When “The Hands of Esau” Replace “Love the Stranger”: The Corruption of Jewish Power

A virtual event presentation by Rabbi Avidan Freedman

The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Or Tzion

About the Event: 

Trends in Israeli society today highlight the crucial choice that the Jewish state is faced with as the Jewish people face the moral challenge of power. More and more, “Jewish Power” (now also the name of a political party in Israel) reflects an approach to this challenge that is opposed to the approach espoused by the Torah. Rabbi Avidan Freedman, an Israeli educator, and activist against Israeli arms sales to dictatorships, will explore these approaches, from their sources in the Torah, and up until their expression in the modern-day Israeli political questions.

About the Speaker: 

Rabbi Avidan Freedman completed a Master's Degree in Jewish Education at the Azrieli Graduate School and received rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and the Israeli Rabbinate. He is an educator at the Shalom Hartman Institute’s high school and post-high school program and an activist who founded Yanshoof, an organization dedicated to establishing moral limits for Israeli weapons exports. Learn more at www.yanshoof.org