Another Message to our “Wexner” Family from Israel

In these challenging times, we all carry the responsibility to connect hearts and minds between brothers and sisters from both sides of the ocean.

Regretfully, I was surprised to read the publication on behalf of our friends Nadav Tamir & Or Rachlevsky in last week’s WexnerLEADS, that could have been misinterpreted as a statement representing all Wexner Israel Fellowship Alumni and members of the Senior Leader Network.

With careful reading the authors did indeed state that this was not an WIF Alumni endorsed statement and I regret that such a point was not made very clear from the very beginning of the article. Though I participated in the Summit referenced, my opinion was not solicited nor represented by the statement.

“We, the Israeli Fellowship alumni who experienced a meaningful connection with our Jewish North American brothers &  sisters…”  Controversy and civil debate lives at the heart of Judaism, which is a good thing. The question is, how do we continue to engage in civil discourse? I would like to emphasize that we are, in my opinion, all responsible for the challenge of continuing a strong connection between brothers and sisters across distance and difference. Toward this end, we must all be extraordinarily careful in how we represent group statements or sentiments. Let us all be cautious in what we write and in whose name we write.

And at the same time, let us continue to engage in direct dialogue that grows out of our ongoing sense that we are responsible for each other.