🕊️ Staying Human: Witnessing, Learning, Acting
בִּמְקוֹם שֶׁאֵין אֲנָשִׁים הִשְׁתַּדֵּל לִהְיוֹת אִישׁ
"In a place where there is no humanity, strive to be a human."
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 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 create space to bear witness to real lives, deepen 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.
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 through speakers, guided conversations, and shared study — asking hard questions and listening across difference.
🤝 Acting
We explore ways of responding rooted in care, responsibility, and Jewish values. Action may look different for different people, and participation is always invitational.
Two Tracks
Like the Mishnah's masekhtot — distinct paths of learning that each go their own way while belonging to the larger whole — this series has two tracks. Engage one, both, or move between them as programs speak to you.
🔹 IPPC Track
Wrestling with questions close to our particular Jewish story: Israel, Palestine, Jewish identity, and what our tradition asks of us in this moment.
🔸 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.
National Day of Action: Jews Demand ICE Out
On April 30, Jews around the country are gathering to demand ICE Out — out of our schools and workplaces, our parks and streets, our places of worship, and our communities. Grounded in our sacred teachings, we make the moral case that this system is a failure of policy and of conscience.
HBT's Immigrant Support Team endorses these actions and encourages members who can make the time to attend one of the two local events below.
📍 Support for the De-ICE Citizens Bank Campaign
12:00–1:00 PM · Citizens Bank, 315 Harvard Ave, Brookline (Coolidge Corner)
📍 Jews Demand: ICE Out of Jamaica Plain
5:30–6:15 PM · 696 Centre St, Jamaica Plain
Past Programs
2026 Joint Memorial Ceremony · Combatants for Peace & Parents Circle – Families Forum
Each year, Israelis and Palestinians who have lost family members to the conflict gather together to mourn, remember, and affirm their shared humanity. This year's ceremony was held live in Jerusalem on the eve of Israel's Memorial Day — and streamed to communities around the world.
A local in-person viewing was hosted the following evening by Boston Standing Together and the Boston Workers Circle Israel Palestine Committee, at the Boston Workers Circle, 6 Webster St., Brookline (Coolidge Corner).
▶ Watch the recording:
Yuval Noah Harari: Israel, Gaza, and the Future of Judaism · Guided Discussion
Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari argues that the period from October 7, 2023 to the present may be among the most consequential for Jewish identity since the Roman conquest of 70 CE — warning not of military defeat, but of a possible spiritual and moral crisis shaped by the worship of power and violence. Rabbi Aliza Schwartz led a guided discussion: watching key segments together, then talking.
- Jewish Voices Rising: A Benefit Concert for the Children of Gaza · Gaza Children's Village March 8, 2026 Held at Eliot Church of Newton. Together this concert raised over $50,000 to support education, nutrition, healthcare, and psychosocial care for orphaned and vulnerable children across Gaza. Thank you to all who attended, participated, and donated.
- Susannah Sirkin: Human Rights and the War in Gaza February 22, 2026
- Holding Liat · Film Screening February 19, 2026
- Staying Human in a Time of War · Yoav Peck · Video Recording November 12, 2024
About the IPPC
The Israeli-Palestinian Program Committee 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.
📬 Stay Connected
This page will be updated as new programs are added. Questions or thoughts? Reach out to a member of the organizing team.
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
Prefer to open YouTube directly? Watch here.
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.