Sources for AJRCA Students, Alumni, & Community:
Click here to download this source sheet.
Sources for AJRCA Students, Alumni, and Community
There is no vocabulary to adequately convey the flood of emotions, conflicting thoughts and full-bodied concern as we witness war unfolding in Israel. This letter is not a remedy, but rather hopes to be a temporary salve and a catalyst for a wise and loving response to one of the most challenging events in our lives. In this source sheet you will find some perspectives on what prompted this war, some core documents that frame the differing perspectives of freedom and independence, and some expressions of poetry in the attempt to contain the complex emotions and thoughts of conflict and devastation.
War. מלחמה Milchama. حرب Harb. It is a word far too narrow to encompass the anxious and breath-taking attention we may experience watching daily reports of agony and despair our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, friends and allies are experiencing. In what is seemingly a world away, our televisions, computer and phone screens bring the horror of war into our homes and we cannot look away.
As an academy that prepares Jewish leaders to embrace a world with the spirit of transformation, we want to share with you this collection of information from pluralistic sources to serve your respective communities, organizations and families. This is certainly neither exhaustive nor would we presume there is one message that perfectly encapsulates the responses of the moment.
Moreover, we firmly believe that our tool of connection that transcends ideological austerity is Torah. Torah is more than the Five Books of Moses or even the Tanakh. We believe Torah is the continual unfolding of eternal wisdom. And so we invite you, students, alumni and members of the AJRCA communal family to join us for a “Learn-In” on November 16, 2023 at 5:30 PM PST for one hour.
To join us on Zoom, please click here.
With texts presented and explored by AJRCA faculty and leadership we can respond to this moment with learning, prayerful focus, and tools to serve our communities, indeed the entire world with the spirit of Torah.
