Ittay Flescher is an Australian freelance journalist and educator. After 15 years as a high school teacher in Melbourne and public speaker on topics relating to the impact of conflict on national identity and culture, especially relating to Israelis and Palestinians, Ittay moved to Jerusalem with his family in 2018. He is currently the Youth Action program Director at Kids4Peace, a grassroots interfaith youth movement dedicated to ending conflict and inspiring hope in Jerusalem and other divided societies around the world.
Lectures
*Two Nations, One Homeland: Narratives of 1948
* Jerusalem, the international capital of tolerance
* Confessions of a shul going atheist
* #metoo and the Jewish Community
* Critical Media Literacy: Sorting out fact from fiction on the internet
* What Orange is the New Black taught me about being Jewish
* How secular Israelis pray through music
* Jewish & Aboriginal partnerships for reconciliation in Australia
* The many meanings of “never again”
* The challenge of the Jewish activist: Evolution or Revolution?
* President Rivlin’s New Israeli Order
* How Jewish TV Producers have changed the conversation about Gender and Sexuality in America
* The Philosophy of Martin Buber
Seminars and Short Courses
Israeli Society through film and television
Explore the complex people, stories and ideas that are the Israel of 2019. Screening extracts from a broad range of Israeli films and TV shows, this course is an opportunity for discussion of ideas and views about Israel, the Jewish people, and the challenges we face. Topics Include:
*Shoah and State משואה לתקומה
*Ashkenazim and Sephardim
* Israeli protest movements
* POWs: From Homeland to Hatufim
* The Peace Process in popular culture
* What does it mean to be a free people in our land?להיות עם חופשי בארצנו
Curb Your Judaism: The portrayal of Jews in America Film and TV
Through the use of several film clips from American Jews in the media, this workshops explores how America came to be so accepting and accepted in American society today. The sessions will conclude with a discussion for what this means regarding discussions in Jewish identity, interfaith marriage and Israel.
Israeli Society through Music
This course aims to offer a commentary about religion, politics, history and the future, that can be heard every time you tune into the Israeli airwaves. Themes to be explored include protest songs, peace songs, songs of hope, songs from Rabin’s assassination, War of 1967, love songs and Music as Midrash as expressed through a range of musical genres from hip hop to anthems.
Zionist Salons
Based on the new book by Gil Troy called “The Zionist Ideas” this is a series of six facilitated conversations around some of the most influential voices in the story of the movement for Jewish self determination over the past 120 years.
Experiences
Israeli Kabbalat Shabbat
Combines a mixture Hebrew and English songs played on guitar interspersed with personal storytelling around the theme of rest and reflection
Music as Midrash
Use the music of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen to create your own musical midrash performed live