Temple Hillel B'nai Torah

under development 2/09/26

Staying Human: Witnessing, Learning, Acting

בִּמְקוֹם שֶׁאֵין אֲנָשִׁים הִשְׁתַּדֵּל לִהְיוֹת אִישׁ

Bimkom she’ein anashim, hishtadel lihyot ish

“In a place where there is no humanity, strive to be a human.”

— Pirkei Avot 2:5

About This Series

In moments of fear, grief, and moral strain, our tradition does not ask for certainty or unanimity. It asks us to remain human.

Staying Human: Witnessing, Learning, Acting is a series of programs at Temple Hillel B’nai Torah that invites our community to move through this moment together. Through film, music, conversation, and learning, we are creating space to bear witness to real lives, deepen our understanding, and discern how we respond to suffering without perpetuating more suffering.

These programs are not about reaching consensus. They are about presence, responsibility, and staying in relationship—with one another and with our Jewish values—during a painful and complicated time.

About this page

This page is a living hub for the Staying Human series. It lists past, present, and upcoming related programs in one place so the arc is easy to see. Each listing links to the individual event page for full details and registration, so there is one source of truth. Programs are listed with the committee or group presenting them

The Arc: Witnessing • Learning • Acting

Witnessing
We begin by seeing and hearing human stories up close—through film, music, and testimony—allowing ourselves to be present with grief, loss, and moral complexity.

Learning
We deepen context and understanding through speakers, guided conversations, and shared study, asking hard questions and listening across difference.

Acting
We explore ways of responding that are rooted in care, responsibility, and Jewish values. Action may look different for different people, and participation is always invitational.

Two Tracks (Masekhtot)

Like a conference, this series has different tracks you can follow based on what speaks to you.

The model actually comes from the Mishnah, compiled around 200 CE, which organized Jewish learning into masekhtot(מסכתות)—tractates, or distinct areas of study. Each masekhet explores its own path, and you can engage one while someone else studies another. They're separate, but they're all part of the larger whole. You study your masekhet, I study mine, and we're both doing the work of learning and living Jewishly.

We’re calling them tracks because it’s a familiar term, but the idea is rooted in the Mishnah’s masekhtot, distinct areas of learning.

IPPC Track – Wrestling with questions close to our particular Jewish story: Israel, Palestine, Jewish identity, what our tradition asks of us in this moment, and how it impacts our evolving Jewish identity.

Tikkun Olam Track – Standing with vulnerable people in our communities through immigration justice, healthcare advocacy, peaceful protest, and defending democratic norms.

Different terrain, but the same commitment: to witness suffering, deepen understanding, and act with responsibility.

We recognize that Israel/Palestine programming often evokes deeper divergent feelings than our social justice work, which is precisely why we approach it with the care and structure of serious Jewish learning

Engage with one track, both tracks, or dip in and out as programs speak to you. What matters is that we're taking this journey together.

This approach reflects HBT’s commitment to serious Jewish learning, the same chevruta (in pairs) and yeshiva style (in community) that Rabbi Aliza brings to Shabbat and text study: asking hard questions, listening closely, and staying in relationship. We don’t shy away from complexity; we lean into it together.

Many programs include follow-up conversations, planned or informal, such as our Shabbat Kiddush discussions, where we process together what we’ve witnessed. Like chevruta study, we take responsibility for understanding each other’s perspectives, not just stating our own. Different views aren’t threats, they’re essential to learning. This is how we deepen understanding together.

Current/Upcoming Programs

Holding Liat

Film screening and talkback was on Thursday, February 19 as a special preview screening supported by Temple HBT

Movie runs through Thursday Feb. 26

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline

With support from Temple HBT alongside community partners including Brookline Community Foundation, Boston Jewish Film, Brookline Commission for the Arts, and Mass Cultural Council.

HBT's Israeli-Palestinian Programming Committee (IPPC) encourages our community to attend a special preview screening of the Oscar-shortlisted documentary HOLDING LIAT, followed by a Q&A with director Brandon Kramer.

Part of HBT’s Staying Human series
With leadership from the Israeli-Palestinian Program Committee (IPPC)

For details and ticket information:

https://www.templehbt.org/hbtfeaturedevents/2026/2/holding-liat-with-director-qampa

Chaverim Parent Coffee Klatch + Guest Speaker Susannah Sirkin

Sunday, February 22, 2026 | 10:00am–12:15pm | In person only | at Temple Hillel B’nai Torah

We invite you to join us for a meaningful and engaging Sunday morning at HBT, beginning with a relaxed coffee hour for Chaverim parents (10:00–10:45am), followed by a community-wide talk and discussion (10:45am–12:15pm).

We are honored to welcome Susannah Sirkin, a longtime policy leader at Physicians for Human Rights. Susannah will speak about her decades long career in the human rights field, including work addressing war crimes and mass atrocities around the world. She will also reflect on the current war in Israel and Gaza through a human rights lens.

Program details can be found here:

https://www.templehbt.org/hbtfeaturedevents/2026/2/chaverim-coffee-klatch-amp-guest-speaker

This promises to be a thoughtful, informative conversation grounded in experience, ethics, and global perspective. We hope you will join us.

Jewish Voices Rising

Jewish Voices Rising: A Benefit Concert for the Children of Gaza

Sunday, March 8, 2026 | 7:00–9:00pm | Eliot Church of Newton (474 Centre St, Newton, MA)

An evening of song and inspiration featuring Boston-area Jewish musicians as we raise our communal voice for healing and transformation in Gaza, and raise funds for Gaza Children’s Village.

Featuring: Adah Hetko and LevYosin, Molly Bajgot, Batya Levine, Marni Loffman, and special guests.

Benefiting: Gaza Children’s Village, which provides education, nutrition, healthcare, and psychosocial support for orphaned and vulnerable children across Gaza.

Co-sponsored by Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, Boston Workers Circle, Havurat Shalom, Kerem Shalom, Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue, Temple Hillel B’nai Torah, Temple Sinai Israel-Palestine Affinity Group, Temple Beth Zion, and V’ahavtah.

Details, RSVP, and donation link: [paste your HBT event page link here]

Yuval Noah Harari podcast: Israel, Gaza, and the Future of Judaism

Guided discussion led by Rabbi Aliza Schwartz
Thursday, March 19 | 7:00–8:30 PM | In-person only

Part of HBT's Staying Human series | Presented by IPPC

Historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari argues that the period from October 7, 2023 to the present may be a defining turning point for Jewish history and Jewish identity. In a short segment from a public interview, he frames the danger not as military defeat, but as a spiritual and moral crisis: what we risk becoming, and what "Judaism" could come to mean in the world if current trajectories continue.

The transformation Harari invokes: Yavneh

Harari points back to a pivotal moment after the destruction of the Temple, when Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai asked for "Yavneh and its wise people." In Harari's telling, that request helped shape a Judaism centered on learning, debate, and wisdom—values that sustained Jewish life for two millennia. He then asks what it means if Jewish power in the land becomes associated with domination rather than moral purpose.

What Harari is warning about

Harari warns about the possible emergence of a future Israel defined by supremacy, the breakdown of democratic norms, and the elevation of power and violence as core values. He argues that this would reshape Judaism globally, including for Jews who live elsewhere. He is not offering a prophecy, but sounding an alarm about a distinct possibility he believes must be taken seriously.

Join us for a guided discussion

Rabbi Aliza will guide us in listening carefully, reflecting together, and wrestling with what Harari is claiming and what it raises for us as Jews and as a community. We'll watch key segments together, then discuss.

Watching the first 20 minutes in advance (encouraged)

note: these details will be moved to then event page once the program is finalized

HBT members only. Registration required.
[Registration link when ready]

Spring Conversations

Israeli society, Jewish identity, and wrestling with the conflict
<date>

Part of HBT’s Staying Human series
With leadership from the Israeli-Palestinian Program Committee (IPPC)

[Details coming soon]

Past Programs

Staying Human in a Time of War
With Yoav Peck, Israeli peace activist and organizational psychologist
November 12, 2024

Yoav Peck spoke candidly about the war in Gaza, the trauma of hostages, escalating violence in the West Bank, and the unraveling of social trust—asking what it means to stay human when violence, fear, and grief dominate the headlines. This program launched what has become HBT's Staying Human series.

Full video and details of this program is available on the IPPC page here

About the Israeli-Palestinian Program Committee (IPPC)

The Israeli-Palestinian Program Committee (IPPC) helps bring programs to Temple Hillel B’nai Torah grounded in human dignity, learning, and staying in relationship across difference. Many of the programs in the Staying Human series grew out of IPPC’s leadership, and the committee continues to help steward this work as it opens out to the wider HBT community.

Learn more about the IPPC here

Stay Connected

This page will be updated as new programs are added and details are confirmed. Each event page will link back here, so you can always see where we’ve been and what’s coming next.

Questions or thoughts? Reach out to <.insert > or <a member of the organizing team>.

We are grateful to be taking this journey together.