Having spent three years as a graduate student of Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University as well as a research assistant in the political science department, I was no stranger to talking about Israel, her politics, policies and culture when I started my position at the Jewish Community Relations Council three years ago.

When I took my position at JCRC I have to admit, I was a bit worried. My love and concern for Israel had only been strengthened by my time in Tel Aviv. I had also become comfortable, as do Israelis themselves, in discussing aspects of Israel with which I take issue. I came away secure in the feeling that I could take issue and no one would ever think that I was in some way disloyal. As an individual Israel advocate I felt free to encourage and be a part of dialogue, but I worried that becoming an Israel advocate professionally might change that.

My worries were quickly alleviated. Months after I started at JCRC we began working on common ground principles on talking about Israel. It took almost a year of work on the part of a group of dedicated community leaders. Their ability to bridge differences was inspiring. The guiding principles they developed were unanimously agreed upon by the JCRC Council in April 2009. You can find the principles at www. jcrcstl.org/israel.php

Additionally, I found that in my day-to-day work with teens and young adults I am not alone in my desire to talk openly and frankly about Israel. Many of us in our 20s and 30s have lived in Israel, have been a part of the discourse in Israeli society and do not want to let that go because we are back in the United States. I have the privilege to staff the JCRC’s St. Louis Israel Connection (SLIC) a group with the mission of educating young adults about Israel and empowering them to advocate for Israel. The group regularly puts on Java Talks where they meet in a café and discuss current topics related to Israel. The very first Java Talk I staffed had the title before I was in the position, and it was “What does it mean to be Pro-Israel?” – a topic that SLIC has revisited regularly in a variety of ways.

A wide and open tent is something we must have if we would like to continue to engage young adults with Israel. I cannot tell you how many times I met someone, as a Moishe House resident, and encouraged them to come to a SLIC event and heard something similar to, “I can’t. I don’t know how I feel about Israel. I was taught that I am supposed to feel a certain way and I am not supposed to criticize but, I have read this, I have seen that, or, I was there and had these experiences that I am uncomfortable with.”

Because of their perception of a lack of openness to dialogue, they did not want go to an Israel-related event.

Our job in SLIC is to make it a safe place for a coming together of the range of views of supporters of Israel.

I find the teens I work with to have a refreshing approach. Overall, they are less hesitant to speak their mind about Israel. I was recently asked by The iCenter, a national agency dealing with Israel education, to mentor teens returning from summer programs in Israel. I went to Chicago Sept. 18-19 to meet the teens in the program. I was overwhelmed at their passion for Israel and ability to listen to each others perspectives.

JCRC has a program, Israel Teen Advocacy Group (iTag), in which teens teach other teens about Israel and help them to advocate. Several years ago the group was chaired by two young men. Both had an amazing ability to lead their peers and both, in some ways, had similar experiences: a strong Jewish upbringing, families that cared deeply for Israel and personal experiences in Israel. However, having heard both young men, I knew they had very different thoughts about Israeli culture, Israeli politics and what it means to be pro-Israel. I had concerns as to how they would be able to lead this group together. It was important for the others in the group to hear both of their perspectives, but could they hear each other?

In the end, they ended up being a model for all of us as to how we should strive to talk about Israel. They often had different opinions and ideas, but I never heard them put each other down or dismiss each others ideas.

To me, they never seemed interested in proving they were “right” – only in being heard by each other and in how they could get the message that they shared, their love for Israel, to their peers.

We must learn from these two young men. We must be able to listen to each other’s opinions, even when we do not agree, even when they make us uncomfortable, even when they upset us. Just as we do not have to agree with each other’s perspectives, we do not have to agree with everything about Israel to love Israel, we do have to be willing to be a part of an honest discussion about Israel in order to share that love.

Local commentary

Heather Paperner Silverman is Director of International Issues at the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis