JLI: The Land and The Spirit - Israel and The Diaspora

Lesson Details:

Lesson 6 - Israel and The Diaspora

Even though Israel exists today as a modern state, most Jews continue to live in the Diaspora. Have those of us living outside Israel become somehow disconnected? Or is it possible to retain our bond with Israel regardless of our place of residence?

This interactive class was created by The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute and is part of the six-week course The Land and the Spirit: Why We All Care About Israel. You are welcome to attend the whole course or just the single class. 

The course is free but donations are welcome.

Course Overview:

Many people love their homes and their countries, but once they relocate, they form new allegiances. They cannot trace the ancestral homeland that their families claimed two millennia ago, nor do they continue to long for those places. Yet no matter where they have lived, Jews have continued to dream about the land of Israel.

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Because Israel is different. It is a land that has pulsed with energy and mystery since the dawn of time, a land that has captured the imagination throughout history, a land that breathes with the glory of our past and the dreams of our future.

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And so Israel retains its hold upon our spirit. There is a deep connection that continues to tug at us, a magnetic pull that has not waned even though many have found safe haven elsewhere. Whether Israel makes us feel pride or disappointment, hope or concern, we care about its fate and its future. Whatever our political or religious bent, we know that Israel matters.