Welcome to the Palestinian-Israeli Reconciliation branch of Rav Hanan's site. This branch is dedicated to Rav Hanan's work engaging with his Palestinian neighbors.
Here is catalogued the personal journey of Rav Hanan as a Zionist settler in Alon Shvut-Gush Etzion in the biblical inheritance of the tribe of Judah-reaching across the divide to the Palestinian other.
His spiritual transformation has brought him into contact with hundreds of Muslim and Christian Palestinians, and moved him to collaborate with others who have been similarly transformed, to create Roots/Shorashim/Judur, the Israeli Palestinian Grassroots Initiative for Understanding, Nonviolence and Transformation.
This initiative enriches the lives of Palestinians and Israeli settlers by bringing them together to encounter the other and to open themselves up to the wildly different ways in which they each interpret past, present and future. The goal is personal transformation that creates room for acceptance of the other and his needs, ultimately preparing the ground for neighbors to live in fulfillment and harmony. Watch Rav Hanan and his partner Ali Abu Awwad speak about their efforts here.
For information about the initiative Rav Hanan helps to coordinate (Roots-Shorashim-Judur) please visit their website. Hanan is partnering with Swiss photographer Saskia Keeley to bring a photography workshop to Roots, read more here. For an interview with Rav Hanan and Palestinian peacebuilder Antwan Saca, see Seane Corn's Facebook page. For a recent interview with Rav Hanan on Conversations for Peace, watch here.
Here is catalogued the personal journey of Rav Hanan as a Zionist settler in Alon Shvut-Gush Etzion in the biblical inheritance of the tribe of Judah-reaching across the divide to the Palestinian other.
His spiritual transformation has brought him into contact with hundreds of Muslim and Christian Palestinians, and moved him to collaborate with others who have been similarly transformed, to create Roots/Shorashim/Judur, the Israeli Palestinian Grassroots Initiative for Understanding, Nonviolence and Transformation.
This initiative enriches the lives of Palestinians and Israeli settlers by bringing them together to encounter the other and to open themselves up to the wildly different ways in which they each interpret past, present and future. The goal is personal transformation that creates room for acceptance of the other and his needs, ultimately preparing the ground for neighbors to live in fulfillment and harmony. Watch Rav Hanan and his partner Ali Abu Awwad speak about their efforts here.
For information about the initiative Rav Hanan helps to coordinate (Roots-Shorashim-Judur) please visit their website. Hanan is partnering with Swiss photographer Saskia Keeley to bring a photography workshop to Roots, read more here. For an interview with Rav Hanan and Palestinian peacebuilder Antwan Saca, see Seane Corn's Facebook page. For a recent interview with Rav Hanan on Conversations for Peace, watch here.
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Rabbi Schlesinger, a member of the Rabbinical Council of America, signed onto the RCA's 2015 "Torah Proclamation on Racism," its text appearing below:
Therefore, the Rabbinical Council of America
- "Whereas the Bible teaches that all humans share one heavenly Father who created us in His Image (cf. Genesis 1:27, 5:1, and Malachi 2:10); and
- Whereas the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 4:5) teaches that God created Man as one individual human being to promote harmony among people, so that no one can claim that his origins are superior to those of another person; and, that God's Greatness is manifest in the diverse and unique appearances of His creatures; and
- Whereas the Jewish people began its history as a persecuted, enslaved people, and is repeatedly adjured by God to remember its lowly origins and to be kind to others in similar circumstances; and
- Whereas the Jewish people has experienced both great acceptance as well as significant discrimination in the United States and, more broadly, has a continuous history as a persecuted minority; and
- Whereas the centuries-old American problem of white racism against African Americans continues to be a disgraceful, explosive contemporary reality, with both overt and insidious manifestations
Therefore, the Rabbinical Council of America
- Reaffirms its absolute condemnation of racist speech and deeds; and
- Encourages its members to
- Protest, in the name of Torah ideals, manifestations of racism in the societies in which they live; and,
- Create public events which create, foster, or deepen amity between Jewish and African-American communities; and,
- Embrace, proactively and warmly, Jews of all racial backgrounds in their communities; and,
- Identify and combat manifestations of racism which may occasionally occur in the communities they lead; and,
- Calls upon all people to combat the pernicious scourge of racism in any way they can."