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Resources for the Current Situation in Israel and Gaza

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As the crisis in Israel and Gaza deepens, below are some resources which I hope you find useful, supportive and nurturing.  Please note that this post will be updated from time to time so please check back.  (Last updated: January 31, 2024)

Reconstructing Judaism Website

Educational Resources

  • Prayers, Resources and Articles on Israel-Palestine 2023, compiled by Rabbi Shawn Zevit and Mishkan Shalom Members Reconstructionist Synagogue in Philadelphia.
  • This list of readings put together by Jewish women academics. The references aim to inform readers interested in learning about Israel, its history, and Israeli perspectives on the Israel-Hamas conflict. It includes both academic and literary titles and does not claim to be exhaustive.  It is a working document.
  • Unpacked.education – Deepening engagement about Israel and Judaism. Particularly useful resources for teens.
  • Moment Magazine interview with Fania Oz-Salzberger, coauthor of the book Jews and Words with her father Amos Oz, who talks about how she and other Israelis are coping with the dramatic upheaval since the start of the war, her personal experience, her hopes and fears for Israel, and how she is processing what she is experiencing.
  • More Books:
    • The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Contested Histories (Neil Caplan)
    • Side by Side: Parallel Histories of Israel and Palestine (Sami Adwan, Dan Bar-On, Eyal Naveh and Peach Research Institute in the Middle East, eds)
    • Struggle and Survival in Palestine/Israel (Mark LeVine and Gerson Shafir, eds)
    • End of Days Ethics, Tradition, and Power in Israel (New Perspectives in Post-Rabbinic Judaism), 2023. The book presents an argument against Israel’s occupation of the Palestinians and the suppression of their rights from the perspective of a modern Israeli religious Jew.
    • One Land, Two Stories (Shaul Gabbay and Amin M. Kazak
  • Letter from Gershon Baskin (Israeli journalist and former chair of Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information) to Ghazi Hamad (of Hamas leadership) on Wednesday November 1, 2023: Link
  • Signs of Compassion, Empathy and Hope. “Jewish Israelis and Palestinians consistently underestimate the other group’s hope for peace.” NPR piece by Ari Daniel.
  • Hope Amidst Violence and Conflict. WBI/JCC Positive Psychology Hour, Oded Adomi Leshem, Scholar at Hebrew U, discusses how hope theory can aid us at this time of collective sorrow and rage and how it can propel us into action.
  • Fighting a Just War (Shalom Hartman Institute), an interview with Tal Becker, Senior Fellow at the Hartman Institute, Legal Adviser of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a veteran member of Israeli peace negotiation teams, about the ethics of Israel’s current operation in Gaza. (Conversation on ethics of war, fighting terrorist organizations with the capacity of armies, maintaining and sowing compassion in order to avoid unbridled use of force, and the confusion created by the dissemination of misinformation.)
  • Interview of Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Hamas founder.
  • “When Both Silence and Statement Become Complicity,” Charlotte’s Web Thoughts, a podcast episode on the complexity of taking sides.
  • “The Sermons I Needed to Hear Right Now.” Ezra Klein interview of Rabbi Sharon Brous (of Ikar), who urges us to strengthen both our tribal and universal attachments, to keep our hearts open not just for the suffering of the Israelis but to also extend our circle of care and concern to include the suffering of the Palestinians.
  • Peace in Israel/Palestine, collection of resources curated by Rabbi Irwin Keller of Ner Shalom. Note the video on the contents page – Israel And Palestine: How Did We Get Here And Where Could We Go From Here? (Jan 2022) – featuring a presentation by Rabbi Maurice Harris, Israel Affairs Specialist at Reconstructing Judaism.
  • Israel’s forgotten hostage: Avera Mengistu remains in Hamas captivity after 9 years
  • Rabbi Seth Farber discusses halakhic issues regarding burial in Jewish cemeteries of Israelis (many of them killed at the Nova party) who were not halakhically Jewish (according to Israel’s chief rabbinate), as well as current halakhic issues in Israel concerning cremation and temporary burial.
  • ‘And,’ not ‘Or’: Empathetic Complexity and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict & Efforts to Resolve It, MSU Serling Institute hosts a discussion by Director Yael Aronoff (Jewish) and Monmouth University political science professor Saliba Sarsar (Palestinian).
  • Sermon by Rabbi Sharon Brous looks to a medieval midrash to articulate the necessity of working toward bridge building in the face of deep trauma. As she states “adding grief to grief will never heal the broken heart.”
  • Analysis | Three-quarters of Palestinians Support Hamas’ Attack on October 7, Says New Poll. Why? Two new polls offer insights into the Palestinian mind-set during wartime. To understand the findings, we must consider the conceptual world of respondents who live in a society that has never been free and is invariably at war.
  • Defeat Hamas or Rescue the Hostages? (Hard Questions, Tough Answers- January 22, 2024). Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer.

Anti-Semitism

  • Resources and tools for addressing anti-semitism
  • Incidents of anti-semitism (compiled by ADL) since October 7, 2023.
  • Articles from the Shalom Hartman Institute.
  • Why Israel, a blog created after October 7, 2023, by a Jewish Canadian historian who is currently living in Israel.
  • Clip from an interview of Merav Michaeli, leader of Israel’s Labor party, on Irish radio in response to being asked repeatedly about Palestinian suffering only, without any mention or acknowledgement of Israeli suffering.
  • Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism, gives a speech at the UN on the ever-mutating virus of antisemitism. In her words, “never again is right now.”
  • Website on transcending Jewish trauma. Take a look at the map of internalized anti-semitism of Ashkenazi Jews in the US. The map is meant to be used as a tool for healing and collective transformation. Click on this article which offers writer, editor, and democracy activist Micah Sifry’s perspective on trauma-based reactions to the Israel-Gaza war.
  • Shine a Light, a website with educational resources and articles on anti-semitism.

Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue and Bridge Building

  • Interview of two Dartmouth proessors — Susannah Heschel, chair of Jewish studies, and Tarek El-Ariss, chair of Middle Eastern studies — set out to create a forum for students to discuss their thoughts in a respectful non-polarized manner.

Where to Donate

Resources for Talking to Children about the Crisis

Resources for Spiritual and Emotional Support:

  • 101 Healthy and Productive Ways to Respond to the War
  • Hashpa’ah (Spiritual Direction): Hashpa’ah is a traditional Jewish term for the relationship with a Jewish spiritual director/companion or mashpia/h (in Hebrew). The Mashpia/h offers guidance and support on matters of faith and practice, relationship with the Divine and meaning, calling and purpose of life itself.  To learn more about haspa’ah: Evolve. To find a spiritual director:
  • Moving the Body:
    • walking in nature, exercise, dance, yoga, tai chi, chi kung
    • Walking Minyan – Community prayer in nature (can also be a solo practice).  Please contact rabbi@aarecon.org for more info.
  • Prayer
    • Shabbat and Kabbalat Shabbat Services
    • Praying for Israel
    • Meditation (various techniques and traditions including mindfulness and focusing on the breath). 
    • Song Circles – Forming a group to sing niggunim for peace and healing.
    • Tehillim (Psalms) Circle – It is customary to say Psalms for people who are sick or in distress.  In a Tehillim circle, the entire book of Psalms is read on a given day.  Individuals within the circle are assigned specific psalms to recite.  The number of psalms depends on the number of people in the group.  If people are interested in this practice, please contact me at rabbi@aarecon.org.  This is also an opportunity to invite participation from the wider Jewish community. 
  • Shabbat Practice
    • Take the opportunity to rest.
    • Turn off devices and especially refrain from continual checking of the news and political discourse.
    • Organize a shabbat dinner with family and friends.  Try to avoid talking about politics or the latest news.
    • Go for a long walk in nature with family, friends or on your own.
  • Mishpocha Groups: Many of our members have formed mishpocha groups during the early part of the pandemic.  During this time of crisis, your mishpocha group can be a source of support and healing.  You may want to open or close your meetings with a prayer for healing, a prayer for peace or a moment of silence to allow space for individual prayer.
  • Reaching Out to Friends and Family: Looking for opportunities to be with people you love and care about can be a tremendous source of comfort and healing.  Tell people how much you care about them.  When physical contact is understood as mutually safe and appropriate, being with loved ones is an opportunity to be nurtured by hugs.
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