DJC Blog

1. The podcast called “For Heaven’s Sake,” produced by the Shalom Hartman Institute. In pre-October 7 days, the podcast was co-hosted by Elana Stein Hain, Donniel Hartman, and Yossi Klein Halevi and its purpose was to “revive the Jewish art of constructive discussion on topics related to political and social trends in Israel, Israel-Diaspora relations, […]

A journalist’s reflections A video showing Chris Cuomo’s 8+ minute reflections on seeing the 47-minute footage of the horrors that occurred on October 7 in Israel. This material has been shown to journalists so that they can bear witness to the atrocities. Cuomo notes connections he makes to both September 11th and the Shoah and […]

Identity/Crisis Today, I am sharing a podcast called “Identity/Crisis” which is hosted by Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Insitute of North America. While the podcast has been producing episodes since 2020, I would recommend the recent offerings since October 7. Topics explored over the past two months include: “In a frenzied media cycle, […]

From Rabbi Ilyse Glickman: We are starting a new blog series to introduce the DJC community to podcasts, books, websites, and other media offerings that may expand our understandings of the current war in particular and Israel/Palestine more broadly. I hope you listen/watch/read these recommendations with curiosity, openness, and empathy.Please let me know what you […]

My heart aches as I try to process what has happened over the past 2 weeks. Like you, I find myself glued to the news in an effort to stay up to date and in the know. My cousin, who lives just outside Tel Aviv, regularly updates me on WhatsApp as to the situation on the ground. He and his spouse, and their two children, are constantly running to their bomb shelter. Their eldest child is the same age as my Joel. On October 7, Hamas conducted the largest massacre of Jews since

I am writing to you at this truly difficult time. Today is Shabbat and Simchat Torah – both intended to be joyful and celebratory. But this joy has been transformed into pain and sorrow as we witness the waves of terror inflicted on Israel by Hamas today in a surprise attack. Many of our community members have friends and family in Israel and we are concerned and trying to connect with them by phone, social media, or email. With Israel under attack, we stand in solidarity wit

March 22, 2023 As we watch with increasing alarm the existential crisis unfolding in Israel and the mass protests there and in the Diaspora against the agenda of Israel’s current hard right-wing government, the DJC Board has realized that we must assert our position and get involved. If this Israeli government’s agenda is implemented, the […]

Tonight’s celebration of Shavuot gathers us at the foot of Mount Sinai to open our ears and our hearts to hear Torah speaking to us and to this moment. This moment is one of multiplying heartbreak and horror as we witness rockets fall on Israeli cities and as we witness Israeli strikes on Gaza. This […]

I’m writing to you from Israel. I’m here with 130 Jewish leaders from around the world working on issues of anti-Semitism and Jewish liberation in the context of working to end all interconnected systems of oppression. It is powerful to be here, during Pesach, during the time that is called “zman cheruteynu/the time of our […]

A new conversion bill has been drafted in Israel and will be presented to the Israeli government in the next few weeks. The proposed legislation would make conversion a uniform process under the auspices of a stringent state-authorized Orthodox body. Interestingly, that means that not only are Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist conversions in Israel not […]

As wildfires rage through Israel, our concerns and prayers are with the firefighters and with the thousands of Israelis who are in danger and are being evacuated from their homes. To help those affected by the blazes, United Jewish Appeal has opened a relief fund, or call 416-631-5705. Funds raised will be used for immediate […]

I am writing to you from Israel. I have been in Israel for three weeks and I’m overflowing with images and experiences that weave together the deeply heart-breaking and profoundly inspiring realities of life here. I have been having conversations with you about it all in my mind throughout my trip (even though this is […]

Some of you have never been to Israel. Some of you haven’t been in decades – before the high tech boom and skyscrapers, before the separation barrier and check points, before the birth of a movement of soulful and uplifting Israeli spiritual communities and secular batei midrash (schools of Jewish text study) where reading Talmud […]

Have you heard of the term Third Space? Ray Oldenberg coined the term to refer to a space that is neither home nor workplace – a Third Space for community building, civic engagement, and creative interaction. In the context of painful and polarizing conflict, when much of the public discourse is framed in black and […]