Four Jewish Kansas Citians traveled to Israel to attend a five-day seminar held by the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, a Jerusalem-based Jewish educational institution.
Local attendees of the seminar were Marilyn Solsky, Carolyn Goldwasser, Joe Goldwasser and Civia White.
The seminar, titled “Bridging Freedom and Faith: Exploring Jewish Traditions on Choice versus Commitment,” was led by Director of the Pardes Learning Seminar Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barach. The program included sessions with experts on topics such as "Securing the Release of Captives: Jewish Tradition and the Complexity of Contemporary Reality" to "A Key to the Soul: Cultivating the Spiritual Practice of Emotional Awareness" and "Silence! For Such is My Decree: Freedom and Faith in the Study of Torah."
Attendees also traveled to and toured through the unique program "Southern Tiyul: Nova Site and the Gaza Envelope" which focused on the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terror attacks and included guided tour stops at the Sderot Police Station, Tekuma Memorial, Nahal Oz, Beeri Forest, Nova Festival Site and Sderot Yeshiva.
“This is a very difficult time in Israel, and I wanted to respectfully visit the areas that were attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, volunteer to show my support and have conversations about the war with those most directly affected by it,” Civia White said. “Pardes did an outstanding job of making all of this happen for the group. I was so fortunate to be able to attend with friends from KC.”
