IsraelCast Episode 122

Did you know that Jewish people have been in America since before the American Revolution? Meet Aryeh Green—a direct descendent of one of America’s first Jewish families and of many prominent Jewish American figures in later years. Green grew up incredibly proud of both his American and Jewish identities, but had not really dived into his Zionist identity. This all changed when he moved to Israel for rabbinical school, immersed himself in the culture and realized how crucial Zionism was to Judaism as a whole. Green eventually made Aliyah and has been living in Israel for over three decades. Tun into this week’s episode of IsraelCast as host Steven Shalowitz sits down with Aryeh Green to discuss the many aspects of his life in Israel, including his soul-healing trek on Israel’s famed National Trail.

Aryeh Green is the author of My Israel Trail: Finding Peace in the Promised Land about his hike on “Shvil Yisrael”, the 800-mile Israel National Trail from the border with Lebanon to Eilat on the Red Sea. He serves as chief strategy officer at Gigawatt Global, a renewable energy platform for Africa based in Jerusalem. A direct descendent of one of the first Jewish families in America, Aryeh grew up in San Francisco and moved to Israel over 30 years ago. He is a former senior advisor to Natan Sharansky in the Israeli Prime Minister's office, has been a high-tech business executive and consultant for the past two decades, and continues to be active in a number of initiatives promoting freedom and democracy in the Middle East. Aryeh is a frequent and dynamic, inspiring speaker on Israel and re-asserting the legitimacy of Zionism, as well as on Jewish identity and spirituality, human rights in the Middle East, Israel's challenges in the media, renewable energy, Israel's relations with Africa, Israel's “StartUp Nation” and current affairs. Aryeh serves on the board of Israellycool and the Maale Film School, and was also the founder and director of MediaCentral, a Jerusalem project providing services for the foreign press in the region. When not promoting Israel and renewable energy, Aryeh grows grapes and makes wine.