Responding to the crisis in
Israel/Palestine
Shir Tikvah has a 36 year history of affirming the equal humanity and dignity of all people. We are currently engaged in a community-wide endeavor to deepen our commitments and clarify our values in relation to Israel/Palestine, and of being a Jewish spiritual home for people who support liberation and self-determination for all those who are living on the land, Palestinian and Israeli.
Shir Tikvah’s members are not of one mind and one heart in our experience or in our response to the ongoing war. Our relationships to Israel/Palestine are diverse – some of us have deep connections there and some have little or no connection; some of our connections are to Jewish friends and family, some are to Palestinian beloveds, some of our connections are to both. Some of us have spent years or decades in movements for peace and justice in Israel/Palestine. For some of us, the current violence is also rupturing cherished relationships within our families and creating strain with co-workers and in our communities.
Our congregation strives to be open and curious about our different experiences and perspectives, and to compassionately support each other in staying connected to our shared humanity in a time of crisis that may be bringing us despair, confusion and triggering of trauma, both personal and intergenerational.
Since October 7, we have been planning programming that is focused on keeping congregants connected to each other and engaged in facing the devastating violence. We will continue to support our resilience as a community and to support community members in taking action that aligns with our shared values, toward lasting and just peace.
We ground in the following core commitments:
B’tzelem
All human lives are equally sacred. We believe all human beings were created in the image of the Divine. We believe that all people have equal right to justice, freedom and security and that one person’s liberation cannot come at the expense of another’s.
We cannot cross until we carry each other
We do not believe that any one of us knows the exact path to collective liberation, and we trust that each of us has something to learn from connecting authentically and humbly with each other. We seek to create scaffolding and support to help our community feel that we all belong.
We draw inspiration from poet Aurora Levins Morales’s poem Red Sea: This time we're tied at the ankles. / We cannot cross until we carry each other, / all of us refugees, all of us prophets./ No more taking turns on history's wheel, / trying to collect old debts no-one can pay. / The sea will not open that way. / This time that country / is what we promise each other, / our rage pressed cheek to cheek / until tears flood the space between, / until there are no enemies left, / because this time no one will be left to drown / and all of us must be chosen. / This time it's all of us or none.
Open Dialogue, Open Hearts
We believe open dialogue is necessary for the health of our community. We recognize that we will not always agree with each other. We will strive to be open to learning from each other by listening and speaking with compassion, humility, and respect for one another’s dignity and belonging. We strive to turn towards each other, even in moments of pain or disagreement, with the desire to build a shared spiritual community.
upcoming Events
COMMUNITY HAVDALAH TO MARK, MOURN AND CONNECT: GATHERING AFTER SIX MONTHS OF CATASTROPHE IN ISRAEL/PALESTINE
Saturday, April 6 @ 7:30pm (Please note the adjusted start time!)
We gather as a community to mark the passage of six months of relentless destruction in Israel/Palestine and Gaza. Using song, breath, guided reflection and ritual as our container, we will open the space for feeling and for noticing: how these months have impacted us, what is feeling more clear or more murky, what we are needing, what we are ready to offer. Join in-person and on Zoom.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
We have created a new system for inviting community members into action and learning. If you know of or are organizing an event in the community and would like to invite Shir Tikvah members, please fill out this form. We'll use the form to create a living document of upcoming actions, events or gatherings that will be circulated in our eNews and on our website here. Please review our guidelines here.