Miller Center Seeing One Another — Face to Face
Earlier this month, the second cohort of Panim el Panim: Jewish Leaders Engaging Israel Across Difference gathered at Hebrew College for its opening workshop, beginning a journey of relationship-building, courageous conversation, and shared learning. Bringing together Jewish leaders with diverse perspectives on Israel and Palestine, the workshop invited participants to explore the personal experiences, convictions, and questions that shape their relationships with Israel—and to begin cultivating the trust and skills necessary to engage across profound differences.
The morning opened with music, reflection, and an acknowledgment of the anniversary of October 7th. Participants were invited to consider a provocative question: Is the world on fire, or is it aglow? Each person brought an object representing their relationship with Israel, sharing personal stories that illuminated the complexity of Jewish identity, memory, belonging, and responsibility. These objects provided an entry point into understanding one another beyond political positions, grounding the group’s conversations in lived experience.
Through a Walking the Line exercise, participants explored the diversity of perspectives within the cohort. Responding to statements about Zionism, Jewish peoplehood, Israeli democracy, antisemitism, Palestinian relationships, and the impact of October 7th, participants were invited to locate themselves along a continuum of agreement and disagreement. The exercise made visible the range of convictions, uncertainties, and tensions that Jewish leaders carry, while creating opportunities to approach differences with curiosity rather than judgment.
A central component of the workshop was the creation of a collective Wall of Questions, where participants generated questions for themselves, for one another, and for the group as a whole. The questions revealed both the deeply personal stakes of conversations about Israel and the professional challenges of leading Jewish communities through this moment.
Some questions turned inward, inviting reflection on identity, responsibility, and moral conviction: What is my work to do to help Jewish communities in North America work toward a more just future in Israel-Palestine? What is at stake for me in this conversation? How might “I don’t know” be enough? Others explored the relationship between political commitments and personal identity, including whether one’s understanding of Zionism can coexist with profound criticism of Israeli policies and actions.
Questions directed toward others surfaced difficult tensions around language, loyalty, institutional expectations, and belonging. Participants wondered how Jewish leaders navigate workplaces where certain perspectives on Israel or Palestinian suffering may be unwelcome, how to sustain relationships when parts of one’s identity or convictions cannot be openly shared, and when Jewish communal spaces can make room for Palestinian pain, harm, and death. Several questions explored the emotional dimensions of disagreement: What is your initial, emotional reaction when you hear someone criticize Israel? How do you deal with guilt?
Together, these questions underscored a central challenge: How can Jewish leaders remain rooted in their convictions while making room for perspectives, experiences, and moral commitments that differ from their own?
Facilitator Bob Stains introduced practices for navigating difficult conversations, including recognizing emotional escalation, responding to perceived attacks on identity, and cultivating the skills necessary for constructive engagement and relational repair. Participants also engaged in Roots, Rivers, Bridges, a small-group personal narrative exercise designed to deepen understanding of the experiences and relationships that have shaped one another’s identities and perspectives.
The workshop concluded by looking ahead to the community of practice participants hope to build together. Their aspirations were both relational and practical. Some hoped to develop trusted chevruta relationships with colleagues who could challenge and support them when difficult conversations demand greater courage. Others expressed a desire to move beyond simply discussing how to have hard conversations and begin having them. Participants also raised questions about how to create Jewish communities that can hold a wider spectrum of beliefs, make room for grief, and resist using Zionism as a litmus test for belonging.
Perhaps most importantly, participants challenged the group to consider how its learning might extend beyond the cohort itself: How does the work we do here move from “nice conversation” to something that benefits our community?
The opening workshop established an important foundation for the journey ahead. Rather than seeking immediate consensus or resolution, participants began practicing the work of encountering one another as whole people, bringing their convictions, uncertainties, grief, and hopes into shared conversation. The questions they generated will help shape subsequent gatherings, offering a living agenda for deeper inquiry, honest disagreement, and the cultivation of relationships that can withstand difference.
At its heart, Panim el Panim begins with a commitment to remain curious, to stay in relationship, and to discover what becomes possible when Jewish leaders are willing to see one another—face to face.
Jordan Namerow co-directs the Miller Center of Hebrew College’s Panim el Panim Fellowship with Rabbi Or Rose. A writer and communications professional, she also serves as a program consultant and grant writer for Hebrew College.
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