The theme of the first year of my Rabbinic Leadership Fellowship with the Shalom Hartman Institute is Jewish Peoplehood. Muchofour discussions centered on boundaries, who is in, who is out; how those boundaries began to shift at the beginning of this century and how the tragic events of October 7 brought many of them crashing down.

We surveyed classical and contemporary sources searching for paradigms and language to help us navigate this challenging moment from a place of religious values. Our goal is to create a construct through which the Jewish people – Israelis and the Diaspora – may retain a sense of unity and shared vision. It is no easy task.

I did, however, have a glimpse during this trip of what Klal Yisrael, the Jewish people united, might look like. Two weeks ago, Hersh Goldberg Polin’s parents called for a week of peace. They called on the Jewish People to engage in activities that brought us together and added positivity to the world. 

All sorts of activities took place that week – song circles, a night of learning, volunteering, and more. Everywhere you looked in Jerusalem, people from all walks of life came together.

That Sunday evening, I attended the song circle (it was much larger than a circle) at The First Station in Jerusalem. Hundreds of people gathered – Haredi, Secular, National Religious, Queer, young, old, tattooed, pierced: you name it, they were there.  Everyone sat together.  A woman led the singing. Everyone sang together.

The songs were sad. Some were very sad. They represented the feeling of the moment, despair.  Israelis desperately want the hostages home. Though most have found a new war routine, the mood of the country is still depressed. And yet, in coming together to sing these songs we created a palpable feeling of Jewish peoplehood that was hopeful.

Here is a clip of this group singing Acheinu, a prayer for redemption for our brothers and sisters in captivity. It comes from the weekday Shacharit service and has been sung by Jews for millennia. If you feel so moved, sing along and add your voice to the voice of our people.

Shabbat Shalom,

Reb Steve