A Year Gone By: A Retrospective of 5771

Beit Avi Chai presents “A Year Gone By: A Retrospective of 5771.”

A moment before Rosh Hashanah, we pause to look back at some of the outstanding events and processes of the year gone by: what do they say about us, about our values, and about our Israeli identity?

First Session – Is the Whole World Against Us?~ Tuesday, September 6, 8:30 PMDavid Witzthum (Channel 1) speaks about Israel’s legitimacy crisis in the wake of the Gaza flotilla and similar events, as reflected in the media, both traditional and new, and about the impact of the crisis on Israeli society

Second Session – Democracy in Good Company~ Sunday, September 11, 8:30 PMOhad Hemo (Territories’ Affairs Correspondent, Channel 2 News) talks about the overthrow of regimes in the Middle East and the immense changes that have taken place during the past year. What will happen the day we stop being the “only democracy in the Middle East”? Has the revolution already reached Israel, too?

Third Session – Welfare State or Profit State~ Tuesday, September 13, 8:30 PMDr. Aviad Hacohen (dean of the Shaarei Mishpat Law School) looks at the battle over natural gas royalties, the public protest, the cottage (cheese) in the refrigerator and the cottage for rent, and how all of this influences reality in Israel.

Fourth Session – a Kosher Conversion?~ Tuesday, October 4, 8:30 PMProfessor Yedidia Z. Stern (Israeli Democracy Institute) considers the question of Israeli identity. Who is a member of Israeli society? Who decides what you have to do to be admitted? What is the meaning of this acceptance?

Admission free, but subject to available space