North Suburban Synagogue Beth El and North Shore Congregation Israel are co-sponsoring a debate titled “Left Vs. Right: The Battle for Israel’s Soul,” on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017 at 7:45 p.m., in the Blumberg Auditorium of North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, 1175 Sheridan Road, Highland Park. The program is free of charge and open to the community. RSVP’s are requested to 847-432-8900 x 210.

Jonathan S. Tobin and J. J. Goldberg will debate suppositions about the State of Israel. Rabbi Vernon H. Kurtz of North Suburban Synagogue Beth El (Conservative) and Rabbi Wendi Geffen of North Shore Congregation Israel (Reform) will moderate the discussion.

Goldberg is editor at large and senior commentator at the Jewish Daily Forward , where he served as editor in chief from 2000 to 2007. Previously, he has served as U.S. bureau chief of The Jerusalem Report and managing editor of New York Jewish Week . His books include “Jewish Power: Inside the American Jewish Establishment,” which was listed by the Philadelphia Inquirer among the 100 Most Important Books of 1996; and “Builders and Dreamers,” a history of Labor Zionism in America. He has been a member of the Pulitzer Prize jury.

In the past, he worked as an education specialist with the World Zionist Organization in Jerusalem, as a founding member of a kibbutz near Tel Aviv, and as a New York City cabdriver. He also served as a member of the Israeli Border Police.

Tobin is the award-winning senior online editor and chief political blogger of Commentary magazine, covering the relationship between the United States and Israel, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world as well as the American political scene. In addition,

Tobin’s articles appear regularly in the New York Post , The Weekly Standard , TheChristian Science Monitor , TheAmerican Spectator and many other publications. Previously, he has also served as a columnist for the Forward and Britain’s Jewish Chronicle, and for many years, he wrote the “View from America” column for The Jerusalem Post .

For more information, visit www.nssbethel.org or www.nsci.org .