Join the Beth El community for a multi-generational Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) celebration including a catered Israeli dinner, programming for all ages, and a special teen and adult conversation and update on Israel from Andrew Lazarus, who traveled to Israel and the West Bank with a J Street Congressional Delegation. Dinner will be served from 5:00-6:00pm. Click here to purchase in advance or pay cash at the door! $15 for adults and $12 for children.     

Yom Ha’atzmaut Itinerary: 

5:00 - 5:10 pm: Hop on board El Al Flight 613 as we “travel” to Israel and receive our Passport!

5:10-6:15 pm: “Taste” of Israel and catered Israeli dinner – In Person at Beth El!
Once we arrive in Israel come and experience the cities, sites, and culture of Israel including: 
A visit to the shuk (Israeli Food Market) and enjoy a delicious Israeli dinner of falafel, humus, Israeli salads, and Limonana. Click here to order in advance or pay with cash at the door!
Visit the Kotel (Western Wall) and leave a prayer in the wall that will be brought to the Kotel later this summer when Juliet travels to Israel!
Stop by Tel Aviv and play some classic Israeli games, lounge on the beach, and enjoy a Parent Schmooze!
Visit the mystical city of Sfat for some crafting and learning.
Experience the festive city of Eilat with a bounce house and face painting!
And much, much more!

6:15 - 7:30 pm: Israel Update and Conversation led by Andrew Lazarus – Both in person and on Zoom 

Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 874 6676 0283
Passcode: israel

In February, Andrew traveled to Israel and the West Bank with a J Street Congressional Delegation. The ten members of Congress included Rep. Jared Huffman of Marin County. The delegation’s interlocutors included Mansour Abbas of the Arab Ra‘am Party, Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh of the Palestinian Authority, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, and U.S. Ambassador Thomas Nides. We also held meetings with younger Palestinians, Jewish settler officials, and members of well-known NGOs such as Breaking the Silence. While staying in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, we traveled to Ramallah, Kiryat Arba, Hebron, and elsewhere, far from the standard tourist track. This talk will be a report on what we saw and heard, which made deep impressions on all the members of Congress, those who had been to Israel before and those who had not.

Andrew Lazarus, a retired software engineer and mathematician, follows politics in both Israel and the United States closely, and serves on the political committee of J Street’s SF Bay Area chapter. The entire family lived in Jerusalem from 1998 to 2001 while his wife Naomi Janowitz was Education Abroad Director in Israel for the University of California, during which time Andrew taught computer programming for an Israeli multinational company. Besides his volunteer work with J Street, he teaches computer programming to adults over Zoom for the non-profit Merit Academy.