Why (Goals, Big Ideas, and Essential Questions)?

We've identified the following goals, big ideas, and essential questions that will guide this experience.  
This group is for folks who resonate with this framing and we will ask all participants to commit to agreed-upon guidelines to ensure the group operates through a lens of respectful dialogue. Additionally, we will have a moderator at every session whose role is to ensure individuals abide by the guidelines.

Goals:

1. Provide a forum for a small and diverse group of Twin Cities individuals to come together in meaningful dialogue around the Arab-Israeli conflict. Recruit an even number of participants from faith/regional backgrounds, with even distribution across age demographics.

2. Facilitate meaningful conversations around a shared academic text in order to expand both knowledge and understanding amongst participants that they will carry with them back to their own communities.

3.Develop relationships grounded in respect that may grow and evolve beyond the sessions.

Big Ideas:

1. Each participant comes with their own set of biases, educational background, and personal lived experiences that inform their current understanding of the situation.  The biases in the group are likely to be diverse and at times in tension with each other.

2. Each participant also comes with a desire to learn and with an openness to listen to the stories and experiences of others with respect, and with an assumption of good will.

3. We all have more to learn and we can learn from historical text and also from each other.

4. The complexity of this particular conflict is such that there are times where multiple and conflicting narratives are sometimes true.

5. Being in a relationship with those who are different from us can help to lower the temperature around difficult topics.  

‍Essential Questions:

1. How can we hold multiple perspectives at the same time?

2. What does it look like to share our experiences without fear that we will be attacked or judged?

3. How do we integrate complex historical facts into our worldview about current events and contemporary issues?

4. How do we reconcile current events that challenge our historical perspectives?

5. What do we do when historical facts, or current events, make us uncomfortable or challenge our own narratives or personal experiences?

6. How do we take our expanded knowledge and bring it back to our communities in meaningful ways?

7. How do we honor high emotions around current events while sticking to the curriculum?

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Who?

Leadership

This group will be co-facilitated by Rabbi Jill Avrin and Moneer Rifai.

Rabbi Jill Avrin is a reform rabbi who identifies as a liberal Zionist. She has spent significant time in Israel and has been working as a rabbi in the Twin Cities for 11 years, first at Bet Shalom Congregation, and now as the leader of YourJewish.

Moneer Rifai is a Palestinian American who lives and works in Hopkins.  His family is originally from outside of Tzfat, and his grandparents, and extended family were displaced to Lebanon in 1948.

Rabbi Avrin and Moneer have been in dialogue together since the fall of 2023, shortly after October 7th. They offered two public sessions together in the fall of 2023 to discuss the situation in Israel and Gaza and since then have continued to meet, along with Steve Lear and Emma Rifai, who are both passionate learners and leaders in their respective communities. Together, Rabbi Avrin, Moneer, Steve, and Emma have worked to launch this study group as a way to build bridges in the Twin Cities through respectful dialogue and open-minded learning.

Participants

We are in the process of recruiting participants for this group and are committed to having an even number of participants from faith/regional backgrounds, with even distribution across age demographics.

We are building a group with approximately 5 participants from each of the following groups:

• Jewish Americans and Israelis
• Arabs, Palestinians, and Muslims
• Interested Americans (who do not identify as any of the above)

Due to our need to keep the numbers even, we may not be able to accept all those who are interested in participating.

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When and Where?

We will meet approximately twice a month on Sunday evenings from 6:45-8:45 pm at Metropoint Tower in St Louis Park.  

Session Dates:

Oct 27

Nov 10

Nov 24

Dec 8

Dec 15

Jan 5

Jan 19

Feb 2

Feb 16

Mar 2

Mar 16

Mar 30

Apr 6

May 4

May 18

*We will make zoom available for the sessions but ask folks to prioritize being in person when possible.