Image: People gather in the central courtyard of the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. Photo by deror_avi, CC BY-SA 3.0.
I just read something so exciting, with such great links, that I feel the need to share it RIGHT NOW.
Rabbi Nikki Greninger is attending her first Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) Convention in Jerusalem right now. She wrote an account of her experiences in the first day of the conference. I love her account because she holds up so many interesting aspects of Israeli life and especially of Reform Israeli life.
Did you know…
…That the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Tamir Nir, is in the final stages of study for the Reform rabbinate?
…That Hebrew Union College is a co-sponsor of a interreligious program teaching pastoral counseling specifically for addressing conflict-related trauma? Jewish, Muslim, and Christian clergy train together to support and heal those in their care who have suffered trauma from terror and related violence – the very concept takes my breath away.
…That there’s a new form of dance called Gaga which originated in Israel but is spreading around the world that is not about either the ball game nor Lady Gaga?
So here’s the link to Rabbi Greninger’s blog. She’s writing it primarily to rabbis in the United States who aren’t in Jerusalem for the conference, but I think there’s plenty in there to interest people of good will who want to learn more about Israel and the Middle East. She highlights aspects of the Israeli scene we simply don’t hear about. So much of our knowledge about Israel is shaped by crisis and conflict: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the women’s rights conflict, the struggle for religious pluralism in Israel — but life in Israel is not just about conflict.
Read. I think you will find some of those links as exciting as did I.
