Partner Spotlight:
Limmud North America &
Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies
A Jewish Community Builds Bridges Through Constructive Disagreement
How do we maintain relationships, heal societal fractures, and preserve civil discourse in an era of deepening political divisions? In September 2024, Limmud North America and the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies collaborated on an innovative day-long symposium designed to help learners navigate a contentious election season. “The Jewish Guide to Talking Politics" combined Jewish teachings with practical skills for engaging in difficult conversations across political divides.
For both organizations, the decision to focus on constructive disagreement - and how to disagree respectfully - is deeply connected to their core missions and addressed a pressing need for the Jewish community.
"The assumption was that the election was going to bring out all kinds of ugly sides of people and raise tensions in relationships between family members or coworkers and beyond,” explained Sefi Kraut, Director of Mahloket Matters at Pardes. “So the question was, how might we help our community get some relief and also learn some strategies for how to deal with those tensions?”
Strategic Priority: Ideological Pluralism
Commitment: The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and Limmud North America commit to encouraging the Jewish value of mahloket le-shem shamayim (“disagreement for the sake of Heaven”) by promoting intellectual humility, intellectual curiosity, and nuance as an alternative to the current societal trend of sweeping dismissal and demonization of the other. We will equip teens, community leaders, and Jewish professionals with the practical skills to apply these concepts in their interactions with others.
Partners since: 2023
The full-day virtual program emerged from an existing partnership between the organizations, both motivated to stretch beyond simply teaching conflict resolution, and to posit that Jewish texts can guide us to be discerning in our approach.
"There's no presumption that every conversation needs to happen or should happen," Kraut emphasized. "We really focused on taking a step back to consider our own desire, interest, and readiness to have a conversation."
Rabbi David Singer, CEO of Limmud North America, affirmed the importance of innovative civic learning programs and expressed gratitude for A More Perfect Union’s Ignition Grants program, which fueled dozens of targeted, strategic initiatives across the American Jewish community in the past year.
“A More Perfect Union is pushing all of the organizations that it works with – ourselves included – to be thinking about democracy, democratic issues, and how to incorporate them into and elevate them within our programs,” said Rabbi Singer. “It’s such important work that really speaks to the moment and there are few organizations doing the good work that y'all are doing. You are pushing us to think about this and making sure we're being honest about how we're incorporating these concerns into our efforts and programs.”
The symposium drew participants from across North America and even some international attendees, though both organizations noted that offering in-person opportunities and expanding to other organizations could deepen its reach and impact.
"We could partner with an organization that specializes in conflict transformation or conflict resolution without the Jewish elements, and Pardes would anchor those values and skills within Jewish text and tradition," suggested Kraut. "The question is what are both organizations trying to achieve and how can we complement each other as we collaborate to meet those goals?"
Rabbi Singer emphasized that the work connects to broader values, possibilities, and opportunities.
"This moment begs of us to consider what we are doing – not just theoretically, but tangibly – to elevate democracy and democratic norms into the essence of our operations, our programs, and our community building. These norms and values can only be strengthened nationally if they're embodied in the minutiae of our operations."
For information about how your organization can work with A More Perfect Union, contact our team at [email protected].