Mechon Hadar Guest

Rabbi Shai Held speaks as part of the Avi Shaefer Fund's Symposium at the Van Leer Institute on the Jewish significance of the Jewish State, in a panel with AB Yehoshua, Rahel Elior, and others. 11-minute video.

The hubbub of the Chizuk Amuno beit midrash on Tuesday nights has demonstrated that the Torah is alive — today and right here in Baltimore. But peek through the door, and what you’ll find is not two men bent over a Talmud, but eight unlikely pairs: eight high school students and eight people their parents’ age.

By 9 a.m. on a Sunday morning a few weeks ago, some 100 Washingtonians, most dressed in Sunday jeans, with some leftover yawns of the night before, pulled up to the Washington DC Jewish Community Center to start their day. While the fitness center is the usual destination at that hour on that day, that weekend the crowd was there to work their minds and spirituality. The event was the first ever "yom iyun" (day of study), "Jews and Power: Ambivalence or Embrace," hosted by Mechon Hadar, an egalitarian educational institution based in New York City that focuses on Jewish practice, Torah study and prayer...

Throughout the country, more than 300 graduates of Mechon Hadar are now building and leading communities of prayer and learning. They have been empowered to create and sustain vibrant, practicing, egalitarian communities of Torah learning, prayer, and service.

Many factors combined to create this cadre of dedicated and passionate peer educators. And while Mechon Hadar did not appear overnight, its growth and success demonstrate what can be accomplished in a relatively short amount of time.

Does pluralism help or hurt the goal of fostering feelings of peoplehood? It depends on what we mean by “pluralism.” Pluralism is a difficult concept to define. In the March 2006 edition of Sh’ma, Susan Shevitz helpfully distinguishes between “coexistence pluralism” and “generative pluralism.” In the former, “people and groups holding different positions can still work toward shared goals.” In the latter, “Jews need to encounter people and ideas that are different from their own…and generate new approaches that draw from a multiplicity of perspectives.”