Later this week we will be celebrating Yom Yerushalayim, an Israeli national holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the Old City in June 1967. As we look forward to this minor religious holiday thanking Hashem for our victory in the Six-Day War and for answering the 2,000-year-old prayer of “Next Year in Jerusalem” we would like to share the following video from Kenneth Stein, Professor of Middle Eastern History, Political Science and Israel Studies and the Director of the Institute for the Study of Modern Israel of Emory University.
The way we understand history – and the stories we tell because of it – are powerful determinants of how we see ourselves in the world. In the video below, Professor Stein asks us to consider: who tells Israel’s story? What is the basis for their narrative, and how does that telling affect us? Drawing on national history, professional experience in law and government, and personal connection to the land and its people, Professor Stein challenges us to re-examine the sources of our own relationship to the modern state of Israel.
AVI CHAI concluded its general grant making on December 31, 2019.