An Update from
Sia’h Shalom
Cofounder and Codirector
Dr. Alick Isaacs
Avinoam’s pre-Pesach message is truly from all of us. I will add a few updates about the work we are doing at Sia’h Shalom. As many of you are aware, our current focus is on Israeli unity. At a time when rockets are being fired at us from Iran, we are keenly aware of—and committed to—the importance of staying together. In addition, we also believe that Israeli unity is essential to any vision of a future peace in the Middle East. In rational terms, unity is a requirement because it is very difficult—perhaps impossible—to make peace with a society that is divided internally.
On a spiritual level, Rashi famously teaches that the Children of Israel were only able to receive the Torah at Mount Sinai because they were united כאיש אחד, בלב אחד k’ish echad b’lev echad “as one person with one heart.” Since the Torah itself is peace, unity is vital to a Jewish vision of shalom. We are hoping that our work will lead us to new insights in Torah, to a deeper understanding of who we are as a people and to the secret of our purpose on this land.
To this end, Sia’h Shalom is running a special program this year. We have gathered a unique group of spiritual teachers. These are not necessarily the influential community and political leaders with whom we so often work. Some of them are, but many are less well known. These are men and women who have joined us for a spiritual journey of meditation, prayer, song, study and dance through which we will try to discover the deeper meanings of the events that we are living through. In the group, we have some of Israel’s most important Kabbalah teachers and healers, people who dedicate their lives to prayer and meditation. The group includes Orthodox and Reform rabbis, nonaffiliated religious leaders, spiritual teachers and some of the people who Israelis have come to know in the last few months because of the tragic ways in which this war has impacted them.
In addition to this group, Sia’h Shalom is resuming its community group programming. We have trained new facilitators and have provided refresher training for our existing team. Sharon has designed new programs that tackle the special challenges of this moment. Our new focus puts an emphasis on healing trauma, recognizing the pain of others and healing divisions between political opponents. We are running these programs together with the Office of the President and will be offering them through government ministries, to senior educators, police officers, health-care workers and more.
We have also just completed a powerful seminar with Israeli representatives of major Jewish philanthropies in the U.S. and U.K. These are people who have worked tirelessly to meet Israel’s needs in this crisis. Our program gave them an unprecedented opportunity to speak with one another, to share the trauma and the pain of what they have experienced, to connect, to disagree and also to envision together the future they are working so hard to build.
These are just a few of the things that Sia’h Shalom is doing now, here in Israel. We are also very conscious of the exile that surrounds us. The meaning of the Hebrew word פֶסַח Pesach is not exactly “Passover” but is perhaps better translated as “protected from above.” We pray that this Pesach, God will continue to protect Israel from above and help us find our way to one another’s hearts and to a vision of peace with our neighbors.
Chag Sameach,
Alick