February 3, 2026 | 17 Shevat 5786

A standing-room-only crowd at the Bethel Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis mourns the loss of two citizens and the disappearance of many neighbors

Cauldron

Visiting Scholar of Christianity and Religious Leadership Rob Schenck spent January 22-28 in Minneapolis, participating in interfaith clergy actions and bearing witness to non-violent resistance to Department of Homeland Security’s authoritarian immigration enforcement action in and around the city:

Metaphorically speaking, Minneapolis has been a fire, sometimes raging out of control. Atop this fire have been cauldrons filled with everyday citizens, some literally cooking for each other, delivering sustenance to those too afraid to go to a store, lest they be tackled to the ground, pummeled, and maybe abducted to an unknown place. Other cauldrons are filled with people, fired up by a brand-new passion, who interpose themselves between the threat to their neighbors and friends and shield them from harm. But there’s another cauldron atop this fire, and in it vulnerable people are being boiled. Read more...

Darkness

On January 23, Rabbi Emma Kippley-Ogman, Jewish and Interfaith Chaplain at Macalester College in St. Paul, Hebrew College Rabbinical School `10, was arrested while participating in a multi-faith clergy demonstration at Minneapolis Airport to protest internment flights transporting detainees to detention sites across the country. She wrote about the experience in the Forward, excerpted below:

On Friday, hours before Shabbat began, I was arrested with 96 other multifaith clergy members and Faith in Minnesota leaders while protesting ICE in Minneapolis. “Who could have imagined such times as these?” we sang, in the words of local songmaker Sarina Partridge... Standing there among them, on erev shabbes in the cold, I thought about the Torah portion we would read the next morning. Read more...

Neighbors

Todd Green is Senior Director of Campus Partnerships at Interfaith America, where he works closely with Miller Center Director Or Rose, a senior consultant to the national organization. He offers the following reflection as a Christian and scholar of interfaith relations:

When I watch what is going in Minneapolis, I ask myself the question once asked of Jesus: "Who is my neighbor?” So who is my neighbor? Mayor Frey? Governor Walz? Renee Good? Alex Pretti? Those protesting the occupation of Minneapolis by ICE agents?” It's easy for me to answer "yes" to all of the above. But my neighbors are also DHS agents and would-be authoritarians. The Christian tradition that formed me compels me to find a way to reestablish communion with the very people I hold directly responsible for the chaos and violence in Minneapolis. Read more...

A Weaving of Love, A Crust of Ice

Rabbi Arielle Lekach-Rosenberg of Congregation Shir Tikvah in Minneapolis, Hebrew College Rabbinical School `17, offered a galvanizing blessing at the ICE Out of Minneapolis rally on January 23rd:

...Beneath this paramilitary invasion of our state, something new is growing. This civil society, a weaving of love, is growing beneath this crust of ice: underground healthcare, because ICE is in our hospitals; hybrid schools, because ICE is abducting our parents and our children and our teachers; mutual aid structures and food distribution, because ice is patrolling our neighborhoods and stores…The scale and stakes of what we now create for one another are immense, are impossible and urgent, and they confirm what we have always known. We need each other, and together, we are irrepressible...

Please consider supporting the Yesod Fund, a mutual aid fund established by Rabbi Lekach-Rosenberg and Congregation Shir Tikvah to provide "flexible, direct support to individuals and families navigating instability and harm, particularly those most impacted by ICE and the occupation of the Twin Cities." Click here to learn more and make a donation.

Trailer for Elinor Pierce's documentary about the Omaha Nebraska Tri-Faith Initiative of Omaha, Nebraska

On Wednesday, January 21, Hebrew College rabbinical students, visiting faculty, and guest lecturers gathered in the Ordis Social Hall with filmmaker Ellie Pierce to screen her documentary Abraham’s Bridge, about a multi-faith, multi-congregational community campus in Omaha, Nebraska. The screening and talkback were part of the Miller Center’s Rabbinical School interreligious intensives, a week of learning to begin the ordination students’ spring semester. On screen, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders and community members’ talking head testimony about the value of pluralism and navigating conflict through open dialogue, was interspersed with footage of community service work, congregants in high-ceilinged prayer spaces, and a flourishing community garden. Sitting in the audience, students and teachers might have been thinking about the what seeds were taking root in their week of interreligious learning and exchange.

Tu b’Shevat reminds us that growth often happens invisibly — beneath the surface — through patience, nourishment, and careful attention to the conditions we truly need for life to take root. In that spirit, Workshop #2 of the Miller Center’s Panim el Panim: Jewish Leaders Engaging Israel Across Difference centered introspection as a leadership practice. Building upon the principles of Reflective Structured Dialogue, participants explored leadership questions about when to lean in, when to hold back, how to sit with uncertainty, and how to discern what a challenging moment truly asks of us.

From the opening niggun and collective check-in, participants named a deep concern over how blurred the boundaries between personal conviction and professional responsibility have become on questions of Israel/Palestine. Many spoke about what sustains them as leaders in relation to the subject, and about what exhausts, constrains, or confuses them. That honesty surfaced a central, uncomfortable question: What are we holding back — and why?

Dignity Project fellows mark Havdalah at their closing retreat

Last weekend, the Dignity Project closing retreat concluded our months of learning and community building with the same sweetness, care, and connection that has defined this cohort from the first gathering last summer. Reflecting on their experiences over the semester, Fellows took time to articulate why they engage in bridge-building across differences, and considered how they hope to bring their learning home. On large chart papers, they identified how they would make change in their schools and with friends, in their families, in their congregations, and within themselves. Teach and uphold values of curiosity and dignity. Challenge my friends to engage with different perspectives. Ask open questions. To mark the conclusion of their shared journey, Wafaa, a fellowship mentor, presented each fellow with a rendering of their name in Arabic calligraphy. We are looking forward to our closing ceremony and exhibition of Seeing the Sacred: Envisioning the World We Need on February 8! All are invited to join!

When: Sunday, Feb 8, 2-4 pm
Where: Hebrew College, 1860 Washington St, Newton, MA 02466

Please join to celebrate the 2025-2026 Dignity Project Fellows on February 8, 2026 at Hebrew College in Newton, MA. Fellows will share their photo exhibit “Seeing the Sacred: Envisioning the World We Need” as well as insights and reflections from their interreligious and cross-cultural journey together. We look forward to inviting you and your families, friends, and teachers into the unique community we have built together. All ages are welcome to this community event.

Instructor: Shari Lowen, PhD
Dates: 6 Tuesdays: 2/10, 2/17, 2/24, 3/10, 3/17 & 3/24
Time:  7-9 pm Eastern
Location: Online (Zoom)

Much of what we know today about how Islam views Jews comes from news sources reporting from areas of political conflict. But what does Islam really have to say about Jews? And about Judaism? This 6 session course will present students with a more in depth discussion of and analysis of Islamic materials relevant to this issue.

When: Thursday, March 12, 7 pm
Where: Hebrew College, 1860 Washington St, Newton, MA 02466 (in-person only)

Join Rabbi Or Rose in conversation with award winning author Jon Sweeney about his new book, Experiencing God: 36 Ways According to Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis of Assisi was spiritual before anyone used that word, and he was religious in the best ways. We love him because he cut through the paraphernalia to get back to religion where it belongs: working in the human heart, making a difference in everyday life. Anyone can do the things Francis did, summarized in these 36 ways of experiencing God. Examples offered through anecdote, text, and explanation include “Free captive creatures,” “Pray alone in the woods,” “Allow yourself to weep,” and “Stand between those who fight.”