So college graduation should be a Jewish life cycle event, right up there with Bar/Bat Mitzvah.  It’s another milestone on the road to adulthood and independence, and is most certainly worth celebrating.

Last week we honored our outstanding volunteers and student leaders (see the whole list here), and this week we will host a reception for the graduates and their families.

Some highlights:

• Program of the Year – Texans for Israel
• Volunteer of the Year – Debbi Wolfson
• Saulson Achievement Award – Brian Milman and Zach Spigel

You can celebrate this life cycle by:

• Making a tribute in honor of your favorite new graduate, or
• Buying an Israel Bond in honor of the graduate.

Either way, it’s better than a fountain pen and is an investment in the kinds of experiences that our students will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Mazel Tov to the Class of 5772!

Rabbi David Komerofsky, Executive Director

We ask the Four Questions, have four cups of wine, sing songs and read through the Hagaddah as a way of connecting with our past.  Because no matter how comfortable any of us may be today, we are all descended from slaves.  Our people’s identity was formed in the crucible of oppression, and we are commanded not to speak just of how our ancestors were in slavery – but of how each of us personally was a slave in Mitzrayim.  We were all there, and were it not for some accidents of history we who live now in freedom could just as easily have been into captivity.

We Jewish people do odd things, and Passover is right up there with the best of what makes us unique.  Still, it is not the ritual that I find strange.  After all, I grew up doing it so to me it’s normal.  It is this need that we have to look at the world as incomplete, to retell an ancient story in modern words and recognize the universal truth that as long as one person is shackled, no one is really free.  All of the preparations and excitement that go into making Passover happen in Jewish homes around the world connect us to each other and to our past, so that we can appreciate our present and work for a better future.

Thousands of years ago we were not free.  Indeed, it was not until 1948 that there was any Jewish self-determination in the land to which those first freed slaves were headed.  Now, millennia later, we are able to end our seders like we always did by saying “Next year in Jerusalem” and knowing that it is more than a dream.  Passover, freedom and a longing to be at one with our people and our land are inextricably linked.

Chag Sameach!

By Tracy Frydberg, ICB Contributor

“Jews and Latinos—how did you put the two together?” 

University of Texas senior Melissa Macaya is often asked this question by students when first hearing about the Latino-Jewish Student Coalition that she started on campus this fall.

This coalition is part of a greater initiative, the Building Latino-Jewish Bridges on Campus Program, started by the American Jewish Committee/Project Interchange with The David Project and National Hispana Leadership Institute. The project’s aim is to establish a partnership between Hispanic and Jewish students to support Israel on campus, and further the Latino community’s interests, such as education and immigration reform.

Edward Retta, a recent participant in an AJC-sponsored program for Latino leaders, said that Jews and Latinos are natural partners. “We share many common things such as, the experience of being minorities, the idea of wandering and displacement, the search for belonging, the desires for better, more secure lives, and success and stability for our children and our children’s children.”

The director of AJC’s Latino and Latin American Institute, Dina Siegel Vann, said that the idea for this project came about quite naturally, “On the U.S. campus, there is both increasing anti-Israel sentiment and increasing bigotry and racism,” she said. As the Latino population in America grows, the importance of building bridges between the communities becomes increasingly clear.
 

The program brought together 22 Jewish and Latino female students from Boston University, Brandeis University, University of California, Irvine, and the University of Texas at Austin. They gathered in Washington D.C. last summer for several days of intensive training on coalition building before setting off on a trip to Israel. While in Israel, participants heard from a wide variety of speakers and continued to form greater understanding and appreciation for one another’s culture and the importance of Israel.

Upon arriving on their campuses in the fall, the students worked to create a program that would articulate the case for Latino-Jewish cooperation while highlighting the common goals of both communities to set the framework for long-term initiatives on campus.
Students from Brandeis and Boston University chose to focus on the cultural similarities of both communities for their first event.

Boston University junior Sabrina Pratts, a Latina participant, explained that her group focused on fostering mutual appreciation of Jewish and Latino culture. She said that for their event, “We worked with Hillel. In the center of campus, we handed out falafel, empanadas, mix CDs, and our ‘Jewtina’ cookbook.
“Right now we are starting with cultural information,” Pratts continued, noting that making personal connections is the first step toward building lasting coalitions. “For Latinos that are interested, we connect them with BU Students for Israel.”

Brandeis University participants hosted a dinner for Latino and Jewish students. Students participated in a “fishbowl” activity where a series of questions were asked separately to the Latino and Jewish attendees. The activity highlighted both communities’ distinct cultural heritage.
Brandeis sophomore Naomi Volk said that students at the event formed a new level of mutual understanding. “The Jewish people have experienced being an immigrant community and we bonded over that,” she explained. “Our history is their present.”

Junior Asia Garcia, a Latina participant from Brandeis, said that because of the very large Jewish community at her school, Latino students can feel alienated from the rest of campus. “It will be beneficial for everyone to integrate with each other more,” she said.

UT and UC Irvine each have held events that focused on Jewish and Latino culture and the issues facing each community. At UT, students established the Latino-Jewish Student Coalition (LJSC) and hosted a campus-wide event with Spanish desserts and Israeli cuisine to spread awareness about the new organization. The next day, they gathered members of Texans for Israel and LULAC, the Latino organization on campus, for a dinner. The event featured prominent speakers and leaders from across Texas, including Texas State Rep. Joaquin Castro.
Sophomore Celeste Orta, a Latina participant from UT remarked that, “Many people came with curiosity to see how the communities of UT benefit from the LJSC. We were able to provide our audience with information and ideas on how they could continue with our coalition.”

At UC Irvine’s first event, students distributed Israeli and Latino food and information on their coalition. Senior Courtney Kravitz, a Jewish participant from UC Irvine said that the first event was successful in engaging the greater student body. The second event featured Orange County’s AJC Director, Rabbi Marc Dworkin, and prominent Latina lawyer Norma Garcia. The speakers are currently working on forming a Latino-Jewish coalition in the greater California community.
Kravitz said that this coalition is particularly important at UC Irvine, because the campus has experienced rising anti-Israel sentiment. “Pro-Israel activism [is] a lot harder on my campus,” she said. “We need more people on our side.”

All participants agreed that they now have a greater understanding of the mutual benefits in forming a coalition with one another.
 

Melissa Macaya reflected, “This project reiterated the importance of building the Latino-Jewish coalition on campus and motivated me to tell others about why this coalition matters. The project was an effective call to action. I must admit that before going on the trip to Israel, I was skeptical as to why this coalition was relevant. After the trip, I became a true believer of the cause and the events we hosted at UT Austin solidified this belief even more.

“Latinos and Jews must find strength in their similarities to achieve their goals,” she continued. “It is up to us to establish a foundation on campus that will serve as a stepping stone for future Latino and Jewish leaders to work together.”
AJC launched the Building Bridges initiative in hopes that the pro-Israel community will join the Latino community in supporting their issues on campus, while the Latino community will become partners on campus in support of Israel. Siegel Vann explained that for the new coalitions to work, “There needs to be a reciprocal relationship. We expect Jews to be supportive of issues such as immigration as well.”

Retta, who also spoke at the UT Austin event, explained why Latinos can identify with and should support Israel. “The nation of Israel is a prime example of a people collectively not giving in to hostility and external pressures, but rather taking responsibility for their own fate, future and security. In spite of many challenges and real threats, the Israelis have a determination to succeed and not lay the blame for their woes at the feet of others. This, the Latinos in the USA desperately need to gain.”

AJC plans a co-ed version of the program in the future, and currently is looking at other campuses and partners, but Siegel Vann emphasized that motivated students can form independent coalitions. The first step, she said, is to, “Understand the Latino constituency and know the organizations on campus.”

After reaching out to potential partner organizations, she said, the pro-Israel community “Must articulate the case for Israel and try to create a space for conversation and action.”
“Personal relations are vital,” she added. “Creating those will guarantee a successful coalition and partnership.”

Noting that pro-Israel groups have gained a friend and ally in the Latino community on campuses that participated in the initiative, Siegel Vann is looking to the future with anticipation. ”This is just the beginning,” she concluded. “Many see Israel advocacy as uni-dimensional, but we hope to create more awareness.”

Thank you, Rabbi Stahl, for the invitation to join Father Nowak for this important community celebration. I’ve been coming to San Antonio regularly for more than seventeen years, and have always been impressed by the cooperation and affection between people from different backgrounds. And between people from the same backgrounds; we cannot take for granted the good will within our own communities. And as one whose earliest formal education was in church preschools, and who participated in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in various church fellowship halls, it feels good to be home again. A quick remembrance of what it was like to be raised in a confidently Jewish home amidst a predominantly Christian environment. In 1976 I was a preschooler at the Woodland United Methodist Church in Akron, Ohio. I came home one day and told my parents that I knew what Jesus looked like because we had a big picture of him in our classroom. Now this was supposed to be a secular preschool housed in a church, so my parents were concerned. They asked me to describe Jesus and I told them that he had a beard and mustache, looked very serious, wore a red, white and blue top hat and pointed directly at me and said “I want you!” Jesus it wasn’t, but my patriotism and love for Uncle Sam is probably linked somehow to my strange affection for church social halls.

This season, when we Jews celebrate Chanukah and so many of our friends and neighbors celebrate Christmas, is full of meaning and confusion. To be Jewish in America means to be an invisible minority – we are mostly Anglo or Latino and, the numbers being what they are, most people assume that we are Christian unless consciously make it apparent that we are not. Some Jews are bothered by the barrage of “Merry Christmas” wishes at retail outlets; I am not. I always say “And Merry Christmas to you, too.” Once I had a clerk respond “What makes you think I am Christian?” Such chutzpah!

Last December I was shopping at a craft store with my kids – one of those places filled with trees, wreaths and every imaginable kind of ornament. We were buying balsa wood and craft glue for another disastrous project. The woman at the cash register said “Aren’t you the rabbi at Hillel? Happy Chanukah!” I was relieved that I had not been buying Christmas ornaments in my supposed anonymity, and my kids thought I was famous. She was involved in the University Interfaith Council and took the time to express an appropriate seasonal greeting. Thank heavens at least one student had found a rewarding way to spend her winter vacation, selling Christmas tchotchkes at Michael’s. Hey, it’s a job.

In our culture Chanukah is sometimes thought of as the Jewish Christmas. How ironic that the historical Chanukah is precisely the opposite of that interpretation. The story as recorded in the Apocrypha is of a small band of Hasmoneans, the Maccabees, who were determined not to assimilate into Hellenism. They were fiercely particularistic. No Chanukah bushes in their homes, they valiantly defied the authorities and held out until they could rededicate the Temple and observe the eight-day festival of Sukkot a few months late. That’s why Chanukah is eight days long, though the rabbis of the Talmud, who were uncomfortable celebrating a military victory, codified the story of the miraculous oil centuries later in the Babylonian Talmud.

Chanukah holds a powerful message for anyone who is a minority in a majority culture – invisible or visible. Whether it is a child in school who thinks that Uncle Sam is the messiah, or a customer in a store who grows weary of Christmas greetings, or a Christian who is concerned that a holy day has become overly commercialized, everyone can find meaning in the message of Chanukah. We have all been a minority at some point in our lives.

Chanukah is about celebrating the particular within the universal. Chanukah is about maintaining who we are when that is not always easy. For Father Nowak and me, that means helping young adults to discover those parts of their identities that hold the keys to their long-term commitment to religious life.

The students with whom Ed and I work are in emerging adulthood, that prolonged period of adolescence that stretches from seventeen to as long as thirty-five. For sociological and economic reasons, people don’t grow up as quickly as they used to and that has an impact on our religious communities. Most religious institutions are built on the assumption that people will be settled down by their mid-to-late twenties, married with a job and perhaps already a few children. Certainly by the age of thirty-five or forty. What we are finding now is that all of that is being pushed back because more people are going to college and that means that the value of an undergraduate degree today is roughly what a high school diploma was a generation ago. (Sorry). That leads to more people going to graduate and professional school, which is expensive. So more people take time off between undergraduate and graduate school, perhaps moving back home with their parents, or traveling, or working to save money for more schooling. With these transitions coming later than before, it means that from high school graduation to the first “real” job, and marriage and children, may be ten to fifteen to twenty years apart. If you think about the assumptions on which synagogues and churches are arranged, this has profound implications for faith communities.

But it gets worse. During those one or two decades of emerging adulthood, before people assume things like mortgages and student loan repayment, they are on a journey of self-exploration. People in college today are referred to as millennials. They are complex, collaborative, engaged, socially conscious and deeply concerned about the world they are inheriting from the rest of us. Their identities are like windows on a computer screen – multi-layered and always changing. Sometimes their faith window is maximized, sometimes it is minimized, often it is not even on the tray at the bottom of the screen. What Ed and I do is to help students connect their religious identity window to everything else that they are – scholar, athlete, brother sister and so on – with the goal being that every student will come to own his or her religious identity and embrace it as the central piece of who they are.

Christian and Jewish college students, as well as their Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and other classmates, are at a developmental stage and in an environment that is filled with self-discovery. Often for the first time they are away from home and immersed in the world of ideas and conflicting ideologies. What they’ve experienced up to this point was probably defined by others – parents, siblings, extended family members, teachers, rabbis, priests. Now they are on an adventure to figure out what they want to do, and we are here to help them determine who they want to be. We sit at the intersection of their journeys of mind, heart and hands.

Chanukah is a minor Jewish holiday that has grown in significance because of its proximity to Christmas. Such is the unpredictable, exciting unfolding of Jewish life. But both are about creating light and warmth in winter, nurturing ourselves and our world with acts of selflessness and kindness. It really is the most wonderful time of the year. I was in New York this last weekend and for a few moments felt like I was on the set of “A Miracle on 34th Street.” I was swept up in the spirit. Saturday was “SantaCon” in Manhattan, a day when thousands of New Yorkers dress as Santa Claus and elves and meet up randomly across town. It was mayhem. Young and old were wearing the most outrageous and inappropriate costumes in red, green and white. The particular and the universal in this SantaCon festival were made apparent to me when I saw a man dressed as Santa Claus, in a skintight outfit no less, carrying a newly-purchased Chanukah menorah in one hand and a Starbucks coffee in the other. I thought to myself, this is a millennial emerging adult if ever there was one. He had probably emerged from his parents’ basement for the celebration.

Amidst the finals and holiday celebrations that make December special, we people of faith with rich, historical cultures can take comfort in the knowledge that what sustained our ancestors also sustains us. The days are growing shorter this month, but the light of knowledge and self-awareness grows brighter each time a student asks “Who am I?” and answers proudly, like the Maccabees of old and our Creator, “I am who I am, and I will be who I will be.” Self-awareness and the strength that comes from a positive identity, those are timeless gifts worth celebrating at every season.

Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas.

(December 15, 2011 – San Fernando Cathedral – San Antonio, Texas)

by Wayne L. Firestone

At first blush, it is flattering that there is a no-holds-barred race on campuses around the country to “get” (or connect with) the next generation of Jewish student leaders. An increasing percentage of the approximately one hundred thousand Jewish students who enroll annually in college participate in birthright, MASA, Yeshiva Gap Year, alternative service learning and camp counselor immersive experiences, domestically and around the world. They head back to campus with a revitalized appreciation of Jewish identity, Israel and the importance of Jewish values in an era of global citizenship, but also with probing questions that they want to explore further.

At this year’s General Assembly in Denver, feedback from student leaders and young professionals in their twenties and thirties – representing more than seventy campuses – spoke volumes about how best to engage these students as they further pursue both their Jewish journeys and their vision of a community in which they will want to invest their time, talent and tucheses. A few examples from recent campus and next-generation professional leadership initiatives indicate how this generation is establishing a revitalized relevance of Jewish values and teachings to address contemporary issues, promoting Israel affiliation as a driver of Jewish identity, and leveraging their local peer networks to re-imagine a global Jewish people.

The Campus as Crucible

During the unfolding public crisis at Penn State University, local Hillel leaders introduced a curricular guide with textual resources and framing about “what are my responsibilities as a witness.” The materials – quickly adapted from Hillel’s Ask Big Questions (ABQ) pilot initiative on thirteen campuses – are meant to benefit the entire campus and local community at a time of polarization and pain. The broader ABQ initiative launched at Washington University in St. Louis this summer deepened students’ and supervisors’ listening skills and encouraged students to engage diverse groups of people on their campus in “conversations that matter.” In contrast to other campus-based approaches that seek to entertain, inebriate or, at times, dumb down Jewish content, ABQ is a moment to elevate discourse when students are exposed to the market place of universal and particular ideas in their classes. It turns out that Jewish learning and texts have tremendous value and authenticity for this generation, and not merely for nostalgic or tribal reasons.

With the rapid expansion of Israel travel over the past decade, Hillel has grown its portal of support and affiliation for Israel in partnership with the Jewish Agency, AIPAC and ICC, as well as through grassroots efforts. Nowhere is there a greater opportunity for us to proactively advance the cause of Israel than on campus if we empower students to lead with an adult sensibility and standard of behavior for what our community stands for. While many in the community are busy blaming one another (or Israel) over who is “losing Israel,” young adults are taking constructive actions that are not tied to a particular organization or partisan view. At the University of Michigan, for example, two parallel student initiatives – Tamid, which connects business-minded students with the Israeli economy, and Makom, an intra-Jewish discussion group – respectfully draw-in students with divergent political views to contribute tangibly to advance Israel society by investing in it. One group contributes their money, the other contributes their concern and viewpoints. Both invest their precious time.

Lest one think these trailblazing efforts are occurring only at large state schools or the Ivies, consider the ascension of commuter campus Baruch College in NYC. Baruch is embracing its small-but-diverse Jewish student body – rich with ideas and languages (ranging from Portuguese to Yiddish) – to create connections and relationships through ongoing Jewish learning and coexistence activities conducted collaboratively and locally with students at universities in Kiev, Herzelia and Rio. While Jewish organizations and think tanks are debating whether there is such a thing as “peoplehood,” our young people are again creating facts on the ground that will redraw the map of Jewish life for years to come.

Of note, perhaps the biggest news coming out of Colorado this past month, was down the road in Boulder, college town home of the University of Colorado, where a group of young innovators, together with an array of professionals and community leaders across the age spectrum, were convening for NetWORKS, hosted by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. With a goal of creating and not merely discussing a trans-organizational network-driven Jewish world, it appears that we have a lot of young adults and organizations already living and breathing life into this new frontier. But are we learning from them quickly enough to benefit our children and grandchildren?

Tapping into the Power of Today’s Young Leaders

Prior generations of Jewish leadership helped enable this generation to have unprecedented educational and leadership opportunities, as well as a global perspective. Now that young adults are more visibly on the communal radar screen, it remains to be seen who will really “get” (understand) this generation’s leaders. Here are three recommendations for all who want to strengthen our community with these young leaders’ presence.

First, if we want to engage them, don’t lecture them on what we think they want. Put them on boards and panels and invite them to participate meaningfully and directly.

Second, if we want to encourage them to ask questions of our community (because this is how they grew up processing information and advice) we can’t insist only on the answers or structures that worked for a prior generation.

Third, get to know them in a work setting. Hire them as paid interns during school and summer breaks. Hire them after they graduate not only because they can help us build an online presence but because they can help us learn how to build community by using social networks to organize and share information and mobilize their friends in new ways. Invest in their social entrepreneurship and ideas.

It is simply disingenuous to say “I love you” collectively to the next generation until we succeed in knowing their names, their questions and their stories.

Even Siri – the oracle voice of the new iPhone 4 – when told “I love you” by an enthusiastic user, reportedly responded: “But we just met!”

Let’s “get” these young leaders before we try to get them.

Wayne L. Firestone is President and CEO of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

This article appeared online first at http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/getting-next-generations/

It’s hard to blame our communities for the assumption that Friday night, just four percent of the total hours our facility is open each week, is the most important part of our work. Students love food: for some the Shabbat table is a fond reminder of home. It’s something to which nearly every student can relate. Every synagogue does Shabbat in some way, so why not expect that Hillel will do what synagogues do, but in a more fun and youthful way? Like maybe a more upbeat Adon Olam and free chicken soup will cure all of the ills of the Jewish people and ensure that Jews marry only other Jews and join synagogues the day after they graduate. Sadly, one night a week isn’t going to deliver the Jewish future. But that one night can be the central point of contact around which other campus engagement activities pivot.

Whether Friday night Shabbat celebrations are happening in a Hillel building, on campus, in dorms or student apartments (or all at the same time), these experiences can create communities that propel students along the path of exploring their Jewish identities. The traditional Friday night Hillel experience has a place in all of this. Our Conservative minyan is the largest and strongest of our three groups, and has built a core Shabbat community that has withstood years of Shabbat tinkering. The KOACH grant brought in a rabbinical student for a weekend of celebration and learning in the Fall and added new humashim for use by the informal Shabbat morning group. Resources from the USCJ and its member congregations, especially a committed group from Beth Yeshurun in Houston, are vital to maintain connections with our core students who come from Conservative backgrounds. Some of these students are involved in other Hillel groups, and Shabbat is the one time each week when all of their micro-communities come together.

Friday night is a means to engage students but it is not the end of the story; we want these students to own their identities so that they can seek out or create new communities wherever they end up after graduation. We all have great expectations for the Jewish future, and can look to Shabbat as a critical piece of the puzzle that is the Jewish identity of the college student. Find them, engage them, inspire them and launch them. And feed them. In return, the Jewish people will get a community that values Shabbat and celebrating Jewish life. This is further proof that there really is no such thing as a free dinner.

Rabbi David Komerofsky
Executive Director
Texas Hillel Foundation

(Originally published in KOACH Campus Update)

How many articles have you read that dare to even broadly outline what a peace agreement between Palestinians and Israelis will include, compared to the many repetitive  tomes describing in great detail why Jews and Arabs can never live in peace?  In an era when words are literally cheap, there’s good (or at least more) money to be made as a professionally pessimist author and speaker.

Hopelessness serves to reinforce what is now the actively engaged majority’s entrenched beliefs. There is comfort in remaining rigidly pessimistic and not having to play with the discomfort of nuance:  The pessimists can describe Arabs and Jews  as very different  sides of the same Semitic coin, and conclude  that it is their side that’s fighting the just and moral fight — for their people, land and beliefs.

And since the other side certainly doesn’t have the same values their side does,  how can anyone expect the just and moral side  to  fully trust anything  the  unjust and immoral side says or does?  Peace can’t happen now, unless we  are willing  to risk annihilation ( Israeli side), or risk making a  worse deal than we can  get by simply waiting until the world forces our adversary to fairly address our issues (Palestinian side).  The bottom line is they don’t want peace; they just want to talk about wanting peace so they can wipe us all out (Israeli side) or steal all of  our land (Palestinian side), land that is historically ours (both sides).  (Word trigger alert: When anyone says “they” to describe an entire people, don’t count on engaging in a particularly thoughtful dialogue or in changing any minds. Unfortunately, far too many are now lodged in the “they” camp.)

Although present Palestinian and Israeli leaders will not publicly admit it for fear of reducing their negotiating leverage  — speaking freely is a  duty left to  retired politicians and at least one former Mossad leader — both sides have long known the basic framework for dealing with borders, security, right of return, Jerusalem and recognition of Israel. That’s really the easy stuff. Getting past the  decades of talking points to the necessity of implementation details is where the Naksa  and Nakba   give way to the Simchah— a successful Palestinian state not only living in peace with Israel, but one that is also one of Israel’s leading trade partners. (An economically entangled state is  by necessity a less hostile, friendlier state.)

Sound far fetched? Maybe. But it is only difficult to imagine if we choose to forget  how far and how quickly other Israeli and American relationships have changed in many of our lifetimes.

Germany, a country whose leadership countenanced the murder of over 6,000,000 Jews,  is now not only a friend, but a leading trade partner. Egypt and Jordan are no longer near term strategic threats.  Japan, in less than one  generation,  moved from one of the West’s fiercest enemies  to one of its most loyal (and economically competitive) friends. The  Cold War, where American kids hid under desks in drills designed to help  us persevere if the commies dropped THE BOMB, is history book stuff.  ( I always had more prosaic concerns. My chief  focus was on the timing of any possible nuclear annihilation scare. Since I could never fake a good enough after school illness to get out of Hebrew school classes, if an attack scare had to happen, I wanted it to happen on Tuesday or Thursday  — Hebrew school days. At least I thought that would be slightly less disruptive to my VERY IMPORTANT after school activities schedule, since after school sports never seemed to get cancelled for anything.)

Of course, change can work the other way too. Betting on the Shah in Iran and the (Soviet-fighting) Taliban worked for awhile, but now Iran is a Middle East nuclear threat and the Taliban-Al Qaeda link led to the horrors of 9/11. But while change is the one geopolitical constant, there is no mandate  that there be  a surfeit of pessimism about the ability of Israelis and Palestinians to join in on the positive arc of Middle East change. This can be  more of a Netanyahu “Nixon in China” than a Neville Chamberlain moment.

Painting a more specific and realistic picture of what a peace agreement  will and will not include would help both sides better prepare their people  for a changed future. To continue to pretend the 1947 Palestinians and their progeny and their progeny’s progeny will be able to physically return to Israel or that Israel will retain civil and military control over all of Jerusalem, may give Palestinians and Israelis some bargaining points, but it also gives their people false hope and expectations and ultimately makes a  final deal more politically difficult to sell.

Before we go forward, however, it helps to briefly look back  to the early to mid 20th century history of the area we now refer to as Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. The British were the 20th century occupiers. At least they were seen that way by the Jewish and Arab groups who were killing and injuring British troops, civilians and each other.  The British and much of the world saw these groups as terrorists. Britain didn’t trust either side. Both sides wanted Britain out.

Does any of this occupier-terrorist theme sound familiar?

After World War 2, Britain was, to a great degree,  glad to leave. Palestine could be run by Palestinians,  both Jewish and Arab. (Everyone living in that area was considered a Palestinian and the major newspaper of that time, The Palestine Post, is now today’s Jerusalem Post.)  Although there was plenty of evidence to suggest the Arabs and Jews would struggle trying to play nice with each other, Britain had enough post-war problems to manage and Palestine could be one less problem for Britain to tackle alone.

Now, in 2011, Israel is seen by Palestinians (and much of the world) as that outside occupying  power.  But Israel isn’t going anywhere. And the 63 years of mostly steady violence since Israel’s founding has served to fertilize thick weeds of  hatred and distrust. It’s made reaching some kind of acceptable peace agreement between Palestinians and Israelis seem like an expanding mountain that  has become increasingly impossible to scale, especially with all of the older guides who believe in their own inflexible paths.

So should we just prepare ourselves for the next five, ten or twenty five years  to be more of the same? Will we continue to talk about what some see as the  false urgency of reaching an agreement —  “google” the topic and you’ll find that various Americans and Israelis have stressed that urgency for the last four decades —  or do  factors such as the demographic issues, particularly growth in the (Israeli and Palestinian) Arab and ultra-Orthodox population segments,  increasing American Jewish community detachment, less reflexive American administration support,  the continued improvement in West Bank Palestinian infrastructure, the ”Arab Spring,” and the emergence of a non-violent Palestinian movement, on top of a not yet quiescent Hamas, all combine to finally produce the right mixture and sense of urgency to produce a deal?

Yes. And no.

There will eventually be a date that both sides can point to as the date an agreement covering both the West Bank and Gaza was signed. But whatever that date is — bet the “under” on  five years; bet the “over” on fifteen for final implementation — this will only serve as a  trigger to  a very long process, a process that will be discussed in far greater detail in the next column.  However, based on my discussions with various Americans, Israelis, and Palestinians, both inside and outside of government,  it is  possible to reach some general conclusions:

1)  A peace agreement will likely conclude an agreement on enough of the West Bank land area — between 94% to 97% —  so that each side can claim victory. Most, but all, of the final borders between Palestine and Israel will be agreed, and they will largely follow what Obama outlined — 1967 lines with agreed swaps. The swaps are where it gets more difficult. Large Israeli settlement blocs will become part of Israel, but there will be several disputed settlement areas that will be left for another phase of the agreement or turned into some type of  “leased” area.  Other settlers whose communities are clearly part of the new Palestinian state will be evacuated based on  Palestinian and Israeli agreement priorities. Those include how the absence or presence of that settlement will affect the security and viability of administering other areas of the West Bank, the necessity to create new roads or bypass roads, the potential for settler violence and the willingness of settlers within a settlement to accept compensation for moving.

The agreement will have specific security-related benchmarks that  provide the Palestinians with gradually increasing autonomy and reduced travel, security and trade restrictions. This won’t deliver  a 100% Palestinian-controlled state on day one, but a formal agreement will  help diffuse tension, allow for confidence to be built on each side and create an incentive based momentum.

Initially,  the Palestinians will  agree to have  a specific number of international troops — more likely NATO than U.N. — on its borders to ensure against arms smuggling and  terrorism, and there will  eventually be some type of early warning missile defense sytem installed at strategic spots within  the West Bank and Gaza and later in other locations throughout the Middle East as part of a strategic alliance between Israel and other Arab countries.

The Palestinian refugee issue will  primarily  be dealt with in a compensation model that compensates first generation refugees much more generously than the later generations who never actually lived in Israel.   The U.S.will lead the funding of this overall initiative, although some Arab countries may also contribute.  Somewhere between 5,000 to 100,000 Palestinian refugees will be given what amounts to a largely symbolic  right of return to Israel over a five to ten year period. Jewish refugees from Arab countries are unlikely to receive similar compensation, although the agreement may call for them to receive compensation from the countries where they previously lived.

The agreement will specify that West Jerusalem will be the capital of  Israel and East Jerusalem  will be the capital of Palestine. Predominately Jewish  neighborhoods will stay part of Israel, and Arab neighborhoods will become part of Palestine, but the tough negotiations over contested Jerusalem areas will occur in a later phase of the agreement and be subject to agreed security parameters being met.  Security for the holy sites will be the responsibility of  a special group of international forces.

Agreements for Israel to continue to supply electricity and water and other infrastructure-related items to the West Bank and Gaza will also be a part of the first phase of the agreement, as the Palestinians will  initially be heavily reliant on cooperation with Israel, and will need to ensure their infrastructure needs are addressed.

2)  Any agreement will be subject to a vote. Each side will determine how to best  implement their voting process.  (The Palestinian voting process will be complex as it will likely extend to the entire Palestinian Diaspora.) The twin goals will be to create the perception of legitimacy and ensure that the agreement passes. There will be enough flexibility built into the agreement and vote so that future additions to the agreement won’t have to be voted on again.

3)  The Quartet’s (U.N., U.S., Russia and the European Union) and Arab League’s backing will be secured before an agreement is signed.  While both will have a continuing role in legitimizing the initial agreement  and backing further developments in the implementation process, the Arab League’s positive involvement will be much more critical.

In the next article, we’ll get much more specific on the possible peace agreement details and also discuss why land area can both help and hurt in creating defensible borders. Don’t get distracted by the possible September U.N. vote on Palestinian statehood. That’s a moment in time inside a much larger and more difficult struggle.

For four thousand years there has been no people more hated or misunderstood than the Jewish people.  We were twice exiled from our homeland and yet have maintained a constant connection to our historical roots.  Times change, Judaism changes, and the Children of Israel endure.  We have survived unimaginable oppression but we’re still here.  And history has taught us that there is absolutely nothing wrong with standing up for ourselves and speaking the truth.

Speaking the truth is often unpopular, and the truth is that Israel is the ancient homeland of the Jewish people.  We are tied to the land of Israel, and the State of Israel and we have an obligation learn about and advocate for the right of the State of Israel to exist as the Jewish homeland.   Israel is not perfect, but she has a right to exist and much of which we can all be proud.

Those who misunderstand or misrepresent history would like us to be quiet and not celebrate the accomplishments of the State of Israel.  Israel Block Party is a chance for everyone to learn the truth about Israel and declare publicly that we are not embarrassed to support the Middle East’s only democracy.  And lest anyone think that IBP is an apologetic whitewashing of the State of Israel, rest assured that if you want to hear Israel criticized the best place to go is to Israel itself.  A free press and the guarantee of free speech (just like here) are hallmarks of a democracy… and Israel has both.

One of the tents at IBP this year was dedicated to the IDF and its humanitarian aid missions.  Rabbi Hillel knew that we could not be only for ourselves, and Israel has a long history of helping others.  Disagree?  Learn the facts about Israel’s contributions throughout the world.

We are blessed to live in a country where protest and dissent are not only allowed, but encouraged.  The turmoil in other parts of the world we see today stems from the fact that many countries do not guarantee those rights.  Israel does.  And that is worth celebrating.  For centuries being Jewish meant living under the thumbs of tyrants.  Since 1948 our people has been free to exercise autonomous rule in our ancient homeland and we celebrate that, as well.

I look forward to the day when the State of Israel and a free, independent Palestinian state will live side-by-side in peace and prosperity.  The Palestinian people deserve better leadership than they have had in the past, they deserve representation in the family of nations, and they deserve a peaceful way of life.  They deserve not to be treated as pawns by other governments in an unending campaign against the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

Peace in the land of a shared history of great civilizations will spur the greatest Israel Block Party that UT has ever seen.  This year we highlighted Christianity and Islam’s sacred sites in Israel, and I am so pleased that we had a diverse group of people come through the IBP to learn more about how their own identities are connected to these historic places.

As Jews, we include a prayer for peace in every worship service.  With Rabbi Hillel, let’s ask ourselves “If not now, when?”