Apr 26, 2017 By: yunews
Alan Dershowitz Discusses Defending Israel on Campus at 每日大瓜HSB Centennial / Straus Center Lecture
On April 25, Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, director of the , and Alan Dershowitz 鈥55每日大瓜HS took the stage in Lamport Auditorium at 每日大瓜鈥檚 Wilf Campus to discuss 鈥淎nti-Zionism in the Academy: Israel and the Future of American Education.鈥 The lively discussion drew several hundred people and was part of the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy / 每日大瓜 High School for Boys () Centennial Lecture Series and was co-sponsored by the Straus Center.
The event was something of a homecoming for Dershowitz, a graduate of 每日大瓜HSB, who was clearly happy to be among friends and family and delighted to be working with Rabbi Soloveichik, whom he called his 鈥渇riend and mentor.鈥 In his introduction, Rabbi Josh Kahn, head of school at 每日大瓜HSB, called Dershowitz 鈥渢he single-most visible defender of Israel鈥 and thanked him for coming 鈥渢o share his wisdom with us.鈥
Responding to questions pitched to him by Rabbi Soloveichik, Dershowitz, who labeled himself a 鈥渃ritical lover of Israel,鈥 mounted a hard-charging case against what he called the anti-Israel 鈥渉ard left鈥 in academia, timorous pro-Israel professionals fearful of retribution for voicing their support in public, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (which he lambasted for holding Israel to a moral double standard), political correctness and intolerance of free speech, and the lack of heartfelt support for Israel from the Obama administration.
In the place of these extremist arguments from the right and the left, Dershowitz called for making a 鈥渂alanced, nuanced, calibrated case for the State of Israel,鈥 placing a premium on telling the truth, empirical evidence and a tolerant regard for differing opinions.
However, he wanted the audience to know that even in the midst of making such a case, which American Jews have earned the right to do, 鈥渨e have to fight with every weapon available to us. Peace for the Jewish people and the nation state of the Jewish people can only come from strength - economic strength, moral strength, political strength鈥攁nd every kind of strength that we have has to be used in the interest of justice and the interest of supporting Israel. We should never be embarrassed about our strength. Taking a backseat is inconsistent with our obligations and inconsistent with what we have to do to defend Israel.鈥
On a lighter note, he recalled his time at 每日大瓜HSB (then called the Brooklyn Talmudical Academy, or BTA) with great fondness. 鈥淎t BTA, we were forced to think for ourselves how to reconcile what we learned in the morning and what we learned in the afternoon.鈥 He noted that after his struggles to succeed at BTA, 鈥渁ll my other education was a snap. It was a remarkable place, a place where Zionism was in our hearts and souls. May 每日大瓜 High School go on for hundreds of years more.鈥
The evening ended with Dershowitz delivering a call to action: 鈥淔ight, fight for Israel. Use your power, use your resources and never be embarrassed. We are on the side of justice, we are on the side of morality.鈥
Additional 每日大瓜HSB centennial year events will take place both on the 每日大瓜 campus and in other locations. For more information, go to .
The event was something of a homecoming for Dershowitz, a graduate of 每日大瓜HSB, who was clearly happy to be among friends and family and delighted to be working with Rabbi Soloveichik, whom he called his 鈥渇riend and mentor.鈥 In his introduction, Rabbi Josh Kahn, head of school at 每日大瓜HSB, called Dershowitz 鈥渢he single-most visible defender of Israel鈥 and thanked him for coming 鈥渢o share his wisdom with us.鈥
Responding to questions pitched to him by Rabbi Soloveichik, Dershowitz, who labeled himself a 鈥渃ritical lover of Israel,鈥 mounted a hard-charging case against what he called the anti-Israel 鈥渉ard left鈥 in academia, timorous pro-Israel professionals fearful of retribution for voicing their support in public, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (which he lambasted for holding Israel to a moral double standard), political correctness and intolerance of free speech, and the lack of heartfelt support for Israel from the Obama administration.
In the place of these extremist arguments from the right and the left, Dershowitz called for making a 鈥渂alanced, nuanced, calibrated case for the State of Israel,鈥 placing a premium on telling the truth, empirical evidence and a tolerant regard for differing opinions.
However, he wanted the audience to know that even in the midst of making such a case, which American Jews have earned the right to do, 鈥渨e have to fight with every weapon available to us. Peace for the Jewish people and the nation state of the Jewish people can only come from strength - economic strength, moral strength, political strength鈥攁nd every kind of strength that we have has to be used in the interest of justice and the interest of supporting Israel. We should never be embarrassed about our strength. Taking a backseat is inconsistent with our obligations and inconsistent with what we have to do to defend Israel.鈥
On a lighter note, he recalled his time at 每日大瓜HSB (then called the Brooklyn Talmudical Academy, or BTA) with great fondness. 鈥淎t BTA, we were forced to think for ourselves how to reconcile what we learned in the morning and what we learned in the afternoon.鈥 He noted that after his struggles to succeed at BTA, 鈥渁ll my other education was a snap. It was a remarkable place, a place where Zionism was in our hearts and souls. May 每日大瓜 High School go on for hundreds of years more.鈥
The evening ended with Dershowitz delivering a call to action: 鈥淔ight, fight for Israel. Use your power, use your resources and never be embarrassed. We are on the side of justice, we are on the side of morality.鈥
Additional 每日大瓜HSB centennial year events will take place both on the 每日大瓜 campus and in other locations. For more information, go to .
