In this three part program, Clive will start by asking where the very word ‘Israel’ comes from. Is it a person, a people, a place or a country? Is the State of Israel the same as the Holy Land? What are the boundaries of the ‘Promised Land’? How is it that back in the days of our grandparents, most Jews were not Zionists? In the early days of the State of Israel, she found herself confronted by ‘the Arabs’, best represented by Egypt. Then her avowed enemy was ‘The Palestinians’, best represented by the PLO. Now the enemy appears to be ‘Islamists’, best represented by Hamas. Over three weeks, we will cover the history, politics and current situation and consider what options exist for Israel. Has it been built over a fault line that is now pulling it apart. Or can the famed creativity of the Jews in general and Israelis in particular find a way through the many dilemmas that beset the State?
Clive Lawton is CEO of the Commonwealth Jewish Council which draws together and represents about 40 communities around the globe. He was co-founder of Limmud – an annual Jewish learning festival attracting thousands of participants – and worked for its global expansion so that there is now a Limmud in about 90 locations world-wide. He has been a High school Principal, Director of Education for the City of Liverpool, Chair of a busy London hospital Board, a Metropolitan Police Governor, and an advisor to the UK government on Race Equality issues. He is currently scholar-in-residence at JW3, the large Jewish Community Centre in London, of which he was a founding trustee, a tribunal Chair for the British Health Service (NHS), a magistrate on the Wiltshire Bench and runs his own international education consultancy. With degrees in Literature, Education, Theatre and Film, Hinduism and Islam, and Management Science, he is considered a leading light in the field of Religious Education. He lectures and has published about a dozen books in the fields of religion, moral and ethical matters, literature, politics, and history.
CSP Partners: Beth Israel (San Diego), Brotherhood Synagogue (New York), Congregation Adath Jeshurun (Elkins Park, Pennsylvania), Congregation Beth Israel and Center for Small Town Jewish Life (Maine), Congregation Bnai Israel (Tustin, CA), Congregation B’nai Tzedek (Fountain Valley, CA), Heritage Point (Mission Viejo, CA), Jewish Collaborative of Orange County (Newport Beach, CA), Temple Bat Yahm (Newport Beach, CA), Temple Beth David (Westminster, CA), Temple Beth El of South Orange County (Aliso Viejo, CA), Temple Beth Or (La Mirada, CA), Temple Beth Shalom (Needham, MA), Temple Beth Shalom (Santa Ana, CA), Temple BethSHalom (Hull, MA), Temple Beth Tikvah (Fullerton, CA), Temple Emanuel (Newton, MA), Temple Judea (Laguna Woods, CA), The Boston Synagogue (MA), Town and Village Synagogue (New York), University Synagogue (Irvine, CA), Valley Beth Shalom (Encino, CA), Walnut Street Synagogue (Chelsea, MA).