Skip to main content

Israel and the Middle East DALLAS Briefing with Gil Elan – 09/09/15

Israel and the Middle East DALLAS Briefing with Gil Elan
Free and open to the public. (We accept donations for the JFS Food Bank.)

Gil Elan

When: Wednesday, September 9 -- 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Where: Aaron Family JCC - 7900 Northaven Road – Dallas, TX (JCC security requires ID at the entrance)

Message from Gil:

This weekend we welcome the new Jewish year. Will 5776 be a "Shana Tova" ... a "good new year"? Probably not based on the way the current year is ending.

At tomorrow's briefing (Wednesday, September 9), we will look at the major Middle East events of the past twelve months and how they have set into motion several irreversible and mostly unstoppable geo-political chain reactions that are evolving into a "new world order". We'll discuss the causes and effects of:

(1) The growing mass migration of Syrians and Iraqis into Europe (hints: main cause - US foreign policy...or lack thereof. Possible effect - rise of right-wing nationalists and eventual break-up of the EU)

(2) Long-term destabilization of the Middle East (Causes: The "Arab Spring", the Iran Nuke Deal, the unchecked growth and territorial expansion of both ISIS and al-Qaeda over the past few years)

(3) The decline of America's leadership, credibility and influence in the region while Russia's is steadily expanding.

(4) How Israel fits in. 

As always, lots to talk about on Wednesday. And as we say on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year: "May the old year and its curses end, may the new year and its blessings begin"

Shana Tova y'all - have a happy, healthy and yes...Good 5776
Gil Elan and Susan Myers
Southwest Jewish Congress


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why did they lay their coats at Saul's feet?

The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew   sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the   sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to what he

Are Saul and Paul the Same Person?

There has always been some confusion over whether Saul and Paul is the same person. The confusion begins in the Book of Acts. ● “Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul . . . he brought him to Antioch . . . for a whole year they taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called ‘ Christians ’ in Antioch .” ( Acts 11:25-26 ) ● “ Then Agrippa said to Paul , `You almost persuade me to become a Christian .’” ( Acts 26:28) ● “ Then Saul , who also  is called   Paul . . . ” ( Acts 13:9a ) Based on the three verses above, we would assume they are references to the same person – but is he the Paul we read about in the Epistles? The name “ Saul ” doesn’t appear in the Epistles. In order to answer that question we must examine the stories of the “ conversion experiences ” of Saul in Acts and Paul in Galatians . Pay close attention to the time periods and places mentioned in both accounts. Saul’s experience is found in Acts 9 and it took

Rabbi Stephen S. Wise’s Sermon at Synagogue on Jewish Jesus Causes a Storm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Samuel_Wise#/media/File:Stephen_Samuel_Wise.jpg Rabbi Stephen S. Wise gave this sermon in late December 1925 and it set off a storm of protests in Jewish communities.  Before you read the article, it is important for you to be aware of some of the accomplishments of Rabbi Wise. ● a founder of the New York Federation of Zionist Societies in 1897 ● first vice-president of the   Oregon State Conference of Charities and Correction in 1902 ● appointed Commissioner of Child Labor for the State of Oregon in 1903 ● co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) ● founding of American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) in 1918 ● founded the   Jewish Institute of Religion, an educational center in New York City  in 1922 ● founding president of the World Jewish Congress in 1936 (created to fight Nazism) ● co-chair of the American Zionist Emergency Council in WWII ● held press conference