Roots is a Palestinian Israeli Initiative for Understanding Nonviolence and Transformation
A unique network of Palestinians and Israelis, Roots’ participants have come to see each other as the local partners we both need to make changes to end our conflict. Based on a mutual recognition of each People’s connection to the Land, Roots is dedicated to developing understanding and solidarity despite our ideological differences.
Learn more about Roots and their work here.
Thank you to the Global Mitzvah Team for their generous support of this event
5:30pm Dinner with Text Study
RSVPs are now closed
6:30pm Erev Shabbat Service (Elul 1)
Our guests from Roots will be giving the d’var torah. We will also have our Board Installation and our Mizmor L’Shabbat Band will play. An oneg with the opportunity to speak with our guests and continue the discussion based on what we heard tonight will follow the service.
(No registration required for service or oneg.)
Members and non-members welcome
4:00pm Two Truths in One Heart: Two Peoples in One Land
RSVPs are now closed
You are still welcome to come learn from Noor and Rabbi Schlesinger about how they are trying to create a better future for Israelis and Palestinians. The Salon will conclude with Seudah Shlisheet (the customary third meal on Shabbat), Havdallah, and time for reflection and sharing.
Noor A’wad
Noor’s family moved from Amman, Jordan to Beit Sahour following the signing of the Oslo Accords. There, he began thinking about his identity as a Palestinian refugee. While studying to become a tour guide, Noor traveled to Israel and for the first time saw Israelis beyond the frame of “occupying soldiers.” In 2012, Noor was licensed by the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism. After meeting Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and Ali Abu Awwad in 2016, Noor joined Roots, where he currently organizes joint Palestinian-Israeli activities and speaks to visiting groups about his personal experiences living through the conflict as a Palestinian who has seen much tragedy, and in such conditions is motivated to work toward a political solution. Noor resides in Bethlehem today, where he guides English-speakers on geopolitical tours of the region.
Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger
Hanan Schlesinger is an Orthodox rabbi and teacher, and a passionate Zionist who has been profoundly transformed by his encounters with Palestinians and the Palestinian People beginning in late 2013. Originally hailing from New York, Rav Hanan immigrated to Israel on his own at the age of 20 and has lived in Alon Shvut, Gush Etzion, for 40 years. In early 2014, Ali Abu Awwad and an Israeli partner Shaul Judelman, together with Rav Hanan and other Israelis and Palestinians, founded Roots/Judur/Shorashim. Rav Hanan currently serves as its Director of International Relations. Rabbi Schlesinger is a member of the Rabbinical Council of America and the International Rabbinic Fellowship, as well as Beit Hillel, an Israeli rabbinical association. He and his Israeli–born wife Ayala have four grown children and eleven grandchildren
