Download [Re]Creating a Jewish Holiday: 9Adar the New International Jewish

[Re]Creating a Jewish Holiday:
9Adar the New International Jewish Day of Constructive Conflict
Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict Resolution together with Organizational Partners declare
World-Wide Day of Study and Action to be Held February 9, 2014
Jerusalem, Israel: (Date, 2014)
“If there is one thing all Jews may always agree on it’s that they never will agree”, says Rabbi Dr.
Daniel Roth, director of the Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict Resolution (PCJCR), a center
of the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies. “The challenge we face is how these disagreements can
be managed in a more healthy and constructive manner.”
This coming February 9th, the PCJCR together with its institutional partners from around the world,
across religious and political divides, will be commemorating the 9th of Adar as the international Jewish
Day of Constructive Conflict (Yom Machloket l’Shem Shamayim). The 9th of Adar marks the day on
which the initially peaceful and constructive conflict between the two dominant ideological schools of
thought, Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai, on the eve of the destruction of the second Temple (70 CE)
tragically erupted into a violent civil war over eighteen legal issues, ultimately leading to the deaths of
3,000 students. The date was later declared a fast day, yet was never observed as such.
“In thinking of what would be the most appropriate day on which all Jews could engage in the study and
practice of Jewish models of constructive conflict,” said Roth, “it was important for us to pick a day that,
on the one hand, had always been there, but, on the other hand, was untouched and open for
creativity.”
In recognition of the eighteen legal matters over which the conflict erupted, there are eighteen ways in
which 9 Adar is being commemorated, including:
 refraining from destructive speech,
 eating special food in honor of the day,
 studying texts that inspire constructive conflict, and
 practicing constructive conflict with others.
Individuals, families, schools, organizations and communities around the world are therefore
participating in and promoting the day in various ways. The individuals and organizations participating
include educational programs, rabbis and Jewish study programs, academics and academic
institutions, conflict resolution specialists, mediation centers and organizations promoting dialogue.
9 Adar is a program of the Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict Resolution, a part of the
Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. For more information, contact us at [email protected].
“In addition to the goal of raising general public awareness, it was essential to us to create a community
of organizations that would take ownership of this day and together promote a vision of Jewish conflict
resolution becoming part of core Jewish culture, identity and practice today,” states Roth.
The PCJCR’s Rodef Shalom School Program, Yesodot – Center for Torah and Democracy and Bar
Ilan University’s Conflict Management and Negotiation Graduate Program, as well as the Be’eri
Program, part of the Shalom Hartman Institute, have prepared special activities, in honor of the day,
to be used by participating schools making Judaism relevant and offer practical conflict resolution
skills.
Mediators and conflict resolution specialists from around the world have been contributing to the day
by sharing their tips for engaging in constructive conflict, several of them relating to how the Beit Hillel
– Beit Shammai conflict could have been managed more constructively if they had invited in a
mediator.
Among the academics and academic institutions promoting this day, the Journal of Textual Reasoning,
an academic journal of the Society for Scriptural Reasoning, has dedicated a special volume in
honor of the day to publish the many academic articles being written in honor of the day.
Rabbis and Jewish study programs around the world are also participating, including: Beit Hillel,
Attentive Spiritual Leadership, Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA)’s Civility Initiative, and
Torah Mitzion.
Some organizations, such as Encounter and the Jewish Dialogue Group, have chosen to use this
day as an opportunity to facilitate constructive conversations around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Encounter, for example, has enlisted tens of their trained facilitators to facilitate such conversation in
communities around North America. At Pardes, in Jerusalem, one of the many ways this day will be
commemorated will be through students engaging in deep learning conversations regarding their
relationship to Israel.
“It’s interesting that every rabbinic book that mentions the 9 th of Adar concludes by saying that in the
future, the day will be turned into a day of happiness and celebration, so who knows…” says Roth,
“…we hope to make this vision become a reality!”
About the Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict Resolution: The Pardes Center for Judaism
and Conflict Resolution (PCJCR) directed by Rabbi Daniel Roth, faculty member of the Pardes
Institute of Jewish Studies, aims to create a global network of rodfei shalom (pursuers of peace) –
uniting individuals and communities across personal, political and religious divides around the shared
values of Judaism and conflict resolution. PCJCR facilitates educational programs for a variety of
audiences that integrate the study and application of Jewish texts with contemporary theories and
practices of conflict resolution. PCJCR works in partnership with academic institutions and NGOs in
Israel and all over the world.
For more information about PCJCR see www.pcjcr.pardes.org.
Contact: Rhea Glassman Plosker, Associate Director, Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict
Resolution
Phone Number (this is an Israeli cell phone – call 24/7 and leave a message if no answer):
1-267-388-9571 or +972-54-658-0646
Email: [email protected]