November

Bridges Beyond Borders: Peace Builders on the Ground

Sunday, November 9, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm ath the Pozez JCC

An interactive workshop & conversation with alumni of the Arava Institute

Join us for a unique encounter with the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies – a space where young Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, and international students come together to learn, live, and build a shared future.

Through education, research, and daily life in the community, the Arava Institute empowers students to develop the skills, friendships, and understanding needed to lead the region toward a more sustainable and peaceful future.

In this workshop, we’ll meet Arielle Ben-Hur and Jawdat Kassab, two Arava alumni – an Israeli and a Palestinian – who will share their personal journeys of building trust, partnership, and hope, and their choice to join the Institute despite the complex reality that surrounds them.

Together, we’ll move into small discussion groups to reflect, ask questions, and explore both the challenges and the possibilities that arise when people dare to connect beyond borders.

We’ll close with shared insights and inspiration – taking with us new perspectives on what peace-building can look like, here and now.

This program is free. RSVP is required. We hope that you will support the Shlichut program and Israel engagement programs here.

Register

Israel Baseball at Gesher

Sunday, November 16, 13:30-3:30pm & 6:00-9:00

Join us and our friends at Israel Baseball for a day with two swing-tastic experiences:

– Clinic with Israel Baseball

– Screening of “Israel Swings For Gold” film with discussion

First is a baseball clinic for children aged 8 to 16. Led by members of Israel Baseball’s team, this clinic will include hands-on lessons on baseball fundamentals. The clinic, at a location to be shared upon registration, will take place on Nov. 16, 2025, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. The cost for the clinic is $90 per participant. 

Second is an all-ages screening of the movie “Israel Swings For Gold,” which tells the story of Israel Baseball’s first-ever Olympic experience at the 2021 Tokyo games.  This will also include a discussion with members of Israel Baseball following the screening. The screening will begin at 6 p.m. with the film and discussion running until 9 p.m. on November 16. The cost for this is $20 per person.

Register here

JxJ Best of Fest – “Blind at Heart”

Sunday, November 16, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm.  Cinema Arts Theatre (9650 Main St
Fairfax, VA 22031)

The Pozez JCC, in partnership with Edlavitch DCJCC, is thrilled to present JxJ BEST OF FEST: Monthly Film Screenings at Cinema Arts Theatre in Fairfax!

Enjoy 5 feature length and 6 short Jewish or Israeli films over a 6-month period here in our area!

“Blind at Heart”
Dir. Barbara Albert | 2024 | Germany/Switzerland | 136 min.
A magnetic Mala Emde portrays Hélène, an aspiring doctor who tries to hide her Jewish identity after arriving in Weimar-era Berlin as a young woman. Over the subsequent decades, Hélène finds her career ambitions and romantic expectations transformed as she begins to witness the frightening rise of Nazism, ultimately leading her to drastic decisions that will forever change her sense of self and make her question the very idea of personal independence. With an assured sense of dramatic motion, Barbara Albert adapts Julia Franck’s internationally renowned, German Book Prize-winning novel, “Die Mittagsfrau (The Blindness of the Heart),” into an exacting moral tale about the difficult choices people make during times of tumult, spanning the late 1920s to the darkest days of World War II. Note: some images may be disturbing; contains a depiction of sexual assault.

Tickets: $15
Tickets may be purchased at the Cinema Arts Box Office or online.

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