OF GREATER NAPLES
POWER OF COMMUNITY CELEBRATION & ANNUAL MEETING
Join us for a brunch to honor, celebrate and thank you for contributing to the Annual Community Campaign. When: Sunday, April 7, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Where: Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center To register, go to Jewishnaples.org
OF GREATER NAPLES
CELEBRATING JEWISH LIFE IN GREATER NAPLES, ISRAEL AND THE WORLD
FEDERATI N STAR
Published by Jewish Federation of Greater Naples
SERVING NAPLES, MARCO ISLAND AND THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES
www.JewishNaples.org Y March 2024 – Adar l/Adar ll 5784 Y Vol. 33 #7 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 21 Men’s Cultural Alliance 22 Women’s Cultural Alliance 1A Arts & Entertainment 5A Community Focus 6A Tributes 12A Organizations 13A Jewish Interest 14A Israel & The Jewish World 16A Rabbinical Reflections 17A Synagogue News 20A Focus on Youth 23A Community Directory Israel & the Palestinians Come to the 9th Annual Day of Learning to learn what really happened to the Palestinians upon the creation of the state of Israel.
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The Dead Sea Join Professor Shay Rabineau to hear about the Dead Sea and how its environmental crisis might be solved.
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Jewish Book Festival Going Strong This month, JBF presents three authors and their books to enlighten and entertain.
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Why go to Israel in 2024? Israel needs us now, more than ever By Jane Schiff
T
here is a trip to Israel being offered by Jewish Federation of Greater Naples the first two weeks in November this year. I know, there’s a war. I know you and/ or your family thinks this isn’t the right time to go to Israel. However, before you say no, think about the following three things. Jane Schiff
When's a good time to go?
For 75 years, Israel has existed in a very bad neighborhood. The first time I went to Israel was 1964 — yes, before the 1967 war. I didn’t get to see Masada, the old city or many of the sites we now see regularly. The first night there, I went to sleep to gunfire and woke up to gunfire. It was a bad time to go to Israel. Every trip I have taken to Israel since, there has been an Intifada, a bombing or some other “problem.” And each time, someone here in the States has said to me, “Jane, this is not the time to be going to Israel.” In my view, it is always a good time to go to Israel, except July and August when it is brutally hot.
Israel needs us now, more than ever
The people of Israel are feeling abandoned
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and need to know that we Jews stand together. We care about what they are going through enough to come over and see what has happened and hear their stories so that we can come back
and tell people here the truth. We are them and they are us. If we don’t go, learn and come back with their stories, who will? continued on page 2
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