Thanks to the generosity of the Lemsky Endowment at the Memphis Jewish Federation, the MJCC will be hosting Israeli Scholar in Residence, Abraham Silver, and will offer his programs to the community at no charge. This J-Ed Series event, titled State vs. Country: What does it means that Israel is a Jewish State, will be about David Ben Gurion's establishment of an independent Jewish Commonwealth on May 14th of 1948. When David Ben Gurion read the Israeli Declaration of Independence, he did not declare "the State of Israel" but instead declared "a Jewish State in the Land of Israel." We will explore the issues surrounding this event. What is the difference between the two? How did it determine the makeup of the Israeli Democracy? How is it relevant today?