About the Author: Rabbi Michael Holzman
Rabbi Michael G. Holzman, began his tenure as NVHC’s fourth Rabbi in July 2010. An inspirational and compassionate spiritual leader, Rabbi Holzman has a strong commitment to lifelong Jewish education, youth programming and social action and is known for his highly innovative, energetic and successful approaches to making Judaism accessible and exciting to all. Rabbi Holzman served from 2004 to 2010 as Associate Rabbi of Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to that, he served for one year as the Rabbi of B’nei Israel Congregation in San Jose, Costa Rica. Rabbi Holzman was ordained in 2003 by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York and Jerusalem, and is a 1995 graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Before rabbinic school, he worked for three years as a paralegal specialist with the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC. Rabbi Holzman and his wife, Nicole Saffell Holzman, reside in Reston with their two children.
The current military operations in Israel and the Gaza strip should disturb all people of faith. The only moral path to a solution between Israelis and Palestinians (Israeli Jewish/Muslim/Christian and Palestinian Muslim/Christian) will be dialogue and negotiation. This is a long and arduous path, but the faith that grounds our traditions can sustain the slow evolution of history. The current conflict is an outgrowth of over a century of opposing narratives and ideological differences that no military operations can resolve.