Rav Hanan Schlesinger, along with other Israeli and Palestinian partners, has been involved since January 2014 in founding and expanding Roots/Judur/Shorashim, the Palestinian Israeli Grassroots Initiative for Understanding, Non-violence, and Transformation. Roots takes place on a piece of land owned by the Awaad family in the heart of Gush Etzion and abutting the Palestinian town of Beit Umar. This location is one of the rare places that both Palestinians and Israelis can access without special government permits, thus facilitating grassroots, unmediated get-togethers and deep conversations between people from the two sides.
The Palestinians and Israelis involved in this initiative do not hide the many deep disagreements bethere will also be tween them. They are deeply aware of the complexities of the conflict and of the lack of equality between the two sides. What unites them is their honest search for human understanding and non-violent resolution of the conflict.
Join the Roots activists – one Palestinian and one Israeli - as they tell their personal stories and the intertwining of their stories. They come with no ready peace plans in hand, but only with the conviction that human understanding and trust will be the prerequisites for lasting justice, freedom and peace on that tiny sliver of land that they both call home.
Rav Hanan tours the US twice a year together with his Palestinian partners, once in the Fall and once in the Spring. During the Summer of 2025, there will also be a speaking tour of North American summer camps.
Upcoming Roots Speaking Tours
Roots, the Israeli-Palestinian Grassroots Initiative for Understanding, Nonviolence and Transformation - September 2024 North American Speaking Tour.
After our previous USA speaking tour was overbooked and venues were turned away, Noor Awad and Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger are now in the midst of booking churches, mosques, synagogues, universities, and community and interfaith groups for another speaking tour.
The dates are August 30 to September 29.
We will be visiting at least the following areas: Maryland, NYC/NJ, Vermont, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Ohio, Colorado, Sante Fe, St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area.
Whether you are in these areas or someplace else in North America, you can invite us to present to your community our personal, intertwined stories of personal transformation and the ground-breaking people-to-people work of Roots. More than ever before, this is the time to bring to your constituency our hope – and our model - for a better future for Israelis and
Palestinians.
To learn more about these speaking events and to inquire about making a booking, please visit here. Or send an email right away to ravhanan@gmail.