S1 E9 of Good Shabbos Nebraska

This week on Good Shabbos Nebraska - America's favorite Shabbos morning talk show - we are proud to feature another guest provided for us by our friends at AIPAC.

Our guest this week will be Sabrina Thomas - AIPAC Southwest Christian Outreach Director –Houston, Texas

American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)- www.aipac.org stands as the pre-imminent pro-Israel lobby in the United States. Its mission is to nurture and advance the relationship between the United States and Israel.  

As a bi-partisan organization, AIPAC’s strength comes from its grassroots members who cultivate relationships with congressional leaders. Through those relationships, AIPAC’s grassroots members educate and advocate congressional leaders on the necessity of a safe and secure Israel as well as the continued strength of the US - Israel relationship.  

While AIPAC has always been a Jewish institution, AIPAC has taken into account the current demographic trends of the Jewish community in America.  The organization ascertained that in order to sustain and grow the strength of the US - Israel relationship, it needed to expand its base of support. 

Therefore, AIPAC opened its doors in recent years welcoming other pro-Israel Americans to join its advocacy efforts. AIPAC is reaching out to religiously-motivated pro-Israel Christians, African Americans, and Latinos.

In August 2012, AIPAC launched its Southwest Christian Outreach program to reach out to these Christian allies and enhance their pro-Israel advocacy, by hiring Sabrina Thomas, as the Southwest Christian Outreach Director.  Sabrina works to reach pro-Israel Christian leaders primarily in the Southwest (TX, LA, AR, OK, NM, CO, and NE).

This week on Good Shabbos Nebraska we will have an opportunity to meet Sabrina and hear about the work she is doing in Nebraska.

I am particularly interested in learning which religious groups she has had success with, as well as which groups are the most resistant to a strong relationship between the U.S. and Israel.  

This week's parsha, vayigash, deals extensively with Yosef's relationship with the Egyptian government and the tension that he experienced as a leader of the Egyptian nation while at the same time advocating for the welfare of his brothers from a foreign nation.  This paradigm has served as historic model for diaspora Jewish communities and we are going to discuss some of the similarities and differences in our current situation.

I am also looking forward to hear what Sabrina has to say about Jewish scepticism towards Christian Zionism, and how AIPAC addresses those concerns.

It is going to be a great Shabbos.  Many thanks, as always to our good friends at AIPAC for making this possible.

So be there this and every Shabbos for Good Shabbos Nebraska, 10 am ONLY at Beth Israel - where every Shabbos is a shabbaton!