Whether you agree or disagree with Condoleezza Rice’s politics, you have to admit that it would be pretty awesome to hear her speak in an intimate setting, followed by an unscripted Q & A session. Even more amazing if you won free tickets. Lucky you (well, one of you). [Update: Free Tickets No Longer Available.]
Beth El Synagogue in Saint Louis Park is bringing Condoleezza Rice for an evening of conversation on Sunday, November 8th at 6:00 PM as part of its National Speaker Series. The synagogue is giving a lucky TC Jewfolk reader a free pair of tickets ($100 value) to attend the event – keep reading to learn how to win!
For those who don’t know (and you must have lived in a cave to not know some of this, but for the sake of completeness) . . . Condoleezza Rice is currently the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution and professor of political science at Stanford University. She served as the 66th Secretary of State of the United States under President George W. Bush. Prior to her appointment as America’s chief diplomat, she served as assistant to President Bush for national security affairs.
Win a FREE pair of tickets to “An Evening with Condoleezza Rice” at Beth El!
Beth El has given TC Jewfolk ONE free pair of tickets to raffle off to our lucky readers to hear Condoleezza Rice speak at Beth El. To win, between now and 6:00 PM this Friday, October 30th, go to the comments section of this blog post (or tweet your answer to @TCJewfolk) and answer this question. Condoleezza Rice was named the Most Powerful Woman in the World by what magazine in 2004 and 2005? We’ll enter your name in our raffle (drawn randomly with the help of The Hat). One submission per person.
If you don’t win free tickets from TC Jewfolk (sob), your cheapest option are $50 seats in the sanctuary at Beth El (I know it’s pricey, but the event really is a fundraiser for a good cause – Beth El). You can order your tickets online at www.bethelsynagogue.org/tickets or call 952-920-3512.
Past speakers in Beth El Speaker Series have included: President Bill Clinton, General Colin Powell, Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Alan Dershowitz, Dan Rather, Dave Barry, James Carvell, and Ari Fleischer. Yeah, makes you wish TC Jewfolk was offering tickets in past years too, huh.
By the way, you should check out the interesting back-and-forth on the American Jewish World newspaper’s opinion pages as to whether Beth El should have invited Condi to speak – Pro and Against.
Good luck winning these tix. May the best reader win.
Forbes Magazine
I believe that it was Forbes magazine that named her.
It was Forbes Magazine.
It was Forbes Magazine.
Forbes
Tackling Torture at the Top, a committee of WAMM, has organized a peaceful demonstration outside Beth El Synagogue at 5:15 on Nov. 8 to protest both the illegal and immoral policies Sec. Rice was instrumental in implementing, and Beth El’s giving her a platform to justify these policies. Others who have endorsed the demonstration include Vets for Peace, the National Lawyers Guild, and the Anti-War Committee. We especially welcome Beth El members who share our view and do not wish to contribute to the Secretary’s no-doubt extravagant fee to join us. Curiously, the only way readers of this site will be able to find out about this demonstration is through comments like this.
To continue to hear from Sec. Rice that “We did not torture anyone” is nigh unto insanity. Do we listen to Sec. Rice’s mantra or read the International Red Cross report which confirms that we did in fact torture. Let the protest continue against the use of torture, rendition, inhumane treatment of which Sec. Rice was part of and still defends. Torture is an abomination to all. No more should we be silent. No more should she be given a platform to speak. Let the protest in peace continue faithfully to speak against torture.
I believe that magazine was MAD—Mutually Assured Destruction.
Forbes
Forbes Magazine.
Forbes
Forbes.
Forbes
Forbes
FORBES MAGAZINE
I say Forbes is the answer.
I would love the opportunity to ask Secretary Rice how she can continue to say that the U.S. did not torture when the rest of the world by any standard recognizes our actions as torture.
Congratulations Steve Kaplan. You are the winner of our pair of free tickets to see Condoleezza Rice at Beth El. Thanks everyone for entering the raffle – stay tuned for future opportunities!
I’d ask about the WMD’s or how many countries she can’t travel to due to the possibility of being arrested on war crimes.
In defense of its decision to invite Sec. Rice, Beth El has stressed its desire for dialogue on difficult issues. Back in July, a synagouge member submitted to the Shofar, the monthly newsletter, an open letter to the congregation on this issue. Not printed. He distributed copies of his open letter around the synagogue. Not permitted. He asked for ten minutes of dialogue at the annual meeting in August. Nope. Tackling Torture at the Top has given synagogue leaders a “heads-up” before letters were published in the StarTribune and on several websites. Not a single comment from Beth El officials to the postings on those sites. The Q and A portion of the event will be questions written on note cards to be screened by a moderator. Finally, here’s an exchange of emails between Tackling Torture at the Top and Beth El Synagogue:
Condoleezza Rice appearance on Nov. 8
From: charles turchick ([email protected])
Sent: Fri 10/23/09 7:42 PM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Dear Rabbi Davis, Dr. Krupp, and Ms. Goldberg:
We humans are quite the species, aren’t we? We have this powerful facility for communication, and yet we engage in wars where we kill each other by the thousands, if not millions. We all remember opposing groups negotiating whether to negotiate, debating on the size and shape of the negotiating table, and worrying about who enters the doorway first.
In this spirit, we will take the first step. To date, we have exchanged e-mails, written newspaper opinion pieces and letters about one another, and perhaps inadvertently built up some walls. So what we all would like to do now—and everyone in our group feels the same—is sit down with you and discuss our differing viewpoints about your invitation to former Secretary Rice.
Among the things we feel we might discuss are whether the Sec. Rice invitation was indeed a good idea; what facts we and you feel are relevant in making that determination; what we intend to do at our demonstration on November 8th; and what you intend to permit and not permit with respect to the parameters of our demonstration.
We would be willing to have two or three of us meet with you at a time and place of your convenience to discuss these matters. We would also invite you to join us in various radio and television events we have already begun pursuing to discuss the difficult issues surrounding this event.
Please do not take this communication as any lessening of our resolve to demonstrate our opposition both to the illegal and immoral policies that Sec. Rice was instrumental in pursuing, and to Beth El Synagogue’s giving the Secretary a platform to justify those policies.
We look forward to your response to our invitation.
B’shalom,
Chuck Turchick
On behalf of Tackling Torture at the Top
Reply to your invitation
From: Gary Krupp ([email protected])
Sent: Fri 10/30/09 9:23 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Alexander Davis ([email protected]); Linda Goldberg ([email protected])
Dear Mr. Turchick:
Please inform your organization that we accept your invitation to meet with two or three representatives to exchange ideas and different viewpoints in the hopes of understanding one another better – after Dr. Rice’s visit to our community on November 8.
Let’s discuss details of the meeting – the date, place, etc. – the week of November 16 or sometime thereafter.
Most sincerely,
Gary Krupp
President,
Beth El Synagogue
When it comes to “dialogue,” Beth El Synagogue and I have very different dictionaries.
Gary Krupp’s reply makes me think of this: A person is drowning 15 feet away from the dock. Someone throws out a 10-foot-long lifeline and calls, “We met you more than half way!”