Tomorrow morning – Tuesday December 3rd – I will be departing for a ten day JCRC study tour in Israel with nearly a dozen members of the Commonwealth’s legislature, most notably Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo.  

This trip is being chaired by JCRC’s Board Secretary Debbie Isaacson and is being staffed by Emily Reichman, JCRC’s Program Manager for TELEM and Holocaust Programs.  

Having already spent time with the delegation at their orientation I can tell you that these legislative leaders are looking forward to experiencing Israel first-hand.  During our visit we will be staying in Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv with travel across the country and in the Palestinian Authority areas.  Together we will deepen our understanding of Israel’s politics and culture, examine some of the business and economic ties that bring Israel and Massachusetts together, experience the Boston-Haifa partnership, and develop a direct understanding of the diplomatic and security issues facing Israel and the region.

This study tour is made possible thanks to the generosity of CJP, whose Israel Action initiative provides us with the funding to make this program possible. We are grateful that CJP’s leadership shares our commitment to offering civic leaders the the opportunity to directly engage with Israel and Israelis and to experience and understand the region beyond the headlines we read every day.  Thanks also to the many members of the JCRC staff team who have done the work over the past several months to prepare for this trip. 

I encourage you to follow our trip in real-time on my social media channels via FacebookTwitter (and also hashtag #JCRCinIsrael), Instagram, and Foursquare;  We might even occasionally have some good old-fashioned blogging of our experience here at JewishBoston.Com!

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