Home > News > Building Connection with Israel, Together
October 6, 2025 in Israel, Scroll
By Karen Benezra
Some may think the above headline would apply to the physical rebuilding of battered communities across Israel – from kibbutzim near the southern edge of Gaza, to small towns bordering Syria and Lebanon. Others may want to encourage young people to take part in thoughtful engagement about Israel and gain wider perspectives on a region wracked by over two years of war and displacement. A third view might be of immersive learning programs that strengthen personal ties with Israeli society that might encourage eventual visits and deeper understanding.
In fact, all three are essential pieces of the programmatic work underway since the fateful attacks of Oct. 7, 2023 that is being fostered among area synagogues in the greater Washington, DC area, moving communities from emergency campaign response to partnerships that can have lasting impact. As anti-Israel rhetoric is being normalized on college campuses, at music venues and awards stages, such initiatives couldn’t have come at a better time.
At Beth El, we are engaged in multiple efforts to think and learn, celebrate, debate and share our views about Israel, its citizens, and future. We are talking in small groups, mobilizing community voices on legislative matters relating to Israel and antisemitism, participating in clergy-led missions, advocating and hosting family members and raising awareness about the hostages still held in Gaza.
Over the past year, we have:
One of the more hopeful, connected community efforts is our participation with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Shlichim (‘emissary’) initiative that has matched young Israeli leaders with communities across the region, 10 in Maryland and two in Northern Virginia. With financial support from Federation, the Jewish Agency for Israel, and from host communities, these emissaries recently shared that they have collectively created 1,000 programs the past year, reaching 78,814 people in all manner of ages and life stages – bringing a diversity of perspectives and building deep and personal connections to Israel.
Beth El’s shaliach, Yoel Gleizer, came to our community from Tel Aviv in August 2024 after an epiphany of sorts. Having lost friends at the Nova festival attacks and realizing what was happening to the country in the early days of the war, he felt it was important to act. “Not everyone can go to reserve duty. My unit wasn’t calling people back,” he said recently. And so Gleizer, a rising musician, applied to serve in the Shaliach program. Gleizer created memorable programs at Beth El during the spring holidays and part of the summer at Camp Ramah. In between those duties he launched the Mazal Talk podcast, with episodes on Israeli hip hop and cinema.
One of the biggest changes of being in America, he says, is that “life is calm here. It is easier and I have more opportunities for bringing new things – more music, more socializing and self-growth to my life. Israel is very fast, intense and a lot of people are struggling. I was taking on three different jobs to pay rent. I’m very grateful for all the things I get to do and experience here.” Gleizer will turn 30 on Oct. 8th and says it may be the first time he celebrates his birthday since the attack.
For more Israel-related activities see our “Israel Update” emails and upcoming classes in the Rabbi Samuel Scolnic Adult Institute Fall education series, which will kick off with “The Crisis in the Middle East” lecture by Beth El member Thomas S. Warrick on Oct. 5. The series will also mark the Oct. 22 return of noted Ha’aretz journalist Amir Tibon, teaching on “The 700 Days War,” and whose family’s harrowing story on Oct. 7 at kibbutz Nahal Oz is depicted in the film, The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, just crowned with the People’s Choice award for Best Documentary at the Toronto Film Festival.]
