“Life along the Gaza border - working for peace in a war zone” — a talk and presentation by Dr. Julia Chaitin. Join us for a social action Shabbat on Friday, January 9. We’ll gather at 6:00 p.m., have a service at 6:15 p.m., and eat dinner at 6:45 p.m. At 7:30 p.m. Located in a member's home. Please contact the CSS office for location details.

Dr. Chaitin will discuss what it was like to live along the Gaza border and work for peace with Palestinians .

Dr. Chaitin is a resident of Kibbutz Urim, located near the border with the Gaza Strip. She is a scholar-practitioner, and her background is in social psychology, with an expertise in qualitative-narrative research and peace-building. Her research focuses on the long-term psychosocial impacts of the Holocaust and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. She has published articles and books on these topics. Dr. Chaitin is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Work at the Sapir College, and a teaching fellow in the Masters Conflict Management Program at the Eilat campus of Ben Gurion University.

Dr. Chaitin is also active in grassroots peace work. She is a board member and program director of Other Voice – an organization that calls for a non-violent end to the conflict in the Gaza-Sderot region, a member of Friendship across Borders – a joint German, Israeli and Palestinian peace education NGO, and of Circles in Eshkol – a dialogue group comprised of secular and Orthodox Jews.

Please bring a vegetarian dish to share.