(l to r) Rabbi David Saiger, assitant rabbi, Temple Sholom; Rabbi Steve Wernick, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ); Dr. Daniel Gordis; Nadine Kochavi of USCJ; Rabbi Mitchell M. Hurvitz, senior rabbi, Temple Sholom; Ari Schuchman, Nefesh B’Nefesh

Earlier this month, award-winning author Dr. Daniel Gordis, senior vice president of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, spoke to a crowd of more than 100 at Temple Sholom in Greenwich about the need to reframe the conversation regarding Israel in order to instill a passion for the Jewish state in future generations. For his own generation and the one that preceded it, Gordis noted, the story of Israel as a refuge for Jews and as the David-like victor in the 1967 war was a powerful narrative. But for the next generation of American Jews, Israel must be seen as more than just a refuge, a place where Judaism and the Jewish people have managed to survive its manifold enemies; rather, it must be a place that manifests moral, spiritual and national values — a place of positive development and success in civic as well as religious growth. For future generations, Gordis said, connection to Israel will be based on the Jewish state’s ability to make itself relevant to the positive growth of Jewish identity in the Diaspora.