Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and Noor A'wad of Roots.

Noor A'wad, a Palestinian activist, and Rabbi Hanan, an Orthodox Israeli settler, are among the leaders of Roots/Shorashim/Judur, an Israeli-Palestinian grassroots initiative for understanding and non-violence. They represent a unique network of local Palestinians and Israelis living in the West Bank who have come to see each other as partners in the work to make changes to ending the conflict. With the war raging, the people-to-people work of Roots is more important than ever. Come hear their personal stories of struggle and transformation, as well as their vision of mutual national recognition and reconciliation.

Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger will also offer the d’var torah during services.Babysitting available with registration.

Co-sponsored with Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest and Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel.
Invite your friends using the Facebook event.

BIOS:

Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger lives in Alon Shvut Israel and is one of the founders of Roots/Shorashim/Judur, The Palestinian Israeli Grassroots Initiative for Understanding, Nonviolence and Transformation. Currently he serves as its Director of International Relations. He also is the founder of the American Friends of Roots, a multi-faith organization dedicated to supporting the work of Roots/Shorashim/Judur.  Rav Hanan frequently speaks in the USA together with one of his Palestinian partners about the amazing work of Roots/Shorashim/Judur.

Prior to co-founding Roots, Rav Hanan spent his career teaching Jewish studies in various seminaries, colleges and frameworks in the Jerusalem area, among them the Pardes Institute, Beit Midrash Elul, Nishmat and Yeshivat Bat Ayin. He also spent two years as part of the Judaic Fellows Program in Boca Raton, Florida and over ten years in Dallas Texas, first as Rosh Kollel of the Community Kollel and later as founder and Executive Director and Community Rabbinic Scholar for the Jewish Studies Initiative of North Texas. He and his Israeli–born wife, Ayala, have four grown children and eleven grandchildren.

Born to Palestinian parents, Noor A'wad and his family moved from Amman, Jordan to Beit Sahour following the signing of the Oslo Accords. There, he began engaging with his identity as a Palestinian refugee, both in violent and nonviolent ways. While studying to become a tour guide, Noor traveled to Israel and for the first time saw Israelis beyond the lens of “occupying soldiers” which put him on a path of intense rethinking about the reality of the conflict. In 2012, Noor was licensed by the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism. In 2016, Noor was asked to bring an overseas group he was guiding to hear Rabbi Schlesinger speak at Roots. He was profoundly challenged by what he heard, and after a series of intense, mind-expanding meetings with the rabbi and later with Ali Abu Awwad, Noor became a Roots activist. Later Noor became the Palestinian English-language Roots spokesperson, in which capacity he has spoken to thousands of overseas visitors and given them an incisive and honest perspective on Palestinian identity and experience, on the conflict and on Roots’ role within it in the arduous journey towards a solution. Today Noor is a member of the leadership team of Roots. Noor resides in Bethlehem, where – when he is not working with Roots – he guides English-speakers on geopolitical tours of the region.