The Year of Civil Discourse is a year without end.
The initiative, launched in 2010 by the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council, attempted to lower the heat and increase respect when Jews disagreed over contentious issues, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On Dec. 8, leaders of the Year of Civil Discourse — as well as past program participants and newcomers — gathered at Congregation Beth Israel Judea in San Francisco to mark the initiative’s third anniversary and to demonstrate the power of civil discourse in action.
“The purpose was to reinspire them to do civil discourse work in the community,” said Abby Michelson Porth, associate executive director of the JCRC. “We had a terrific range across the political and religious spectrum.”
The three-hour afternoon program began with Aaron Davidman performing his one-man play “Wrestling Jerusalem,” in which he takes on a variety of characters, both Jewish and Arab.
After that, the 85 attendees broke into small discussion groups, with each group including people with divergent political views regarding Israel.
Year of Civil Discourse co-founder Rachel Eryn Kalish called it, according to Porth, “a minor miracle that we were having these amazing conversations and nobody was walking out, nobody was screaming. I realized how far the community has come in three years.”
Before the Year of Civil Discourse began, deep schisms over Israel had formed at various Jewish institutions, particularly synagogues. But then YCD programs began teaching the basics of civil discourse — and follow-up data suggests a dramatic change, Porth said. Before the workshops, half the participants said they felt marginalized because of their views on Israel, and nearly half felt unsafe asking questions about Israel. Afterward, 92 percent reported they had gained the skills to discuss the conflict, and 98 percent said they had greater understanding of views not their own, Porth said.
“Through YCD,” Porth said, “we see community leaders, rabbis and institutional members who are now not only trained in how to manage controversial issues, but who also are eager to be called upon when the next controversy arises.”
In the coming months, YCD organizers will undertake other missions, such as working with Jewish LearningWorks to further train rabbis, religious school directors and educators in civil discourse techniques.