A Day of Learning to Mark the Shloshim
Gather together for a day of learning and prayer in unity with the hostages' families and the Jewish community in honor of the six hostages murdered last month.
Global Virtual Session
Putting Away the Goatkid: Anda Pinkerfeld Amir’s Poetry of Solidarity and Activism
Wendy Zierler
10:00 am ET
HUC-JIR, Online Session
Anda Pinkerfeld-Amir is one of the founders of Israeli children’s literature and one of the first modern Hebrew women poets who immigrated to Palestine in the 1920’s. She also worked in the DP camps after the Shoah, writing some of the first Hebrew poetry in response to the Holocaust, and worked for the Israeli Department of Defense documenting the stories of the fallen soldiers of the 1948 War. This session will examine a few of Pinkerfeld-Amir’s poems for children as well as adults that call for solidarity, accountability, and the protection of our young.
In-Person Sessions on Campus
Gathering the Good Spirit: Music, Unity, and Jewish Peoplehood
Gordon Dale
10:50-11:35 am ET
HUC-JIR New York
1 West 4th Street
The events of October 7th prompted many Jews around the world to feel an exceptionally potent sense of Jewish peoplehood, bringing together individuals who might otherwise have difficulty seeing eye to eye. Yet, as time has passed and the fraught war has dragged on, division has once again set in. While voices across the Jewish religious and political spectra decry the loss of unity, achdut seems increasingly difficult to imagine. Jewish texts have much to offer us regarding the pursuit of Jewish unity. The Jewish mystical tradition identifies a particularly strong tool for strengthening social and spiritual bonds between people: music. In this shiur, we will delve into select Jewish texts that help us to understand the relationship between music and unity.
For Humankind is a Tree of the Field
Haim O. Rechnitzer
10:00-11:00 am ET
HUC-JIR Cincinnati
Hermann Learning Center, Scheuer Chapel
In this session we will explore the ethical, theological, and humanitarian aspects of the Torah’s laws concerning war, particularly the military tactic of laying siege. We will discuss the way we value life in the midst of war as we balance self-defense and reining in our might with the sacred imperative to remember that all of humankind is created in the image of God and all of humankind are “fruit-bearing trees” (Deut. 20:19).
“Hope is Mandatory”: A Leader’s Responsibility to Sustain Tikvah
Miriam Heller Stern
12:30-1:15 pm PT
HUC-JIR Los Angeles
Martin Gang Lecture Hall, Room 101
Taking seriously the Goldberg-Polin Family’s charge that “Hope is Mandatory,” we will explore what makes tikvah (“hope”) a distinctively Jewish sensibility in classical and modern Jewish texts. We will turn to our tradition and our history to find the courage, determination, and power to sustain tikvah in challenging times, and consider the role of leadership in inspiring tikvah.
Join for above on Monday, September 30 and for additional events from 9 am to midnight ET as we gather virtually and at in-person events in partnership with the Shalom Hartman Institute and educational organizations in North America and Israel. Together as a community, we will honor the shloshim of the six hostages murdered last month, show solidarity with the 101 hostages still in captivity, and call on the Israeli government and the international community to prioritize their return.
To learn more and register for additional events and the virtual day of learning, click here.