J Street’s Place in the Jewish Tent – with John Ruskay

As debates over Israel reshape Jewish communal life, who gets included in the conversation and who gets pushed outside the tent?

Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with John Ruskay, executive vice president emeritus of the UJA-Federation of New York, to discuss Ruskay’s decision to join J Street's Jewish Communal Advisory Council – a group formed this fall to advance a vision of Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship rooted in shared Jewish and democratic values. Together, they explore what the council formation reveals about the state of American Jewish institutions, the difference between Israel advocacy and Israel education, and whether communities can remain cohesive amid profound disagreement. At a moment of political polarization and rising anxiety around the future of a democratic Israel, what does Jewish solidarity require?

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