Jewish Dialogue Group

Working to promote constructive dialogue within Jewish communities
about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other controversial issues

Publications

"[This guidebook] is a landmark work and incredible resource for anyone wishing to compassionately and openly discuss this complex issue. The JDG/PCP approach puts the emphasis on Jewish values and personal relationship building, offering any group of any background a way of building community while dealing with an often difficult and polarizing subject. JDG has helped a number of Reconstructionist congregations to build trust and engage a broader spectrum of membership through the process outlined in the guide."

—Rabbi Shawn Zevit, Director of Outreach and External Affairs/Tikkun Olam, Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

Guide to Facilitating Dialogue

The Public Conversations Project and the Jewish Dialogue Group are pleased to announce the publication of our new guidebook:

Constructive Conversations about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
A Guide for Convening and Facilitating Dialogue
in Jewish Communities in the U.S.
by Maggie Herzig of the Public Conversations Project with Mitch Chanin of the Jewish Dialogue Group
Download a Copy (free)

This guidebook will provide you with step-by-step instructions and all of the other materials you will need to conduct dialogue programs that bring people together to:

  • listen to and understand one other across political differences
  • talk through their feelings
  • examine difficult moral and intellectual questions
  • think through the choices they face
  • seek common ground

A “dialogue” is a conversation in which people seek mutual understanding rather than trying to convince each other, come to agreement, or reach a solution. Dialogue can occur spontaneously, among friends, in classrooms, in synagogue discussions, or among strangers. When people are experiencing polarized conflict, however, they may need to agree on an explicit purpose and structure for the conversation in order to hold a constructive dialogue. In the sessions that this guidebook describes, participants meet in small groups to listen carefully to each other and reflect on their own perspectives. An evenhanded facilitator works with the participants to create a structure for the conversation and then guides them through it. People have used this approach to dialogue for many specific purposes, including to:

  • repair painful divisions in synagogues, schools, or organizations that are wracked by internal conflict
  • open up new conversations in communities that have shied away discussion of Israel
  • give people an opportunity to explore their questions and dilemmas in a welcoming atmosphere
  • bring together activists with differing perspectives to find more useful ways to talk with each other

The guidebook provides step-by-step instructions for convening and faciliating dialogue programs, plus background information, Jewish texts that support the practice of dialogue, and sample handouts. The book will lead you through each step of the process: determining what kind of dialogue might be helpful in a community, deciding who to invite, planning an agenda, facilitating the program, gathering feedback, and following up. You can use the guidebook to work with small and large groups, and for one-time meetings as well as multi-session programs.

The guidebook is designed for both beginning and experienced facilitators. No specialized training is needed. People with a wide range of backgrounds and occupations have led successful dialogue sessions using our approach: students, teachers, rabbis, social workers, attorneys, artists, scientists, landscapers.

To obtain the guidebook, you can:

If you find the guidebook useful, please use this form to tell a friend about it.

The Jewish Dialogue Group has also published a thirty-page article, Dialogue in the Jewish Tradition, which explains a number of Jewish teachings about dialogue, respectful communication, and listening, and describes ways you can bring these teachings into your dialogues. You may download a copy free of charge.