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Zionism: From Ideology to Action — Program

This program is still in development and is subject to change.  The schedule is approximate. All  speakers listed are confirmed.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20
10:15 – 11:00    Registration/Networking
11:00 – 11:20    Welcome and Setting the Agenda – Dr. Francine Stein, Leonard Petlach and Rabbi Vernon Kurtz
11:20 – 11:40    Comments:  Ambassador Ido Aharoni, Consul General of Israel in New York

11:40 – 12:30

Text Study on Zionism
Next Year in Jerusalem: Fact, Fiction, Fantasy or Farce? – Text Study introduced by David Breakstone [short introduction followed by round table examination of varied texts on Jerusalem from Talmudic times through today: What does Jerusalem mean to me and does that have anything to do with Zionism?

Chairman: Janet Tobin, Mercaz USA
Presenter: Dr. David Breakstone (WZO)

12:30 – 1:00    Ronnie Bar-On, Former Israel Minister of Finance, Zionism: From Ideology to Action
Chairman: Leonard Petlakh, Vice President, American Zionist Movement, AFRSJ

1:00 PM             Lunch

1:45 – 2:15  Professor Gil Troy: Making Zionism Relevant Today…
Comments and response:
Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, Congregation Ahavath Torah;  Tova Birnbaum WZO

Q & A
2: 15 – 3:00 PM
Round Table Discussions on Issues and Questions

3:15 PM Break

3:30 – 5:00      The Centrality of Israel in Jewish Life: Zionist Mythology or Fundamental Reality?
Panel including:   Professor Lisa Grant, (HUC), Gusti Yehoshua-Braverman (WZO), Prof. Steven M. Cohen (HUC),  Dr. Simcha Leibovich (WZO),

Chairman: David Newman, AZM and ARZA
Moderator: Dr. David Breakstone

Round Table discussions Led by: Meara Razon, JSpace
5:00 – 5:45 PM
Sharing Insights from the Round Tables

6:30    Dinner

7:15 — A Conversation with Professor Steven M. Cohen “The Pew Study on Religion in Public Life”

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2013
Zionism Today – From Conversation to Action: Conveying Our Message to the World

7:30 – 9:00 Breakfast Session

8:00 AM – 8:30
Telling Israel’s Story Our Way
Dr. David Breakstone
8:45 – 10:00  Loving and Criticizing Israel
 Kenneth Bob (AZM and Ameinu), Shani Rozanes (Consulate of Israel); Micah Halpern
Moderated by: Aryeh Green, Media Central

10:00 – 11:45  Bringing It all Back Home:Next Steps

Chairman: W. James Schiller, Baltimore Zionist District and AZM past-president
*Jewish Community  and Campus  Tova Birnbaum, WZO and Lauren Katz, Voices Alumna
*iEngage – Rabbi Marc Wolf, Vice President, Shalom Hartman Institute of North America
* Zionist Theater –Dr. Simcha Leibovich, Representative, WZO
“Pen Pals – An Israeli Conversation” — Jon Adam Ross and Naamah Harris

12:00 – Lunch
12:30 Gil Troy and Yossi Klein Halevi in Conversation on”Conveying Our Message to the World
Chairman: Dr. Francine Stein
Moderator: Rabbi Vernon Kurtz

1:45 PM AZM National Board business session