Email to the Slifka Community, from Executive Director Uri Cohen, January 22, 2025
Dear Friends,
I write today with an update about events that took place on campus yesterday.
Last night, our Slifka community had the exceptional opportunity to host Naftali Bennett, the former Prime Minister of Israel. Yale was one of just a handful of American universities he chose to visit, and we were honored to be able to facilitate a conversation for our students with him as a past and potentially future world leader. Creating opportunities for students to engage with Israel is a key Slifka priority, and it was important to us to host Mr. Bennett.
After a small event with student leaders, the main program was attended by over 100 students in Slifka Center’s Sylvia Slifka Chapel. Pre-registration was required, and the available seats were claimed within minutes of the event being posted – a sign of the student community’s immense interest in this program. The format was an extended Q&A in which our own Rabbi Dr. Alex Ozar served as interlocutor, presenting questions that our students submitted over the weekend.
The questions ranged from why Mr. Bennett chose a career in politics to what is happening in Israel from his vantage point; from whether he thinks the war has been worth its many costs, to what gives him hope for Israel going forward. His answers ranged from his perspectives on the strengths of the government he led as Prime Minister to his views on the current government; from his encouragement to all to engage with Israel, to his reminders that we are all one Jewish family and that we need to engage with each other. Our students made the most of this unique opportunity to engage with Mr. Bennett in the spirit of inquiry and respect.
At the same time in a different part of campus, the Yale Political Union hosted Norman Finkelstein, who was arguing the case against Israel. There were students who gave excellent and eloquent rebuttals per the YPU format, including students who are active at Slifka. Sadly, a separate anti-Israel gathering also took place during this time period as well at a third location away from Slifka Center. As of this writing, we are not aware of any incidents of note stemming from either of these events.
Back at Slifka, Jewish students had many different reactions to Mr. Bennett’s visit. The main event was filled to the brim on the second floor, while hundreds more had wanted to attend but could not for lack of space. In addition, there was a small gathering of Jewish students in the Slifka lobby who shared their opposition to Mr. Bennett’s views and policies through song. At no time did this expression disturb the Bennett visit or program in any way. As Mr. Bennett said eloquently during his remarks, everyone should feel free to ask questions about Israel – he’s constantly asking questions about Israel. The more we ask the more we learn, and the more we can do to make the world better.
This event illustrated much of what it looks like to be a community that embraces Zionism and pluralism.
- We created an opportunity for students to engage with a former Prime Minister of Israel, and to ask questions about substantive matters that relate to both the Jewish State and the way Jewish students at Yale relate to it today.
- The conversation, including the disagreements it highlighted, centered on Jewish values. For example: balancing Israel’s mandate to protect Jews around the world from those who would destroy us on the one hand with its responsibility as a sovereign nation to those who are vulnerable under its watch on the other, and the practical difficulties of doing either given that the realities of Israel’s geographic location is a complicated endeavor. It requires deep discussions and listening to different perspectives on the Jewish values at play.
- Never in history have Jews agreed on everything, and that is certainly true today in Israel, in America, and at Yale. As Jews, we must lean into listening as a way of learning, and also of sharpening our own views. Our ancient sage named Hillel was the leading decisor and leader of his generation and those that followed, in part, because of his practice of stating his opponent’s position before his own. This event embraced listening as a core Jewish practice.
Since we announced that Mr. Bennett would be coming to Slifka, I have received many different reactions. Some who wrote expressed much gratitude for the opportunity to engage with Mr. Bennett, and a feeling of jubilation at having their views represented in such a meaningful way at Slifka. Others who wrote shared serious concerns about the notion that Slifka would publicly associate with someone who has made statements and been involved with actions on Israel’s part that they find morally repugnant. Still others questioned why Israel should be part of Slifka’s core set of values at all, given that it is such a divisive topic.
Regarding the first two comments: In a pluralistic community, one can generally expect to have one’s personal views on display sometimes and not at other times. This is sustainable as long as the community as a whole delivers more value than cost to its participants.
It’s the third comment I find most interesting. For Slifka Center, Israel is a central aspect of contemporary Jewish identity. There are other central aspects, including Shabbat and holidays, explorations of Jewish texts and ideas, kosher food, religion and spirituality, social justice, arts and culture, and more. For each of these we have many students who love and participate in them, and often just as many who don’t. Slifka keeps working in these areas because we believe that they are central aspects of Jewish identity and we want students to be able to opt in if they wish, given the opportunity.
That is why when you come to Slifka you’ll see such Jewish diversity on display. Jewish life goes on at Slifka because of the multiplicity of ways Jewish students engage with Jewish life here. You’ll see evidence of Slifka’s Zionism everywhere because it matters to us, just as you’ll see Shabbat dinners, minyanim (prayer communities), social justice activities, Jewish learning opportunities, and more. They’re all here together because they all contribute to a vibrant and vital Jewish community at Yale. We cannot and will not ever turn our backs on any of these commitments. It’s exactly when these values come into conflict that the best Jewish conversations begin.
That’s what makes Slifka great. Thanks so much for being part of this amazing community with us.
Sincerely,
Uri Cohen, Executive Director