FACES OF ISRAEL is a panel of people from all walks of life, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Druze, Ethiopian, who will speak about being Israeli, and life in Israel. It will be an evening of open discussion highlighting Israel as a diverse and democratic country, with lots of time for questions and answers.
CSI President Tomas D. Morales, who recently travelled to Israel with the JCRC, is scheduled to offer welcoming remarks and there will be a question and answer period after the panel discussion. “This is an opportunity for Staten Islanders and CSI students to learn about the diversity of Israeli society,” said Ms. Amy Posner, Executive Director of Hillel at the College of Staten Island. “It should be an interesting evening of open discussion between people of all faiths and backgrounds.”
The event is free and open to people of all faiths, cultures, and backgrounds who are interested in learning more about one of our staunchest allies in the Middle East.
This is a program of the Israeli Consulate and the Jewish Community Relations Council, sponsored by Hillel at CSI, Inc.
For more information, please contact Amy Posner, Executive Director, Hillel at CSI, Inc.
These are the Faces you will meet :
Roei Ben Tolila
Roei served as an officer in
Israel’s elite Maglan unit. He
was injured in an offensive attack and is now confined to a wheel chair,
however he refuses to let that claim his life.
He is the founder of the “More than Basketball” project, an educational
project where youth, new immigrants, soldiers, and students compete against the
wheelchair basketball team of BeitHaLochem Jerusalem. Roei is also an accomplished and professional
life coach, the founder and Chairman of “Salt of the Earth Educational
Activity,” a non-profit preparatory course for youth in the periphery, as well
as a key member and creator of other established organizations in
Miri Shalem
Miri is an ultra-orthodox woman from Beit-Shemesh. After incidents
of discrimination against women in her city she organized a grand flash-mob
event holding 200 women dancing on the street. She brings an energetic and
vibrant perspective of the religious world in Israel.
Dan Tiomkin
Dan was born in the Soviet Union, and at the age of 5 immigrated to
Israel with his family. At the age of 18 was recruited to the army and served
for 5 years after volunteering for officers training. After leaving the army as
a lieutenant, he went on a delegation led by the Jewish Agency for Israel to be
a counselor in summer camps in the US. On his return Dan started studying for
B.A. in Digital Communication & in the Ariel University Center in Samaria.
Dan is an expert on digital media and he's a representative of the new
generation of social networking and the New-Media world.
Dina Lakao
Dina served in the Israeli Defense Force as part of the Druze
Brigade working on the border with Lebanon.
After finishing her service, Dina went to study in university and is
currently a third year law and government student as well as a first year
Business Law Master’s candidate. Dina
has taken her work from the army a step farther by now volunteering for
“Tebeka,” a legal aid for the Ethiopian Israeli community as well as having
participated with delegations to the United States to help promote a better
understanding of Israel.
Shimon-Gal Levy
Shimon grew up overseas as the son of a career diplomat residing in
Nepal and Australia from the age of 10-16. Returning to Israel,
Shimon finished Secondary School with honors and joined the IDF Navy.
Shimon spent the next eight years in the Navy as a graduate of the prestigious
Israeli Naval Academy. Since completing his service, Shimon has been
active in founding and working in various NGO's and young leadership programs
to better promote Israel Advocacy abroad and young Jewish innovation.
Shimon is currently an MA student at the IDC Herzliya International School,
majoring in Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution and pursuing his ambition for
graduate studies abroad.
Yochai Hadad
Yochai was raised in a family of seven boys.He left his high school
yeshiva studies in the tenth grade and
in 1998 enrolled in the army. He served for six years in the Shaldag unit as a
combatant, commander and combat guide. Later on He studied Jewish Philosophy at
the Hebrew University, with an emphasis on Kaballah studies. As for his
artistic passions, He have been writing poetry for the past 18 years, and have
been involved in documentary film making for the past five. Two years ago He
completed a project he had been working on for two years: A film named
"Thou Shall Not Dance" that tells the story of a group of religious
men who decide to establish a school for modern dance. Yochai is currently a
screenwriting student at the Sam Spiegal Film and Television School and is
working on his next project, a documentary TV series on the Yom Kipur War.
Emmanuelle Elbaz
Emmanuelle is the foreign news reporter for one of the largest news
channels in Israel, channel 10. She worked as the vice editor of the Jerusalem
Post in French. She's an alumni of Tel-Aviv university, both B.A and M.A
specializing in Middle Eastern affairs. She speaks fluent Hebrew, English, and
French. Emmanuelle provides an in depth view of a reporter in hectic Israel.
