Israel Peace Alternatives
Events, activities, and discussions.
Pursuit of justice and peace for the preservation and strengthening of a democratic Jewish Israel
Israel Peace Alternatives (IPA) consists of partners of Congregation Bet Haverim dedicated to the preservation and strengthening of a democratic Jewish Israel through the achievement of a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and adherence to the principles of freedom, justice and equality for all Israeli citizens, as articulated in the declaration of independence of the State of Israel.
We are impelled by the obligation to pursue justice and peace, placed upon us by our sacred writings as well as the best Jewish secular traditions of the past three centuries. Our programs, which are open to all congregational partners and the public, are designed to advance these objectives through information, education, discussion and advocacy.
For programming information or to be added to our mailing list, please contact sfpattison@gmail.com.
Join us at Israel Peace Alternatives events!
Continued Round Table Discussion: What’s Worrying You Regarding Israel?
Sunday, May 31, 2026 | 3:30pm-5:30pm | CBH Social Hall
Israel Peace Alternatives and Social Justice Committee invite CBH Partners to participate in a CONTINUED Round Table discussion/listening brave-space session.
Recently about 20 CBH partners participated in a Round Table listening session where each person shared their own experience, and most expressed the desire to continue. This follow-up session is open to all CBH partners who attended and to those who have not yet joined us. Come to listen and share your thoughts/reactions/suggestions/ideas/concerns on Israel, including trauma experienced by Jews on Oct 7, Hamas terrorism, the Israeli government’s response, or other related issues which call to your Jewish values.
Our goal is for each of us to listen to diverse views and welcome them as sincere and heartfelt, and to give CBH partners a forum for expression to build community based on respect for each person’s concerns. We expect our discussion will be along a continuum of wide polarities with many nuanced opinions. We seek to provide a safe space to discuss and acknowledge these feelings and to locate shared Jewish values.
All participants must follow the Round Table Guidelines and Agreements.
CBH partners are those who have made an annual dues pledge for the current fiscal year. Non-partners are welcome at many services and programs, but this program is focused on discussion among those who have a current partnership commitment to our synagogue. If you are not a current partner, please do not register. Please contact our executive director if you need to check your status or would like to become a partner: director@bethaverim.org.
Please RSVP HERE by noon Friday, May 29th and please consider making a donation to cover costs to sustain this effort.
For questions please contact sfpattison@gmail.com
The views expressed by this program, the speaker, or the speaker’s sponsoring organization are not necessarily the views of Congregation Bet Haverim. Our congregation is committed to honoring the diversity of thoughts and opinions within our community.
Past Events:
Israel Shabbat April 24, 2026
J Street: The Political Home for the “Conflictedly Connected”
Ben Feldman, J Street Northwest Deputy Regional Director
Thursday, April 16, 2026, 11:30 am potluck dairy lunch; 12 Noon program in the CBH Social Hall
An October 2025 poll by The Washington Post shows 76% of American Jews feeling connected to Israel, while 61% are critical of the Israeli government. A Haaretz analysis described this plurality as “conflictedly connected,” with J Street being their ideological home.
If you have ever felt this way, or are curious to find out more, please come
meet Ben Feldman of J Street for this informal lunchtime talk. Ben joins J Street from Silicon Valley where he’s worked in Growth, driving internationalization and building revenue for startups and large companies
alike. A lifelong student of politics and international relations, he holds
graduate degrees from Middlebury College and the American University in
Cairo, and a BA from the University of Virginia.
Click HERE to register by noon Wednesday, April 15th and please consider making a donation to cover costs.
For more information visit JStreet.org or email sfpattison@gmail.com
The views expressed by this program, the speaker, or the speakers sponsoring organization are not necessarily the views of Congregation Bet Haverim. Our congregation is committed to honoring the diversity of thoughts and opinions within our community.
International Law Issues Regarding Israel and Palestine Today
Thursday, March 19, 2026 11:30am Brownbag / Potluck Dairy Lunch; Noon Program | Social Hall
Israel Peace Alternatives invites CBH Partners and their guests to a lecture/Q&A featuring Professor Chimène Keitner, Homer G. Angelo and Ann Berryhill Professor of Law and Director of the Center for International Law & Policy at UC Davis School of Law.
Professor Chimène Keitner is a leading authority on international law and civil litigation, and served as the 27th Counselor on International Law in the U.S. Department of State. She has authored two books and dozens of articles, essays, and book chapters on questions surrounding the relationship among law, communities, and borders, including issues of jurisdiction, extraterritoriality, foreign sovereign and foreign official immunity, and the historical understandings underpinning current practice in these areas.
Professor Keitner holds a bachelor’s degree in history and literature with high honors from Harvard, a JD from Yale, where she was a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow, and a doctorate in international relations from Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
Please RSVP here by 2pm Wednesday, March 18 and please consider making a donation to cover program costs. To get a zoom link please email sfpattison@gmail.com.
For questions please contact sfpattison@gmail.com
The views expressed by this program, the speaker, or the speaker’s sponsoring organization are not necessarily the views of Congregation Bet Haverim. Our congregation is committed to honoring the diversity of thoughts and opinions within our community.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12 | 11:30AM – 1:00PM | CBH SOCIAL HALL
Israel Peace Alternatives invites CBH partners and their guests to a lecture featuring Alan E. Brownstein, Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UC Davis School of Law.
CBH partner Alan Brownstein, a nationally recognized Constitutional Law scholar, taught Constitutional Law, Law and Religion, and Torts at UC Davis School of Law. While the primary focus of his scholarship relates to church-state issues and free exercise and establishment clause doctrine, he has also written extensively on freedom of speech, privacy and autonomy rights, and other constitutional law subjects.
Please note, this event will also include a dairy only potluck lunch. If you would like to attend via Zoom, please email Sarah Pattison to receive the link.
Please RSVP HERE by noon Wednesday, February 11th. Please consider making a donation to cover program costs.
For late registration, contact sfpattison@gmail.com
The views expressed by this program, the speaker, or the speaker’s sponsoring organization are not necessarily the views of Congregation Bet Haverim. Our congregation is committed to honoring the diversity of thoughts and opinions within our community.
ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION: WHAT’S WORRYING YOU TODAY REGARDING ISRAEL AND GAZA?
SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2026 | 3:30PM-5:30PM | CBH SOCIAL HALL
Israel Peace Alternatives and Social Justice Committee invite CBH Partners to participate in a Round Table discussion/listening session.
Come prepared to share your thoughts/reactions/suggestions/ideas/concerns on Israel/Gaza, especially trauma experienced by Jews on Oct 7, Hamas terrorism and the Israeli government’s response, or other related issues which call to your Jewish values.
Our goal is for each of us to listen to diverse views and welcome them as heartfelt, and to give CBH partners a forum for expression to build community based on respect for each person’s concerns. We expect our discussion will be along a continuum of wide polarities and those in the middle. We seek to provide a safe space to discuss and acknowledge these feelings and to locate shared Jewish values.
Please RSVP HERE by Friday, January 23rd. Please consider making a donation to cover costs.
Click HERE to view Round Table Guidelines/Agreements.
For late registration, contact sfpattison@gmail.com
The views expressed by this program, the speaker, or the speaker’s sponsoring organization are not necessarily the views of Congregation Bet Haverim. Our congregation is committed to honoring the diversity of thoughts and opinions within our community.
Israel Peace Alternatives Annual Meeting
Thursday, September 11, 2025 | 3:00pm | CBH North Portable
CBH members interested in learning about and supporting our programs are invited to attend the IPA Annual Meeting on Thursday, September 11 at 3pm. Location will be at Congregation Bet Haverim 1715 Anderson Road, Davis, CA.
For more information and to let us know you will be attending, please contact sfpattison@gmail.com or call (530) 220-5042.
PLEASE VOTE IN THE WORLD ZIONIST CONGRESS ELECTION!
WHAT: Vote for a slate of delegates who will set policies and allocate over
WHEN: March 10 to May 4, 2025
COST: $5 by personal check, credit or debit card
WHERE? Online at www.ZionistElection.org or by paper ballot
HOW TO VOTE BY PAPER BALLOT: Pick up a ballot in the CBH Sanctuary
SLATES: See all slate platforms and candidates at
GATHERING FOR IN-PERSON VOTING: Saturday, April 5, at 6:30 pm, in the
Check back for new IPA events!
Israel Peace Alternatives and J Street Sacramento Region Chapter invite you to a FREE home screening of a film streaming at the SACRAMENTO JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL!
Each year the Sacramento Jewish Film Festival brings a multitude of Jewish-interest films to our area, with both in-person screenings and streaming options. Get your tickets and passes here: https://sacjewishfilmfest.org/ Don’t miss in-person screenings at the Crest Theater, February 20-23.
There are always a number of films that touch on issues relevant to J Street supporters. Let’s get together to go to the movies!
“The Checkpoint Women” will be streamed on Wednesday, February 26 at 4 pm at the home of Sarah and Tom Pattison in South Davis; address provided upon RSVP to sfpattison@gmail.com. Discussion will be led by Shimrit Braun Kamin, J Street Northwest Regional Director, who for many years worked with Machsom Watch, the subject of the film. There is no cost to attend this streaming event, but donations to the Festival and to J Street will be accepted.
About the Film:
In 2001, a group of Israeli women, most of them in their sixties, established Machsom Watch (Checkpoint Watch), an organization dedicated to guarding the human rights of Palestinians who must regularly pass through checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank. For years, these women documented the troubling activity taking place at the checkpoints, giving viewers a never-before-seen look at the occupation. As the women revisit the footage from the checkpoints, this moving film showcases those who stood at the heart of the conflict, exposing the daily struggle of Palestinians living under occupation.
Documentary, 60 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles.
Children of Peace Film Screening
Wednesday, March 13 | 6:30 p.m.
At the home of SARAH and TOM PATTISON
Address provided with RSVP
Core Questions for This Moment of Crisis
An evening with Dr. Masua Sagiv
November 28, 2023 | 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. | CBH Social Hall
UPDATE on J Street political messaging regarding the current crisis in the Middle East and its impact on the Two-State Solution
A conversation with J Street Assistant Political Director LEXI GOLDWYN with a focus on House and Senate races in ‘24
November 21, 2023 | 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Address provided upon reply to dowden@hrdowden.com
IPA Annual Meeting
Wednesday, September 6, 2023, 10:30 a.m.
Report-Back from Israel with Ben Linder
Sunday, August 20, 2023, 1:30 p.m.
Israel Shabbat flier
Friday, April 21, 2023, 7 pm, Israel Shabbat co-hosted with Israel Haverim.
Hope to see you there!
Israel’s Crisis of Democracy: What it Means for Israel,
Palestine, and the American Jewish Community Flier
Please join us at Congregation B’nai Israel on Wednesday, May 3, 7 pm, for a unique opportunity to hear directly from the Executive Director of J Street Israel, Nadav Tamir, who will be visiting us from Tel Aviv. We will engage in a conversation on Israel, Palestine, and the American Jewish Community – the evolving relationship.
This event will take place in Person and on ZOOM:
Freedman Discussion flier
Thomas L. Friedman’s recent column in the New York Times:
“American Jews, You Have to Choose Sides on Israel”
March 28, 2023
Shira Ben-Sasson Furstenberg, Associate Director of NIF Israel
Fighting Back: The Struggle for Equality, Democracy, and Religious Pluralism in Israel
February 14, 2023, 11 a.m. pst, via ZOOM
EI AI Rabbi Simons Jan 2023
Rabbi Jeremy Simons Speaking on: Contemporary Israel Issues via El Al
2022 J Street National Conference flier
December 3-6 Washington, DC + Virtual
Please register to attend in person or for the link to attend by Zoom:
Sokatch flier
Join Congregation B’nai Israel on Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 7:00 pm (click for more details)
Israel Shabbat, Friday, April 29, 2022 (details t.b.d.)
East-Jerusalemite Palestinian Students at the Hebrew University, Wednesday, June 8, 2022 (registration & details by following link)
The views expressed by this program, the speaker, or the speaker’s sponsoring organization are not necessarily the views of Congregation Bet Haverim. Our congregation is committed to honoring the diversity of thoughts and opinions within our community.
Ronny Perlman of Machsom Watch, Discussion of film “200 Meters” on March 10, 2022
Yael Teff-Seker, Ph.D. : Environmental Cooperation in the Mideast, on January 23, 2022
Click here for more information on this program.
Tuesday, November 30, 2021, 7 p.m. Annual Meeting
Yael Teff Seker, Ph.D.: Peace Education in Israeli and Palestinian Schools on October 20, 2021
Yael Teff-Seker, Ph.D.: Environmental Ethics in Judaism on June 10, 2021
The International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace: “Give Peace a Chance (and Some Funding)” on May 11, 2021
Fourth time’s a charm? with Michal Sella, Director of Shatil Center for Policy Change on March 18, 2021
An Evening with NYT columnist Roger Cohenon December 2, 2020
“Friendly Fire” with Ami Ayalon on August 24, 2020
Israel’s Ultra Orthodox: what we need to know on June 18, 2020
Murals of Change on May 27, 2020
Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement on February 13, 2020
Combatants for Peace on January 29, 2020
“Let Our People Know” on January 14, 2020
