Courageous Community Building

Dear Lab/Shul,

I am writing to you today as a long-time Lab/Shul Partner and as one of the co-facilitators of Lab/Shul’s Courageous Conversations, a new series designed in the wake of October 7th to bring Lab/Shul Partners, like me, together to meet the current moment through listening, dialogue, and togetherness.

As a restorative justice facilitator and a circle keeper I have – again and again – relearned the truth that community building is always first an act of showing up. We cannot actually talk about the ancestry, nuance, and struggle of the history and politics of Israel-Palestine in the “comments section” on social media. We cannot make waves or build solidarity within the Jewish World and beyond by keeping all that is welling inside of us to ourselves. I mean, we could, but is it courageous?

At Lab/Shul’s annual community retreat this past December, we came together to face what was inside of us and each other. Building on that momentum, we knew we had to bring the work done that weekend to the larger community.

So, we have built an ongoing opportunity for members of our community to arrive at a place in space to grapple and to question. To bear witness to the myriad perspectives that members of our community hold under the big tent we call Lab/Shul.

Rabbi Hillel is best known for his words, “If not now, when? If not us then who?” Less known are his principles of listening and humility. It was said that Rabbi Hillel was successful in making his case on Jewish law because he first listened so thoroughly to the other’s opinion or interpretation that he and members of his house were able to state it fully before even beginning to state their own. He and members of his crew listened with, Anavah, humility. As Ben Zoma reminds us in Pirkei Avot, “Who is wise? Those who learn from everyone.” At this trying time, we invite you to join us and to reach deep for and from wisdom. Join us to learn from each other, spend time thinking past that binary and holding the space of the many opinions, pains, experiences, and emerging thoughts that we embody as a community.

Register now for Courageous Conversations >

And how can we possibly celebrate Purim when our hearts are so broken in this moment of deep despair? Purim is a holiday that commands us to celebrate while centering much of its narrative around good and evil, winning and defeating. Mordechai’s feverish call to Esther still rings true, that we “were created for a moment such as this” (4:14). How does this ancient call to action inspire us to continue scribing a more just, peaceful future? Lab/Shul invites you to step into the Purim story through a night of music and cabaret, to wrestle with the binaries of this ancient tale, and reveal our truest, most authentic selves in a celebration of song and performance.

Buy your tickets to Purim here >

Here are all of the ways we can build our capacity to celebrate:

Thursday March 7 is Courageous Conversations
A circle of space to engage in constructive, compassionate dialogue, fostering understanding and empathy while acknowledging and appreciating that the fabric of our everybody-friendly community is woven with diverse threads of perspective, belief, and experience
Friday March 8 is Sabbath Queen
Our monthly Shabbat ritual program. In this early springtime seasonal shift, we circle up for live music and contemplative prayers to metabolize our joy/sorrow and our hope/rage. Come for the glitter, stay for the glow.
Sunday March 17 is Family Lab: Purim: Make Some Noise
Everyone is invited for a raucous costume party with hamantaschen baking, dedicated to making lasting memories of a truly inside out, upside down story of integrity, courage, and a wild hearted mission to change the world. Shira Kline and teaching artist Emet (Ari L. Monts) lead this event for families with young children.
Saturday March 23 is PURIMESSTHER
A night of topsy-turvy Storahtelling ritual stepping into the Purim story through a night of music and cabaret followed by Flaminggg’s party created to celebrate a reimagined future.