Sun City temple presents course on Israel's 'Struggle for Survival'

Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley, 12202 N. 101st Ave., will present a four-week interfaith adult education course, “A Scary Time: The Jewish State’s Struggle for Survival,” in June. All faiths are invited.

Classes will be 10-11 a.m. Mondays, June 3, 10, 17 and 24. Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan, of Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley, will lead the discussion. Through his contacts in Israel, he is able to provide participants with timely information.

“The State of Israel is facing extremely serious security threats from terrorist groups based in Gaza, the West Bank, South Lebanon, Syria and Yemen — all of them supported by Iran. The massacre in Israel perpetuated by Hamas on Oct. 7 continues to reverberate in Israel, throughout the region, and now in many other parts of the world. More recently, the Iranian government fired missiles and drones toward Israel in an attack that would have been seen as a declaration of war under normal circumstances,” Kaplan said.

Class participants will look at the current situation from different points of view and what the near future is likely to hold in the future for Israel. At the same time, they will look at the impact of the Israel-Gaza War on American Jews and on American society more broadly.

“Blatant antisemitism, much of which is aggressive and advocating violence, has become overt, appearing in the newspapers every day in the form of reporting predominantly on pro-Palestinian protests in cities across the country. At the same time, there seems to be a growing aversion to this widespread social acceptance of antisemitism and a feeling that American society needs to finally grapple with the hatred of the Jews expressed as anti-Zionism,” Kaplan said.

Cost is $20 for temple members and $35 for non-members. Registration deadline is noon May 29, by calling the Temple Beth Shalom office at 623-977-3240. Visit tbsaz.org.