4HQ Summit: Engaging with Israel Through the 4 Hatikvah Questions
Isabella Freedman – Falls Village, CT
Jewish Educators: Robbie Gringras & Elyssa Hurwitz
Discussions around Israel are always difficult. Whether at the Shabbat table or the café, conversations around Israel have a tendency to get heated – fast. There has to be a way to discuss Israel in a calm and respectable manner, right? Moishe House is a space where community building can-and-should happen along those fractured lines. But how can we embrace complexity and rigor without shying away from the unknown or the controversial? How do we lead our peers to address subjects that we ourselves don’t completely understand? How can we articulate the issues that divide us and interact with them and each other in a way that builds community?
This summer join Moishe House and Robbie Gringras, a British-born Israeli educator, for a retreat on the 4 Hatikvah Questions (4HQ). For years, Moishe House has used 4HQ as an approach to Israel dialogue that teaches Moishe House residents, hosts, and alumni how to create programs about Israel that spur conversation, thought, and introspection. Participants will leave 4HQ with facilitation skills, not talking points. We need participants with diverse viewpoints and lived experiences when it comes to Israel. The 4HQ framework works best when multiple viewpoints are present- think staunch Israel supporters, people who struggle supporting Israel politically, and those who are not sure what they think of Israel. From our experience education, learning and growth does not happen in an echo chamber. Transformation happens when people with different ideas and lived experiences come together for dialogue.
As part of participation in this Learning Retreat, you must facilitate 2 programs in your local community that explore the 4 Hatikvah Questions. Past examples of post-retreat programs include:
A program exploring the intersection of food, identity, and culture through the culinary traditions of Israelis and Palestinians. This program discussed issues around cultural ownership of food and the narratives around food.
A facilitated learning session about, unpacking and discussing the political, social, and economic aspects of the relationship between the United States and Israel and how this relationship might impact one’s identity as a Jewish-American (or American-Jew!).
