Protecting Democracy at Home and in Israel

New Israel Fund CEO Daniel Sokatch returns to Congregation Shomrei Torah for its annual lecture honoring Rabbi Michael Robinson. Rabbi Robinson retired to Santa Rosa after nearly 30 years as a pulpit Rabbi in Upstate New York and worked part-time as the Rabbi of Congregation Shomrei Torah before Rabbi George Gittleman arrived in 1996. The crusading, liberal rabbi marched against racial injustice, protested nuclear proliferation, and took action in support of the homeless, the unemployed, and the powerless in his own backyard and around the world.  After his death, a donation fund and a lecture were established in his memory by members of our own NIF family, Heidi Stewart and John Weinstein.

As the CEO of the New Israel Fund, Daniel Sokatch will share insights from both Israel and the US, as our communities grapple with fundamental questions related to democracy and the fight for equal rights for all, the causes to which Rabbi Robinson dedicated his life.

Israel’s Declaration of Independence outlined a vision for a state that both serves as a homeland for the Jewish people, and guarantees equality for all its citizens, regardless of nationality, race, sex, or religion. But over seventy years later, that vision is still a work in progress. In this era of political uncertainty, civil society has become more vital than ever to defending and expanding democracy and to safeguarding the fundamental rights of all people. But these civil society organizations and activists cannot secure a better future on their own: they need our support.

In 1979, the New Israel Fund was established to provide funding and support for Israel’s then-fledgling civil society. Since then, NIF has granted over $300 million to more than 900 organizations. Beyond financial support, NIF, through its action arm Shatil, offers organizations and activists training and individualized consulting.

NIF and its grantees have secured major victories on the road to advancing democracy and protecting human rights. These successes range from defending the rights of minorities in Israel to securing significant restrictions on arbitrary home invasions in the West Bank to winning a Supreme Court decision against employment discrimination based on sexual orientation–among many more.

Daniel Sokatch has served as the CEO of the New Israel Fund since 2009. During the past decade of extraordinary challenges, NIF has risen to new heights as the great defender of justice, democracy and equality in Israel.

Before joining NIF, Daniel served as the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. Prior to his tenure at the Federation, he was founding Executive Director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance (now Bend the Arc). In recognition of his leadership, Daniel has been named multiple times to the Forward newspaper’s “Forward 50,” an annual list of the fifty leading Jewish decision-makers and opinion-shapers. He has contributed articles to leading newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Forward and Haaretz, and is the author of the recently released, Can We Talk About Israel: A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted (Bloomsbury). Daniel holds an MA from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, a JD from Boston College Law School, and a BA from Brandeis University. He is married, is father to two daughters, and resides in San Francisco.

Learn more about NIF at www.nif.org. Read more about Rabbi Michael Robinson's life and legacy here.

$12 for CST members, $18 for non-members. To ensure that we have enough food, please register by Wednesday before the Tisch. 

Evening Schedule (times are approximate):
6:15 - 6:45 - Shabbat Blessings and Meal
6:45 - 7:10 - Misheberach and Kaddish
7:15 - 8:15 - Speaker Presentation

You may also join us virtually via Livestream or Facebook Live. The Zoom link is available in your weekly CST Connect email or by request. If you missed a previously live-streamed service, view our Video Library.

Please register below to attend in person.