Israel This summer experience Israel in a whole new way! Study at the Shalom Hartman Istitute in Jerusalem  with Kol Shofar 2010 Lay Leadership Summer Study Retreat June 30 –July 7, 2010 Join us for an informative meeting to discuss Kol Shofar's journey to the Hartman Institute in Israel this summer. Meetings: Wednesday March 3, 7:30 PM or Sunday March 14, 12:30pm Davidson Middle School Annex 150 Lovell Avenue, San Rafael Rabbi Lavey Derby will answer your questions about the program, traveling to and from Israel, accommodations and recommendations for your free time in Jerusalem. For more information, contact Hagar Ben-Eliezer, Director of Programming 415.388.1818 ext. 111 or hben-eliezer@kolshofar.org ---------------------------------- Join other Kol Shofar members as you broaden your Jewish Knowledge, study with nationally-known Rabbis and gain a better understanding of the Jewish response the challenges facing today's world.   The Shalom Hartman Institute Lay Leadership Summer Study Retreat is an annual week-long seminar dealing with major questions facing Judaism in the modern age. The program, in operation for more than 20 years, takes place at the Institute's beautiful campus in the heart of Jerusalem and draws scores of North American lay leaders from across the continent and denominational spectrum. Join us this summer at Shalom Hartman Institute as we explore the "Other" in Jewish tradition and inquire into the moral and political implications of Judaism’s regard for Otherness. At the heart of this exploration are critical themes of identity vis-à-vis the Jewish people and non-Jews, in Israel and around the world.   Questions we will address include: how views of the Other differ between Jews of the Diaspora and Jews in Israel; how the ideas of Jews as a "Chosen People" and Judaism as an ethnicity are regarded today; and how these ideas influence relations between the Jewish people and other peoples, individually as well as a collective. The eventful week will feature renowned scholars from the Hartman Institute's Kogod Research Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought, including Institute Founding President David Hartman, Institute President Donniel Hartman, Yehuda Kurtzer, Moshe Halbertal, Israel Knohl, Micah Goodman, Melila Hellner-Eshed, Noam Zion, and Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi. More information is available on the Hartman Institute's website, http://www.hartman.org.il/.   Cost: $1394 per person ($694 is tax-deductible)* *Fee does not include airfare or accommodations while in Israel.   For more information about this program please contact Hagar Ben-Eliezer at 388-1818 ext. 111 or hben-eliezer@kolshofar.org As many of you know, medical student Nofrat Frenkel was arrested at the Kotel on November 18th, 2009 for the “crime” of praying while wearing a tallit. In response, a special shacharit service will be held: Sunday January 10, 2010, from 10–11:30 AM Women and men will daven Shacharit together while wear kippot, tallitot and t’fillin (no requirement, all individual styles welcomed) at Union Square in San Francisco. We will begin promptly at 10 AM. This shacharit service is one of many being held in town squares across the United States on this date, in support of Women of the Wall (WOW). The service will include a group “donning of the tallitot and t’fillin,” prayers and singing. We had the pleasure of a talk about Israel by Rabbi Doug Kahn, Executive Director, Jewish Community Relations Council, on May 31, 2009. His comments can be seen here. The State of Israel is the geographic and spiritual center of the Jewish people. We are passionately committed to Israel and urge our members to support Israel in all possible ways. We encourage people to learn about, visit and, when possible, to study there, as well as make financial contributions. We encourage dialogue and active engagement in all issues connected to Israel. The Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel is helping to raise emergency funds for Ashkelon and Sderot residents affected by rocket attacks from Gaza. Ashkelon's Masorti congregation is raising funds to help install shatterproof glass for their preschool that serves 200 children. In Sderot, the Masorti Movement helps sponsor respite excursions as well as programs in Sderot itself. We would like to support these efforts by sending one large donation from Kol Shofar. If every household contributes $18, we can send $10,000 to our brothers and sisters in Israel through an organization that supports Conservative Judaism in Israel. If you have suggestions about material for this section of the website, or want to participate in creating and maintaining the Israel pages, please contact Mike Harris through the Kol Shofar directory or email him:  israel@kolshofar.org. For now, we have posted congregant Bruce Raful’s diary entries from Kol Shofar’s trip Eastern Europe and Israel in 2007, and Rabbi Chai Levy's journal from the Kol Shofar trip in 2006. Enjoy!