s. .
•
metro
Standing Up For Israel
Noted professor meets with Akiva
students about Israel advocacy.
The tradition continues.
Tuesday
December 25
Step Forward and
together we will
celebrate the strength
of our community.
Roberta Seid, a professor at University of California Irvine, speaks to Akiva
students about Israel advocacy.
Elena Greenbaum
Select and participate in a volunteer
service project at one of many
locations in metropolitan Detroit.
Special to the Jewish News
A
kiva Hebrew Day School
seniors had the opportunity
to hear from Roberta Seid,
a professor at University of California
Irvine and the education/research
director of Stand With Us, an orga-
nization dedicated to educating the
general public about Israel as well as
combating anti-Israel activists.
She spoke to the seniors Oct. 26
about the importance of defending
Israel, especially as they venture out to
the campuses of secular colleges that
they will soon be attending. Aside from
speaking of her experience and daily
exposure to intense anti-Israel demon-
strations on the UC Irvine campus, she
also shared helpful tools and tricks to
try and combat such radical groups.
Rabbi Yechiel Morris, rabbi at Young
Israel of Southfield and Jewish history
teacher at the Southfield-based Akiva,
expressed his thoughts about the topic.
"The battle to positively sway public
opinion is one of the greatest chal-
lenges facing Israel today" he said. "It
is critical that our students be exposed
to the facts and accurately understand
the history, policies and challenges
that face the Jewish state. Throughout
life they will then have the opportunity
to serve as ambassadors articulating
Israel's continued legitimacy."
The main technique Seid sug-
gested for responding to an anti-Israel
claim was "ARM," which stands for
"Acknowledge the issue, Reframe the
argument and deliver a Message." She
said that using ARM is the most effec-
tive way to combat the "Three D's,"
also known as the "Delegitimization
4101
‘
NZ`I>
Sign up by December 12th
detroitjcrciorg/mitzvanday2012
Questions?
Contact Sarah Crane
(248) 642-5393, ext. 102,
or email scrane©jfmd.org
Mitzvah Day Co-chairs:
Janet Berman
Micki Grossman
Hy Safran
A Jewish
Awl, Community
A A Relations
• Council
t"N Jewish
Federation
OF METROPOLITAN OSTROM
t%
iii
1789770
10 November 8 • 2012
iN
of Israel, Demonization of Israel and
the Double standards to which Israel
is held."
The 25 students who attended were
engaged by Seid's slides of various
anti-Israel demonstrations on college
campuses and were eager to ask her
questions about preventing them.
Senior Shira Movsas said, "The
speaker was very inspiring and
encouraged me to research more into
my Jewish roots to be able to defend
Israel in my future college experience."
Rabbi Yochanan Schrader, the new
Rosh Beit Midrash at Akiva, said, "As
an Israeli and former IDF officer, I
was very happy to hear Seid speak. It's
exciting to see people who are physi-
cally so far away from the land, but
still work tirelessly for it.
"In addition, the lecture allowed me
to see a much broader perspective of
the scope of activity [to defend Israel]
in America beyond the daily activities
here at Akiva and in the Southfield
community."
Joey Jubas and I, both of Southfield
and Stand With Us-MZ Teen interns
from Akiva, had previously heard
Seid speak at a September conference
in Los Angeles, where we learned all
about Israel's history and the world-
wide problems it faces today.
Together, with Andrew Moss and
Jesse Arm, our partner interns at
Frankel Jewish Academy, we have
begun to plan a year filled with Israel
advocacy and education for our
schools and the greater Detroit com-
munity.
❑
Elana Greenbaum, 17, is a senior at
Southfield-based Akiva Hebrew Day
School.