Testimonials: Participants in Training Programs

In February 2007, I attended one of the Jewish Dialogue Group's 7-hour introductory facilitation training workshops with the support of a Hillel Career Development Grant. As the main Hillel Professional who works with the various Israel-oriented groups on campus, and with Israel oriented programs being hot topics on campus, I thought this would be an important skill to have.

The Jewish Dialogue Group facilitator training was wonderful. I learned the skills I needed to be a facilitator for dialogues that meet for one or two sessions. I also gained skills that I can use one-on-one or in small groups that often informally occur at Hillel and on campus.

As a professional, I have used the skills I gained in a variety of settings, including facilitating at two different formal dialogues about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The students who participated were leaders in groups with very different perspectives. I have also used it informally in helping students talk about their feeling about Israel and the conflict.

The students found the dialogues to be incredibly powerful.

After working on creating dialogue at Penn Hillel all year students on their own initiative added the positions of Israel dialogue co-chairs to the student board for the coming year! (read the rest of this testimonial)

The training and experience I've had as a Jewish Dialogue Group facilitator has been among the most important learning I've done as a rabbinical student. I have a whole new way of understanding my own responses when I'm part of a conversation about issues I feel passionately about. And I have a whole new set of powerful tools for dealing with difficult and controversial issues in groups that I'm a part of or that I'm leading. The training has helped me to be a much better practitioner of the kind of compassion that I believe is necessary for the healing of our world. I feel equipped to enter the forbidden zones of communal conversation -- about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and about other difficult and painful issues that are likely to arise in the communities I serve -- with confidence that we will emerge from the conversation strengthened rather than fractured, and with deeper understanding and greater respect for each other and for our community.

—Rabbi Devra Noily, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Class of 2009

I had the honor to facilitate the Jewish dialogue sessions in the 2005 Aleph Kallah [the national gathering of the Jewish Renewal movement]. Despite the time slot (right after lunch) I had to turn away many people because of the unique nature of this process. The group that ultimately gathered in the room was diverse. What was remarkable during our time together was to hear the complex positions that people were sharing. The preceding group process created the supportive environment that allowed the participants to hold positions that were real and thus complex during the dialogue. Going beyond the poster positions into the deep questions of our life as American Jews brought forth genuine expressions about the conflict in Israel.

—Nachshon David Mahanymi, Jerusalem

As a congregational rabbi who just facilitated a session on "Who is a Jew" in my congregation, I could not help thinking of the training that I received through the Jewish Dialogue Group. This training helped me use techniques to transform a potentially divisive issue into a constructive conversation, where the committee learned from and with each other.

—Rabbi Rachel Schoenfeld, former rabbi at Congregation Beth Am, San Antonio, TX