By Lauren Greenberg
Political opinions are formulated through socialization and individual life experiences. From there, views are sorted into different bigger parties. I believe sometimes we forget that each person has their own personal beliefs, even when a member of a party, everyone has their own story. Politics can cause people to dehumanize opponents in fear of losing their say; however, how can we ever expect peace if we are not seeing the individuals and their needs within parties.
Rav Hanan Schlesinger and his family lived have happily lived in Alon Shvut since 2013 there always avoiding the “enemy,” the Palestinians. They had only ever heard horror stories, so they lived in fear of all of them. However, having been involved in interfaith work when he lived in the States, Rav Hanan decided he would try to see if he could move past their differences. He was brought to the peace tent by a friend, where he sat for hours listening to a Palestinian’s life story. He then got to share his story. He knew he had to be involved in this work. From there he helped to found Roots, or Shorashim, an organization that helps to start a dialogue between Jews and Palestinians living in the West Bank.
It was truly a powerful experience to hear from Rav Hanan. Earlier in the semester, we had heard from Matti Friedman, a Journalist, who taught us the importance of zooming out of the Israeli Palestinian Conference, to see that there are so many other players and factors that go into it. From Rav Hanan, I learned the importance of zooming in to a conflict. By zooming in to a conflict, we get to hear individuals stories and can start to see each other as humans instead of just the enemy. I learned the importance of listening, which is a skill that can be very hard to master. Rav Hanan is helping to create peace one individual at a time by creating a dialogue between people who grow up next door to each other but in entirely different worlds.
