daniel Sokatch
-
![]()
Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World's Most Contested City by Andrew Lawler
-
![]()
The Zionist Ideas: Visions for the Jewish Homeland – Then, Now, Tomorrow by Gil Troy
-
![]()
The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands by Amir Tibon
-
![]()
The Third Temple by Yishai Sarid (Author), Yardenne Greenspan (Translator)
-
![]()
Zionism: A Brief History by Michael Brenner (Author), Shelley Frisch (Translator)
-
![]()
Defining Neighbors: Religion, Race, and the Early Zionist-Arab Encounter by Jonathan Marc Gribetz
-
![]()
Zionism: An Emotional State by Derek J. Penslar
-
![]()
A Brief History of Israel by Bernard Reich
-
![]()
On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice by Adam Kirsch
-
![]()
The Thinking Heart by David Grossman
-
![]()
Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict by Oren Kessler
-
![]()
Uprooted: How 3000 Years of Jewish Civilization in the Arab World Vanished Overnight by Lyn Julius
-
![]()
Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Yardena Schwartz
-
![]()
Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn by Daniel Gordis
-
![]()
The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace by Adi Schwartz & Einat Wilf
-
![]()
10/7: 100 Human Stories by Lee Yaron
PROVIDE SUPPORT
Learn more about these important organizations by clicking their icons below.
