January mission to Israel
Cheryl and Kirsten will be in Israel from 11 to 22 January, delivering aid to the people AIC has been helping since October 7. What they bring depends on what we raise. Our goal is $10,000.
Jewish heroism
Survivors who sat down in front of our community and told it straight. And every day, something that happened on that date in Jewish history. Our history is full of people who stood up, and AIC keeps putting them in front of you.
I am not what happened to me.
Sami SteigmannHolocaust survivor and motivational speakerAn Evening with Sami Steigmann · May 2026Watch the talk →At 15, I wanted to be a terrorist.
Mustapha EzzarghaniMoroccan-born author; founder, Moroccan-Israeli Friendship AssociationBridges of Hope · March 2026Watch the talk →I survived the ethnic cleansing of Kashmir’s Hindus.
Surinder DharHuman rights activist and survivor of the 1990s ethnic cleansing of Hindus in KashmirBridges of Hope · March 2026Watch the talk →After the attack, I stood up as a Jew.
Tal HartuvSurvivor and advocateJustice Beyond Borders · July 2026Watch the talk →Naftali AklumEthiopian-Israeli educatorCelebrate Sigd · November 2020Watch the talk →I’m Jewish, I’m Israeli, and I’m a Black man.
The Jewish flame will continue to burn.
George RishfeldHolocaust survivor and educatorBridges of Hope · March 2026Watch the talk →Sunday 8 November 28 Cheshvan 5787
1936 Yankee Stadium
Maccabi Tel Aviv plays Yankee Stadium
Maccabi Tel Aviv finished an 11-match soccer tour of the United States in front of 20,000 people at Yankee Stadium. The Federation of Polish Jews in America set up the tour to raise money for the relief of Polish Jewry.
1948 Israel
Israel's first census
The new state counted its people at the height of the War of Independence. Everyone stayed home for seven hours while the enumerators came round, and each resident got a note with an identification number.
Source: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (opens in a new tab)
1995 Israel
Alice Miller wins her case
The air force had turned her down, saying women didn't serve long enough. In a 3-2 vote, the Supreme Court told it to open its pilot training course to women, and Alice Miller, 23, could take the tests.
Monday 9 November 29 Cheshvan 5787
1914 Vienna
Hedy Lamarr is born
She was born to a well-to-do Jewish family and became a Hollywood star. In World War II she and the composer George Antheil came up with frequency hopping, now part of satellite and cell phone technology.
1929 Budapest
Imre Kertész is born
In 1944 he was deported to Auschwitz, then Buchenwald, where he was liberated in 1945. His first novel, Fateless, came out of those years, and he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2002.
1938 Nazi Germany
Kristallnacht
Nazi leaders set off a riot against Jews across Germany. Nazis burned more than 1,400 synagogues and wrecked thousands of Jewish-owned businesses, and police sent about 26,000 Jewish men to concentration camps.
Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (opens in a new tab)
Tuesday 10 November 30 Cheshvan 5787
1880 New York
Sculptor Jacob Epstein is born
Born to Polish Jewish refugees on New York's Lower East Side, he settled in London, sculpted Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill, and was knighted in 1954.
1938 America
God Bless America premieres
Irving Berlin, a Russian-Jewish immigrant, wrote a love song to his adoptive country. God Bless America had its premiere on the radio, on the eve of Armistice Day.
2004 Israel
Hatikvah becomes the anthem by law
Long the unofficial anthem of the Zionist movement, Hatikvah was adopted by law as Israel's national anthem. The decisive vote came from Druze Knesset Member Ayoub Kara.
Wednesday 11 November 1 Kislev 5787
1902 Vilna
Air Force founder Yisrael Amir is born
He made aliyah in 1923 and rose through the Haganah. Named the first commander of the Israeli Air Force in 1948, he took it from eight light aircraft to 60 by July.
1918 East End, London
London's Jews cheer the war's end
When the First World War ended, the East End erupted in celebration. Jews hung the Zionist flag, sang Hatikvah, and Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz made the next Shabbat one of thanksgiving.
1930 Brooklyn, New York
Mildred Dresselhaus is born
The daughter of Polish Jewish immigrants, she became the first woman named Institute Professor at MIT, and her work on carbon earned her the nickname the Queen of Carbon Science.
Thursday 12 November 2 Kislev 5787
1841 London
The Jewish Chronicle's first issue
Isaac Vallentine, a small printer in the City of London, founded the paper with editors David Meldola and Moses Angel. Today it is the world's oldest Jewish newspaper.
1928 Berlin
Hannah Goslar is born
Anne Frank's friend from kindergarten, she and her sister Gabi survived Bergen-Belsen. In 1947 she moved to present-day Israel, became a nurse, and spent her life telling Anne's story.
1975 Bellflower, California
Jason Lezak is born
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics he anchored the U.S. men's 400-meter freestyle relay and came from behind to take the gold from the French. In 2009 he set a Maccabiah record in Israel.
Friday 13 November 3 Kislev 5787
1856 Louisville, Kentucky
Louis Brandeis is born
In 1916 he became the first Jewish judge to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Brandeis University was named after him.
1893 Galati, Romania
Painter Reuven Rubin is born
Born Rivn Zelicovici, he became one of the best known painters in Israel. From 1948 to 1950 he served as Israel's first ambassador to Romania.
1982 Israel
Aliza Begin dies
The wife of Menachem Begin joined Betar at fourteen and spent his Irgun years changing identities and homes. She died while he was visiting President Ronald Reagan.
Saturday 14 November 4 Kislev 5787
1900 Brooklyn, New York
Aaron Copland is born
Aaron Copland was born to a Jewish immigrant family in Brooklyn. He wrote Appalachian Spring and Fanfare for the Common Man, and he won a Pulitzer Prize for Appalachian Spring.
1916 Passaic, New Jersey
Sherwood Schwartz is born
Quotas on Jewish students kept him out of medical school, so he wrote jokes instead. He went on to create Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch.
1943 Polo Grounds, New York
Sid Luckman throws seven touchdowns
On Sid Luckman Day, the Jewish quarterback from Brooklyn threw seven touchdown passes as the Chicago Bears beat the New York Giants 56-7.
Sunday 15 November 5 Kislev 5787
1882 Vienna
Felix Frankfurter is born
Felix Frankfurter, the son of a Jewish merchant, was born in Vienna. He came to the United States at twelve and served on the Supreme Court from 1939 to 1962.
1923 Toronto
Miriam Schapiro is born
Miriam Schapiro, the daughter of Jewish Russian immigrants, was born in Toronto. Trained by her father, she became an artist known as one of the mothers of 1970s feminist art.
1948 Israel
El Al is incorporated
Israel's new airline became El Al Israel Airlines, Ltd. Within months its crews were flying almost 47,000 Yemenite Jews home to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet.
Monday 16 November 6 Kislev 5787
1889 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Playwright George Kaufman is born
For each year from 1921 to 1941, he had at least one hit Broadway show as writer or director. He wrote Animal Crackers for the Marx Brothers, and You Can't Take it With You won the Pulitzer Prize.
1924 Vienna, Austria
Haim Bar-Lev is born
He rose to command the Palmach in the War of Independence and became IDF chief of staff in 1968. When the Yom Kippur War came in 1973, Golda Meir called him back, and he helped drive the Egyptians back across the canal.
1947 Netanya and Haifa
Aliyah ships defy the British ban
About 185 European Jews landed near Netanya from a small schooner and escaped before the British could intercept them. The larger Kadima was seized and brought to Haifa, and its passengers were sent to Cyprus.
Tuesday 17 November 7 Kislev 5787
1901 Budzanów, Poland
Acting teacher Lee Strasberg is born
Born Israel Strasberg, he became one of the top acting teachers of the 20th century. Al Pacino, Paul Newman and Marlon Brando were among his students at the Actors Studio in New York City.
1922 Brooklyn
Nobel scientist Stanley Cohen is born
His parents were Russian Jewish emigrants, and his father was a tailor. He discovered a growth factor that promotes growth of cells in the skin, and won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
1952 Washington
Israel asks Einstein to be president
Abba Eban wrote to Albert Einstein, at Prime Minister Ben Gurion's request, asking if he would accept the Presidency of Israel. Einstein wrote back that he was moved by the offer, and saddened that he could not accept it.
Wednesday 18 November 8 Kislev 5787
1906 New York City
Nobel scientist George Wald is born
At Harvard he studied the biochemistry of vision and found vitamin A in the retina of the eye. That work won him the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1967.
1951 Tel Aviv
Yoni Rechter is born
Considered one of Israel's greatest musicians, he played keyboards in Kaveret, the band that represented Israel at Eurovision in 1974. In 2008 he won the Emet Prize.
1958 Jerusalem
Jerusalem opens its new reservoir
Finance Minister Levi Eshkol opened the valve at Bayit Vegan, on the largest reservoir in Israel at the time. Israel Bonds paid for it, after the siege in the War of Independence left the city short of water.
Thursday 19 November 9 Kislev 5787
1933 Brooklyn, New York
Larry King is born
The son of Orthodox Jews from Russia, he froze on his first day on the radio in Miami Beach in 1957, then found his voice. He went on to interview over 40,000 people.
1957 Tel Aviv
Singer Ofra Haza is born
She grew up in the Hatikvah Quarter, in a family from Yemen, and finished second for Israel at Eurovision in 1983. In 1998 she sang Jerusalem of Gold at the ceremony for Israel's 50th anniversary.
1977 Ben Gurion Airport
Sadat lands in Israel
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat landed for a 36-hour visit, greeted by Menachem Begin and a 21-gun salute. When the visit was announced, Jerusalem residents rushed outside and danced in the streets.
Friday 20 November 10 Kislev 5787
1977 Jerusalem
Sadat speaks to the Knesset
A day after he arrived, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat spoke to a special sitting of the Knesset. Ten months later he and Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords, and then Israel's first peace treaty with an Arab neighbor.
1944 Slovakia
Paratrooper Haviva Reik is killed
The British refused to carry a woman behind enemy lines, so she hitched a ride with American pilots and helped Jewish children escape. The Nazis executed her with about 40 Jewish fighters.
Saturday 21 November 11 Kislev 5787
1880 Pyatigorsk, Russia
Joseph Trumpeldor is born
He lost an arm in the Russo-Japanese War and settled in the Land of Israel in 1912. In World War I he organized the Zion Mule Corps to fight with the British.
1945 Silver Spring, Maryland
Goldie Hawn is born
Raised Jewish, she started dancing at age three and became a regular on Laugh-In. In 1969 she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Cactus Flower.
1984 Sudan to Israel
Operation Moses begins
Israel launched the first of several covert missions to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel. More than 30 aircraft carried almost 8,000 people from refugee camps in Sudan to Israel, by way of Brussels.
Sunday 22 November 12 Kislev 5787
1797 London
David Salomons is born
A leader in the fight for Jewish emancipation in the United Kingdom, he became the first Jewish Sheriff of London in 1835 and the first Jewish Lord Mayor of London in 1855.
Source: Hidden Treasures: Celebrating Jewish Archives (opens in a new tab)
1923 Berlin
Actress Hanna Maron is born
Known as the first lady of Israeli theater, she lost her leg in a terrorist attack at the Munich airport in 1970 and was acting again within a year. Guinness later named hers the world's longest career in the theater.
Monday 23 November 13 Kislev 5787
1920 Czernovitz
Poet Paul Celan is born
The son of German-speaking Jews, he was interned for eighteen months before escaping to the Red Army. His Fugue of Death made him one of the most important poets to emerge from post-World War II Europe.
1956 Egypt
Egypt orders its Jews out
A proclamation read aloud in mosques across Egypt declared that "all Jews are Zionists and enemies of the state." Thousands of Jews were ordered to leave with one suitcase and a small sum of cash.
Tuesday 24 November 14 Kislev 5787
1920 23 Nov · Czernovitz
Poet Paul Celan is born
The son of German-speaking Jews, he was interned for eighteen months before escaping to the Red Army. His Fugue of Death made him one of the most important poets to emerge from post-World War II Europe.
1956 23 Nov · Egypt
Egypt orders its Jews out
A proclamation read aloud in mosques across Egypt declared that "all Jews are Zionists and enemies of the state." Thousands of Jews were ordered to leave with one suitcase and a small sum of cash.
Wednesday 25 November 15 Kislev 5787
1920 23 Nov · Czernovitz
Poet Paul Celan is born
The son of German-speaking Jews, he was interned for eighteen months before escaping to the Red Army. His Fugue of Death made him one of the most important poets to emerge from post-World War II Europe.
1956 23 Nov · Egypt
Egypt orders its Jews out
A proclamation read aloud in mosques across Egypt declared that "all Jews are Zionists and enemies of the state." Thousands of Jews were ordered to leave with one suitcase and a small sum of cash.
Thursday 26 November 16 Kislev 5787
1874 27 Nov · Motol, Russia
Chaim Weizmann is born
A biochemist and Zionist leader, he played a key role in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. In 1918 he laid the foundation stone of the Hebrew University.
1914 27 Nov · New York
The Joint is founded
Representatives of 40 US Jewish organizations met in New York to get relief to Jews in Europe and the Middle East. A cable had asked for help to save the Jews of Palestine from starvation.
Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (opens in a new tab)
Friday 27 November 17 Kislev 5787
1874 Motol, Russia
Chaim Weizmann is born
A biochemist and Zionist leader, he played a key role in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. In 1918 he laid the foundation stone of the Hebrew University.
1914 New York
The Joint is founded
Representatives of 40 US Jewish organizations met in New York to get relief to Jews in Europe and the Middle East. A cable had asked for help to save the Jews of Palestine from starvation.
Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (opens in a new tab)
Saturday 28 November 18 Kislev 5787
1961 Morocco to Israel
Operation Yachin begins
Israel launched Operation Yachin so Morocco's 2,000-year-old Jewish community could make aliyah. By the time it ended in 1964, more than 97,000 Jews had left Morocco by way of France or Italy.
Sunday 29 November 19 Kislev 5787
1947 United Nations
The United Nations votes for partition
The United Nations adopted Resolution 181, the Partition Resolution, to divide the land into Jewish and Arab states when the British mandate ended in May 1948.
Source: Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State (opens in a new tab)
Monday 30 November 20 Kislev 5787
1947 29 Nov · United Nations
The United Nations votes for partition
The United Nations adopted Resolution 181, the Partition Resolution, to divide the land into Jewish and Arab states when the British mandate ended in May 1948.
Source: Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State (opens in a new tab)
1943 Warsaw
The ghetto fighters
On the eve of Passover, about 700 young Jews in the Warsaw ghetto took up arms against the German army. It was the largest Jewish uprising of the war.
1944 Hungary
Hannah Szenes
She volunteered to parachute into occupied Europe to reach the Jews of Hungary. Before she crossed the border she told a fellow paratrooper: “They will know that at least one person tried to reach them.”
1991 Addis Ababa to Israel
Operation Solomon
Israel flew 14,325 Ethiopian Jews home in 36 hours. Five babies were born on the planes.
2023 Ofakim
Rachel Edri
Five Hamas terrorists held her and her husband in their own home for 20 hours. She kept them calm with coffee and cookies, and held five fingers to her cheek so the police outside knew how many there were.
2023 Kibbutz Nir Am
Inbal Rabin Lieberman
The kibbutz’s security coordinator, just turned 26, armed her twelve-person team and held the gate for three and a half hours until the army arrived. Nobody at Nir Am was killed.
Our work
Speaker events, policy briefings, and community forums that build the knowledge confident advocacy depends on.
Civic engagement, rapid response, and interfaith partnerships that turn conviction into organized action.
When communities in Israel face crisis, AIC is there, on the ground and in partnership with trusted local organizations.
The Kosher Duck Revolution and initiatives that spread Jewish pride, connection, and joy in everyday spaces.
Our programs
An educational program of AIC
Research and analysis on Israeli security and the threats facing Jewish communities. The Flash Brief and the Field Dossiers are free; the full Israel Brief, the Closed Dossiers, Vantage, and Watchwords come with AIC membership.
About the program: The Mitzpe Institutemitzpe.org (opens in a new tab)
An initiative of AIC
A global movement spreading Jewish joy, unity, and kindness, one duck at a time.
Proceeds from the shop support AIC’s mission.
About the initiative: Kosher Duck Revolutionkosherduckrevolution.com (opens in a new tab)
Events
Briefings, speakers, and community evenings, online and in person: more than 231 programs since 2018.
Missions
When communities in Israel face crisis, AIC is there, on the ground and in partnership with trusted local organizations.
Online series
Talks
Twice a month, live online, with the people who know Israel and Am Israel firsthand: a 45-minute talk, then your questions. Free for AIC members, and members’ questions go first.
Book club
One book a month, read together and discussed live. Free for AIC members: you only buy the book. Come for the month you have read and skip the one you have not.
Briefing
Four times a year, the Mitzpe Institute’s research presented for AIC: what the analysis found and what it means for this community.
Events
· Online
With Shai Davidai
Shai Davidai taught at Columbia Business School until he resigned in July 2025, so he is not writing about this from a distance. The first session is free and open to everyone.
· Online
With Mustapha Ezzarghani
Mustapha Ezzarghani grew up in Morocco and now spends his days telling Arabic speakers the truth about Jews and Israel. He comes to Israel Up Close to talk about that work, and to take your questions.
· Online
With Howard Lovy
Since October 7, some publishers and agents have told Jewish writers “now is not the time.” Howard Lovy started a press to say yes.
· Online
With Amanda Elliot
A Hanukkah love story, read the week after Hanukkah. Amanda Elliot comes on at eight to take your questions.
· Online
· Online
With Amotz Eyal
Amotz Eyal started TPS in 2013 to fix the coverage of Israel where it begins, with the reporting that newsrooms around the world pick up. He comes to Israel Up Close to talk about the media war, why it’s so hard to win, and what’s working.
· Online
With Zeeva Bukai
Zeeva Bukai’s first novel follows an Israeli family from the 1967 war to Brooklyn. It won the National Jewish Book Award for debut fiction.
· Online
With Lara Burns
Lara Burns spent two decades following Hamas’s money through America for the FBI. She’ll show you what she found, and what’s still here.
· Online
With Yishay Ishi Ron
Yishay Ishi Ron served in an elite combat unit and came home with PTSD, and Dog is the novel that came out of it. Note the time: this one is at noon Eastern.
· Online
With Justin Yehuda
Justin Yehuda built a New York coffee company that gives 18 percent of its profits to organizations supporting Israel. He’ll tell you how it came together.
· Online
With Uri Zehavi
A year after the war with Iran began, where it has left Israel, the region, and Jewish communities here.
· Online
With Rachel Lester
Rachel Lester was inside the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit for the war over the story, from October 7 through the campuses. Note the time: this one is at noon Eastern.
· Online
· Online
With Lana Melman
Lana Melman spent twenty years in Hollywood, then took on the campaign to make artists boycott Israel. Artists Under Fire is that fight, story by story.
· Online
Our impact
Mobilized means everyone AIC has brought into a program or briefed on Israel, each counted once.
Figures as of October 2026 · See our impact
Why now
Three people were murdered in antisemitic attacks in this country in 2025, the first such killings since 2019. Assaults with a deadly weapon went up 39 percent. Here in Georgia, ADL counted 83 incidents, 32 of them in Atlanta, and more vandalism than the state has ever recorded. We still hold our events in the open, and we plan every one for safety: the address goes only to people who’ve registered, and each event gets a security plan that fits it. Your support pays for that.
Sources: ADL audit figures for Georgia as reported by CBS News Atlanta (May 2026); ADL, Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2025 (May 2026).
Membership
Membership keeps this work going year-round, and every level comes with a Mitzpe Institute membership: the full Israel Brief, Sunday to Friday, and the members’ analysis.
AIC is a 501(c)(3). Membership gifts are tax-deductible beyond the value of what the membership includes.
In their words
The Atlanta Israel Coalition represents the very best of grassroots pro-Israel advocacy — meaningful opportunities for people of all backgrounds to learn, connect, and stand with Israel.
The Atlanta Israel Coalition leads with courage, compassion, and a genuine commitment to collaboration — a trusted partner in education, empowerment, and meaningful community engagement.
AIC is a credible curator and organizer of Israel programming that is compelling and informative — a resource that can be counted on to tell Israel's story in a way that resonates with diverse audiences.
Give
Community briefings, advocacy training, humanitarian missions to Israel, and the Kosher Duck Revolution, with specifics on every tier.
Gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
