Tuesday, July 9 – Learning Begins
I awoke early this morning in Jerusalem and went for a run before sunrise from my hotel to the US Embassy. The hills of Jerusalem looking east towards Jordan were beautiful as the sun rose.
My hotel breakfast is via a local restaurant, Caffit. The tastes of an Israeli breakfast were another reminder of being in here – three different cheeses and breads, pesto, tahini, jam, tuna, granola, olives, cucumber and tomato salad, fresh orange juice, coffee, and eggs.
I forgot to take a picture, but found this one online.
Today’s learning with Yehuda Kurtzer began with the question: what crashed for you on October 7 and in its aftermath? I.e. what truth, paradigm, or story about the world has been proven false or broken because of October 7? Individual responses might include: a basic sense that Jews are safe in the world, that peace in Israel is possible in our lifetimes, that my friends/allies share my values, etc. How do we respond to this changed world: denial, reject the past and accept the new, or re-interpret our old story to comport with the new data? Can we respond in a way that allows us to hold onto our core values? This disorientating experience can feel chaotic; we can feel powerless. How do we restore our sense of agency? To explore responses, we studied sources from the Mishna, Talmud, Rambam, and contemporary writers.
In my afternoon elective, Memory, Resilience, and the Zionist Dream, in Hebrew with Shrage Bar-On, we are reading an essay written by Berl Katznelson at the beginning of the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt which is filled with parallels to today’s challenges.
The day ended with a live taping of the For Heaven’s Sake podcast with Yossi Klein Halevi and Donniel Hartman.