A Day of Learning for Our Hostages

Join us on September 30 to comfort one another and the mourners, think critically and morally about the challenges before us, and inspire one another to act and create a revolution for good.

On Monday, September 30 from 9 am to midnight ET we gathered virtually and at in-person events in partnership with educational organizations in North America and Israel. Together as a community, we honored the shloshim* of the six hostages murdered last month, showed solidarity with the 101 hostages still in captivity, and called on the Israeli government and the international community to prioritize their return.

Speakers and Sessions

All times listed in ET. Sources linked below.

9:00 AM: Elana Stein Hain* – The High Holidays as a Time for Solidarity Sources
10:00 AM: Wendy Zierler (HUC) – Putting Away the Goatkid: Anda Pinkerfeld Amir’s Poetry of Solidarity and Activism Sources
11:00 AM: William Plevan (RRC) – Resistance and Despair: Two Moments in the Life of Elijah the Prophet Sources
12:00 PM: Elie Kaunfer (Hadar) – Exploring Our Relationship with God in a Moment of Crisis: A Deeper Look at Passages in the Mahzor Sources
1:00 PM: Shoshana Cohen* – “Shogeg” The Rabbinic Treatment of the Accidental Killer and the Sliding Scale of Guilt, Atonement and Responsibility Sources
2:00 PM: Haggai Resnikoff (YCT) – Too Many Cooks? An Halakhic Perspective on Communal Apathy Sources
3:00 PM: Burt Visotzky (JTS) – Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night: The Death of Moses in the Torah and the Midrash Sources
4:00 PM: Sara Hurwitz (YM) – Crying into the Void Sources
5:00 PM: Dan Judson (HC) – Bialik’s Epic Poem “In the City of Slaughter” and the Creation of Modern Zionism Sources
6:00 PM: Brad Artson (AJU) – Torah of Activism: Taking Judaism Beyond the Sanctuary and Into the World Sources
7:00 PM: Ishay Rosen-Zvi* – Redemption of Captives: Traditions, Ideology, Humanity Sources
8:00 PM: James Loeffler* – Emotional Judgment: On Law and Ethics Sources
9:00 PM: Deborah Barer* – What Does it Mean to Feel Responsible for the Hostages? Sources
10:00 PM: Ziva Hassenfeld (Pardes) – The Torah of Activism: Prophecy Through Language Sources
11:00 PM: Masua Sagiv* – Forgiveness (Selicha) and Rebuke (Tochecha): The Responsibility of Leadership and the People in This Time of Crisis Sources

*Hartman Faculty

Our full Day of Learning on Monday, September 30 honored the shloshim* of Hersh Goldberg-Polin z”l, beloved cousin of our colleague Eliot Goldstein and a friend to many in the Hartman community, as well as Ori Danino z”l, Eden Yerushalmi z”l, Almog Sarusi z”l, Alex Lobanov z”l, and Carmel Gat z”l.

In learning together, we comforted one another and the mourners, thought critically and morally about the challenges before us, and inspired one another to act and create a revolution for good.

* In the Jewish tradition, we mark the end of the thirty days of mourning with a shift in ritual practices and often with learning to elevate the souls of the deceased.