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.