How Long Does It Take to Make a Change?

In the summer of 2011, a number of young people set up tents on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv in protest of Israel’s socio-economic situation. Within days, the main squares across the country were filled with tents and signs demanding immediate change, and hope for the younger generation. For a decade the protest was eulogized as a failure, and no change seemed to be in sight. Last summer, when a new government was born in Israel—against all odds and after four elections—one can put a finger on the buds of the real change that appeared then and the change that took place below the surface for ten years. In this session, Tova Birnbaum will trace the path that Israel has taken for a decade, identify the imperceptible turning points, and examine in the perspective of an era how change is being made.

This program is brought to you by our friends at New Lerhaus, powering Jewish Learning throughout the Bay Area.

Tova Birnbaum is the Director of Jewish Content at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto. She was born in B’nai B’rak in an Ultra-Orthodox home and was one of the founders of the BINA Secular Yeshiva in Tel Aviv. Tova is a graduate of the Mandel Executive Leadership Program and a faculty member of the Mandel Educational Leadership Program. She served as the Central Shlicha (emissary), Director of the North America Region of the World Zionist Organization. She is a teacher of Rabbinic literature, a Judaic studies lecturer, a theater midrash workshop facilitator and a secular Jewish lifecycle ceremonies officiant. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Jewish philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a master’s degree in theater from Tel Aviv University. She lives in Palo Alto with her husband and daughter.