With Israel in turmoil, group of US rabbis visits with a mission: to listen and learn

Over the last few weeks, while Israel has been roiled by demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands, and President Isaac Herzog has warned about the possibility of civil war, American Jews have been watching with grave concern.

Even after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a delay in the government plan to overhaul the judiciary that sparked the mass protests, tensions in Israel remained high.

It was precisely at this fraught moment that UJA-Federation of New York decided to bring a group of rabbis from the New York area to Israel — to listen, learn and talk with key Israe...