Marking One Year: JEM Launches “Project for Enduring Peace”

Jewish Educational Media has announced the launch of The Project for Enduring Peace, which will articulate Torah’s guidance for lasting peace in Israel, as laid out by the Rebbe, to the larger Jewish community.

According to JEM, the project’s anchor will be a series of high-quality “explainer videos” presenting Torah’s “straightforward, compassionate roadmap” to security in Israel. 

“We’ve been researching and publishing the Rebbe’s words on Israel’s security for close to thirty years,” said Rabbi Elkanah Shmotkin, director of JEM. “But when the devastating news came last Simchas Torah, it became clear that something dramatically different was now possible and necessary.”

Beginning October 8th, JEM increased their efforts in bringing the Rebbe’s guidance on Israel to all spheres of the Jewish community as well as, significantly, to Israeli leadership. Presentations, courses, and video productions have been eagerly received by audiences throughout Jewish society with unprecedented success. 

Over the course of forty years, the Rebbe communicated a vision for peace in Israel in private meetings with Israel’s leaders, public addresses and written correspondence. The challenge was to organize the material, identify the key ideas, and present it clearly. “Perhaps one of the greatest identifying markers of the Rebbe’s approach is nuance,” shares Rabbi Levik Korf, the project’s director of content.

“To apply a teaching of the Rebbe to current events requires extensive knowledge, context, and careful deliberation,” said Korf. To this end, it was necessary to conduct a thorough and comprehensive study on the Rebbe’s approach. JEM gathered a group of scholars to form a think tank that would lay out a systematic guide that can be clearly understood and applied. 

What followed was an impressive output of content tailored for different demographics. Mini documentaries highlighting the Rebbe’s teachings with direct relevance to current events were published, some of which reached unprecedented viewership with hundreds of thousands of views and broad levels of engagement.

“How Israel Wins,” a multimedia seminar developed in collaboration with the Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) was co authored by Rabbi Shmotkin and Rabbi Naftali Silberberg, and has been offered in over two hundred Jewish communities to-date. Rabbi Sholom Moshe Paltiel of Chabad of Port Washington, one Chabad rabbi who taught the course in his community, testified that community members of “a variety of views and political leanings” attended the local course. “Torah’s logical and compassionate approach, as taught by the Rebbe, spoke for itself, allowing every participant a tangible lesson and a fresh appreciation for the subject.” 

After taking the course, David Wurmser, an American foreign policy specialist who served in senior advisory roles in the White House and State Department reflected on the importance of the Rebbe’s teachings on the matter. He said,“the Rebbe laid forth the convictions that are essential to Israel’s survival as a country vis a vis itself and in upholding its steadfast relationship with the United States.” Citing a video clip of a conversation the Rebbe held with Israel’s then cabinet-secretary Elyakim Rubinstein on how Israel should manage its relations with the US, Wurmser remarked, “I personally have benefited from the Rebbe’s forthright clarity in this regard.”

Members of the group held a series of webinars and in person presentation to high-profile leaders in the Chabad world and beyond. Returning from a December trip to Jerusalem, where he engaged members of Israel’s government and prominent journalists, he shared that “there was clearly a real thirst for the Torah’s message. The impact the Rebbe’s guidance made was, thank G-d, tangible.” 

Despite the initial success, the JEM team emphasizes that this is the beginning of the journey. The goal is educational at its core, but the ultimate objective is to reach the world Jewish community, influence policy decisions, change the reality on the ground, and to, in Shmotkin’s words, “the ultimate and only outcome that results from such actions – lasting security and peace.”

To that end, they aim to shift the paradigm with which the Jewish community views Israel’s challenges. Rabbi Elisha Pearl, a member of the Enduring Peace Think Tank, authored a comprehensive book on the Rebbe’s approach, titled “Make Peace.” “The Rebbe expressed the need to educate the next generation on Torah’s view as a pivotal factor for Israeli peace,” shared Pearl. “The bedrock of Israel’s security is much more than a set of policies adopted by Israeli leadership. Long term security is dependent on the perspective held by the Jewish people on their relationship with the land and the struggles they face.”

The Project for Enduring Peace intends to produce a series of episodes in its new series, “Torah’s Roadmap to Peace” on the fundamental building blocks of the Rebbe’s guidance on Israel. The whys and hows of Israel’s defense strategy, Jewish ownership of the land, and Israel-US relations will be explored in a straightforward, engaging format. In addition to producing timely content and educational materials, the project will look to collaborate with communities and institutions worldwide to bring the Rebbe’s message to even wider audiences. 

JEM invites the Jewish community to join them on a path to create real change in Israel, ending decades of conflict, and achieving true enduring peace and security. 

Watch the first video Explaining Israel’s Ownership, and follow the YouTube channel.