Jewish Dialogue Group

About Us > Praise for our Work

Staff, Board and Advisory Committee Press Praise for Our Work

People Who Have Used Our Training and Materials

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 more)

—Lauren Brody-Hyett

Jewish Student Life Coordinator, University of Pennsylvania Hillel

The Jewish Dialogue Group/Public Conversations Project handbook for convening and facilitating dialogue on Israeli/Palestinian issues 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

Thank you for your excellent guide, "Constructive Conversations about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict". It couldn't have arrived at a better time! I had been wanting to convene dialogue in the Vancouver community on this issue, and your guide was like manna from heaven. If there is a question it doesn't answer about how to convene and facilitate such dialogues, then it's a question I haven't yet thought to ask. The guide covers everything from invitation to follow-through, and addresses every possible contingency that could arise during the dialogues.

We used the guide for a small, exploratory dialogue among six members of our community representing divergent viewpoints on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We also had the great advantage of having one of JDG's facilitators in town to co-facilitate our dialogue. We followed the suggestions in the guide pretty much to the letter, both in terms of the questions suggested and the process used. Everyone agreed that it created the space for a frank and respectful exchange of views. One participant said she found the dialogue "very inspiring and thought-provoking." Another, commenting on the process, said: "Everything was well designed to create safety, and given safety and a good structure, I feel most people could have a constructive dialogue across their differences. That seemed very hopeful to me."

Everyone present agreed that they would like to continue with a series of dialogues in the fall, and others in the community have also indicated their interest. I have every confidence that by following the ideas and processes outlined in the guide, we'll be able to negotiate this difficult topic with grace and respect, and heal some of the rifts that have arisen in our community over this issue.

—Avril Orloff, Ahavat Olam Synagogue, Vancouver, British Columbia

I've been very impressed with the work of the Jewish Dialogue Group. The guidebook for facilitators that they and Public Conversations Project have put together has been very helpful in guiding my congregation's dialogue process on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They give a lot of attention to group dynamics, ground rules, and structuring a conversation so that people feel safe. The conversation that we created was reflective and growthful, and we were all inspired by the process.

—Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman, Madison, WI

I have found that methods suggested by the Jewish Dialogue Group and the Public Conversations Project have made safe space possible for highly sensitive conversations between Jews from all over the political spectrum. I facilitate dialogue among politically and religiously diverse groups of Jews while they are in the West Bank encountering Palestinian realities, usually for the first time; the potential for mutual and explosiveness is high. JDG provided us with tools to create a structured conversation that can hold all of the conflicting emotions and perspectives that arise in participants. With JDG's help, participants better understand the ways their views are rooted in their own personal stories, and feel comfortable enough to open themselves to others' views in unexpected and often transformative ways.

—Rabbi Melissa Weintraub, Co-Founder of Jewish-Palestinian Encounter Program