YIR: Jewish Atlanta Leaders Reflect on Israel Trip

The week was "intense and important and meaningful," Eric Robbins, former Federation president and CEO, said.

Midway through a Feb. 18 forum with rabbis and communal leaders recently returned from a week in Israel, Rabbi Adam Starr of Congregation Or HaTorah said, “Take a moment and see what’s taking place here. We shouldn’t take this for granted.”

Starr appeared to be addressing both his fellow travelers and an audience of about 200 people at Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs.

Seated alongside Starr, whose congregation is Modern Orthodox, were rabbis from Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist Judaism, and leaders from the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, and Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta.

Over an hour-and-a-half, they talked about what made this trip to Israel unique from previous visits, highlighting moments of significance, be it a place they visited, a scene they witnessed, or a conversation that moved them.

The rabbis acknowledged the diversity of opinion among them, as well as the diversity of the movements they represent.

The panel included: Rabbi Binyomin Friedman of Congregation Ariel, Eytan Davidson, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, Rabbi Brad Levenberg of Temple Sinai, Rabbi Ilan Feldman of Congregation Beth Jacob, Rabbi Lauren Henderson of Congregation Or Hadash, Rabbi Mike Rothbaum of Congregation Bet Haverim, Rabbi Joshua Heller of Congregation B’nai Torah, Rabbi Daniel Dorsch of Congregation Etz Chaim, Rabbi Peter Berg of The Temple, and Eric Robbins, then Federation president and CEO.

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