“Imagine a teaching on the Toledo School of Translation while in a park across the street from the Transito Synagogue and former home of Samuel Halevi, followed by a stop at the windmills of the La Mancha plain and a discussion of Converso literature and Miguel Cervantes. And that was only one afternoon! Our pre-trip courses were immensely helpful, giving us a strong grounding in the history of Sepharad and the key Jewish, Christian and Muslim figures involved. It allowed us to appreciate [the places we visited] much more deeply.”  

— Jill and Michael Goldberg, Spain trip participants 

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On Monday, June 24, the Miller Center for Interreligious Leadership and Learning of Hebrew College hosted a daylong virtual retreat for spiritual and religious leaders, "Leading Faithfully in a Time of Division." The event convened some of the Miller Center’s closest friends and collaborators, who shared their wisdom by way of presentations, public dialogues, guided meditations, and more. Programming and discussion centered around the intersection of American civic life and religious pluralism, and how faith leaders can reach for balance in their work as we approach this tense election season. As Rev. Hope Christensen of Christ Episcopal Church in Kensington, MD, remarked in her opening blessing for the day: “[Faith leaders] call events like these ‘retreats’, when what we really mean is 'work'...But movement away from something also means movement toward something new.” Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for more resources from this enlightening and enlivening day of learning.  

We often make assumptions about people based on first impressions or on accepted stereotypes. Sometimes, however, on deeper consideration new aspects may be revealed to us. That teenager with the nose ring and the huge tattoo could be a Rhodes scholar. That old man with the stutter might have some important things to say. There are many Jewish women in the Hebrew Bible who are unambiguously presented as heroes—brave people who through their selfless actions became saviors.

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