New!  According to a May 2011 poll of 1,000 Jewish high school students from New York and New Jersey:

• 98% of students learned something new from the Faces of Israel program
• 93% of students had a better understanding of current events in Israel after the Faces of Israel program
• 86% of students felt more connected to Israel after the Faces of Israel program

What would it be like to live in a country that by definition does not make a distinction between ’synagogue and state’?

Just decades ago, David Ben Gurion publicly declared ‘the establishment of a Jewish state… to be known as the State of Israel.’  But what does it mean to be a Jewish state?  Do these two characterizations, ‘democratic state’ and ‘Jewish state’, work well together?  What happens when they don’t?

Faces of Israel explores the delicate balance between state and religion in the Jewish homeland through the context of marriage.  The film and program have been called “powerful … mature … honest … sophisticated ,” and “a must see”, and serve as an excellent springboard for discussions about Jewish identity, religious pluralism, civil liberties in Israel and more.

-Israel as a Jewish State
-Role of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate
-Civil Unions in Israel
-Itim, Tzohar and the Dati LiUmi Community
-Masorti and Reform Judaism in Israel
-Homosexuality and Same Sex Unions in Israel
…and more

Faces of Israel is highly-interactive and combines film screening with presentation and dynamic discussion. Faces of Israel is accompanied by a full educational curriculum and is appropriate for teens, adults and seniors.  An institutional copy provides complete access to the Educational Materials section of the website, which offers extensive background information, programming ideas, discussion questions, and links to additional resources.

Amy Beth Oppenheimer, the director of Faces of Israel, is available to travel to your community and present the program.  Thank you for your interest and enjoy!