This is the next conversation in a series that aims to bring speakers from different perspectives on Israel to talk with our community and foster open dialogue in our community. You are invited to attend Etz Chayim's Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday, December 16 for a special presentation and conversation with Rachel Urman, Pacific Northwest Synagogue Initiative Director at AIPAC. For those concerned about the safety and security of Israel, we are in an important moment in the evolving U.S.-Israel relationship and in the Middle East. We are also witnessing unprecedented challenges. AIPAC recently made a major strategic pivot to address these challenges head-on. Rachel will describe AIPAC’s mission and policy agenda, including its approach to peace initiatives, and will discuss the changes recently made to address current political realities. The post-oneg discussion and moderated Q&A will be for live attendees only (no Zoom per AIPAC policy).

About Rachel Urman:
As AIPAC’s Pacific Northwest Regional Synagogue Initiative Director, Rachel is responsible for rabbinic engagement and strategic partnerships with synagogues from central California through Alaska. Together with AIPAC’s rabbinic partners and lay leaders, she has worked to grow each synagogue’s pro-Israel advocacy base and engage congregants in AIPAC’s programming and lobbying efforts. Rachel previously worked as an attorney, in policy and stakeholder relations at a Bay Area start-up and taught law and ethics at Santa Clara University. She earned her BSc in Psychology and Bioethics at the University of Toronto and her LLB from McGill University. She lives here in the South Bay with her family.