“For the sake of my siblings & friends we call out: Peace for all.”
לְמַעַן אַחַי וְרֵעָי אֲדַבְּרָה נָּא שָׁלוֹם בָּךְ
September 2025
It’s unbelievable and heartbreaking – but the High Holy Days season of 2025/5786 will mark two terrible years since the horrors of October 7th – and too many days of terror and turmoil since.
These troubling times are the most difficult many of us have ever endured. The tragic violence continues, with no hostage deal, while the tragic loss of lives and infrastructure in Gaza gets worse, as attacks continue in the West Bank, more lives lost, hatred ripples across the globe, and prospects of peace are replaced by rage and despair.
We stand in solidarity with all who are suffering, mourning, and hurting. Our hearts hurt with Israelis and Palestinians, among them many of our families and friends, who face daily dangers and for whom the new normal has become a nightmare.
In the United States we are also experiencing the brutal rise of authoritarian agendas in power, with human lives in peril, civil rights under attack and democracy in grave danger.
Within our own Jewish communities, and even within families and generations, divides continue to deepen.
These challenges are intertwined and so is our deeper sense of solidarity, empathy and commitment to solution-oriented change for the sake of all our futures.
As an artist driven Jewish spiritual community, Lab/Shul acknowledges and appreciates that the fabric of our community is woven with diverse threads of perspective, belief, and experience. We are committed to our mission as a sacred space for spiritual connection, bridge-building, learning, healing and growth for all.
Our ongoing series of Courageous Conversations keep bringing people together for shared tough truths, hurts and hopes. Despite differences, we seek common ground in our shared humanity, our hopes for healing and peace, our resistance to despair, and our commitment to repairing what is broken.
We invite you to explore the resources on this page for further learning and engagement, helping us unpack and find solace, donate and support, and show up at this critical time.
Please check this page regularly as the situation is continuously evolving and we will be updating information here frequently.
As we remember the shared humanity that unites us all and strive for peace, justice and dignity for every individual we invite you to light a candle and recite the Mother’s Prayer for Peace. We pray that the cycle of violence will end as quickly as possible, so that repair can begin to bring peace.
We pray that the cycle of violence will end as quickly as possible, so that repair can begin to bring peace.
Poem by Rabbi Dahlia Shaham
My brothers and my sisters,
You’re my brothers and my sisters
Doesn’t matter who we call our father
Isaac, Ishma’el,
Mohammad, Moses, Jesus,
We are all united by one mother
Mother Earth she is
The Promised Land
Should we all be wise and treat her kindly
In her compassion there’s a place for all.
In her womb, there’s mercy for us all.
اخواني وأخواتي انتم
اخواني وأخواتي
لا يهمني من هو أبانا
إسحاق أو إسماعيل,
محمد, عيسى, موسى
أم وحيدة لكلنا
امنة هي ارضنا بلادنا الموعودة
إذا نعرف أن نحترمها
برحمتها
يوجد مكان للكل
אַחַיי וְאַחְיוֹתַיי אַתֶּם,
אַחַיי וְאַחְיוֹתַיי
אֵין זֶה מְשַׁנֶּה מִי הוּא אָבִינוּ
יִצְחַק אוֹ יִשְׁמַעְאֵל,
מֻחַמָד אוֹ מֹשֶׁה
לְכוּלָנוּ אוֹתָהּ אִמָּא
אִמָּא אֲדָמָה הִיא
הָאָרֶץ הַמֻּבְטַחַת
אִם נֵדַע לִהְיוֹת טוֹבִים אֵלֶיהָ
בְּרַחֲמֶיהָ
יֵשׁ מָקוֹם לְכוּלָם.
News
Ways to Help
Organizations to Support
This is a small selection of ways to support now. If you have organizations to suggest, please send them to hello@labshul.org
Upcoming Events
Community Events
Are you planning to join us for Rosh Hashanah? We look forward to welcoming you. Have you seen our amazing lineup of programs over the next week?
🔗Register through the High Holy Day LINK in our bio or visit: www.labshul.org/high-holy-days-5786/
Tikkun is our theme this year: to return to repair. We seek to name what is broken, to explore what it means to mend, and to take the first steps of realignment within and beyond.
Our team of ritualists, artists, educators, and activists is honored to co-create this ritual container, and to host courageous Israeli and Palestinian peacemakers throughout this sacred season. These hopeful healers insist on a shared path forward, reminding us what repair can look like even in the face of violence, terror, and war.
Together, we will try and cry, smile and sob, sing and sit in silence, each finding our own way of return to repair. As the Psalms remind us: “We who sow in tears will reap in joy.”
We hope that whatever needs you bring into this new year, you will find meaningful, inspiring moments here — and many more beyond.
Thank you for joining us as we begin this year with courage, compassion, and a commitment to Tikkun.
Shana Tova — may this year be a better one, with return to repair, healing, and peace.
#Labshul #HighHolyDays5786 #ShanaTova #Elul #RoshHashanah #YomKippur #Teshuva #SacredGathering #ArtistDriven #GodOptional #EverybodyFriendly #JewishCommunity #QueerJudaism #SpiritualPractice #RitualAndReflection #ExperimentalJudaism #HighHolyDaysofAwe #5786
🔔NEW HIGH HOLY DAYS PROGRAM 🔔
Healing Across Divides Rosh Hashanah Workshop
Wed Sept 24th | 4:00-6:00pm ET
NYC | In Person Only
In partnership with @cbst_nyc , we invite you to join us for a Healing Across Divides Rosh Hashanah Workshop.
In these painful and uncertain times, you’re invited to sit with Nitson Joy Gordon and @jdkassab - a Jewish Israeli and a Palestinian citizen of Israel - for an experiential gathering that opens a rare window into grassroots peacebuilding and trauma healing. Through moving stories, honest dialogue, and embodied practices, they will share tools and inspiration from the Army of Healers — a growing community dedicated to nurturing connection, resilience, and hope across even the deepest divides.
FULL HIGH HOLY DAY SCHEDULE + REGISTRATION - 🔗 link in bio or visit labshul.org/high-holy-days-5786/schedule/
#Labshul #HighHolyDays5786 #ShanaTova #Elul #RoshHashanah #YomKippur #Teshuva #SacredGathering #ArtistDriven #GodOptional #EverybodyFriendly #JewishCommunity #QueerJudaism #SpiritualPractice #RitualAndReflection #ExperimentalJudaism #HighHolyDaysofAwe #5786
On Sunday, August 3rd, join Lab/Shul, Rav Jericho Vincent, @templeofthestranger , and special guests - including Rev. Derrick McQueen of St. James Church - for a powerful day of ritual, song, and learning.
Lab/Shul’s tradition is to begin our High Holy Days Season on this day of broken dreams - and build from it towards a season of repair and renewal. We rise from the rubble on the 9th of Av, known as “Tisha B’av” to begin again the journey of return to our best selves, valuing our vulnerability.
CALENDAR LINK in bio for registrations or visit: www.labshul.org/event/tisha-bav-grief-retreat
This year, with hearts broken, the devastation of death and hurt continuing in Israel and Palestine, the rage rippling out and impacting all of us, so much turmoil and violence in our country -- how do we hold each other’s hurt? How can we make room for grief so that we honor our feelings, deal with despair, and find some path towards healing and hope - together?
From our ancestors we’ve inherited not just traumas but also the wise ways of responding to them, with resilience and creativity, courage and empathy. We come together as a community to grieve - and to grow.
#Labshul #Joinus #gather #shabbat #sabbath #ritual #godoptional #everybodyfriendly #artistdriven #experimentaljudaism #queerjudaism #JewishLife #jewishholidays #jewishevents #jewishtradition #jewishcommunity #tishabaav #9av #grief #griefretreat
Thursday, June 26 | 8–9 PM (Israel) | Zoom
Join a special online gathering of Palestinians and Israelis. We’ll listen, share, connect, and nurture hope together. Through stories, sharing, and prayer, we create space for pain and build hope and peace—for both peoples.
The event will be in Arabic, Hebrew, and English, with live translation.
All are welcome.
Register here: https://www.sulha.org.il/event-details/sulha-online-gathering
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חמישי, 26 ביוני | 20:00–21:00 | בזום
הצטרפו למפגש מיוחד של פלסטינים וישראלים.
נקשיב, נשתף, נתחבר ונטפח תקווה משותפת.
באמצעות סיפורים, שיתוף ותפילות ניצור מרחב לכאב, לשלום ולתקווה לשני העמים.
המפגש יתקיים בערבית, עברית ואנגלית עם תרגום.
כולם מוזמנים.
להרשמה: https://www.sulha.org.il/event-details/sulha-online-gathering
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الخميس، 26 حزيران | 20:00–21:00 | عبر زوم
ندعوكم للقاء مميّز يجمع فلسطينيين وإسرائيليين.
سنستمع، نشارك، نتواصل، ونغذّي الأمل معًا.
عبر القصص، المشاركة، والدعاء، نفتح مساحة للحزن، للسلام، وللأمل للشعبين.
سيُعقد اللقاء بالعربية، العبرية، والإنجليزية، مع ترجمة مباشرة.
الجميع مُرحَّب بهم.
للتسجيل: https://www.sulha.org.il/event-details/sulha-online-gathering
Tomorrow, June 14th, gather to raise our voices against injustice—from ICE raids to war.
In solidarity with our friends at @standing.together.english and @israelisforpeacenyc, meet at 1PM @ Bryant Park, NYC
Show up. Speak out. Stand together.
🔔NEW PROGRAM ALERT 🔔
Israel/Palestine and the LGBTQ Community Webinar
June 18th, 2025, 2:00pm EST
📲 register through CALENDAR LINK in our bio or visit labshul.org/calendar.
Navigating issues related to Israel/Palestine in the queer community – and in some of the broader progressive spaces – can be challenging. There is a history of using Israel’s relatively LGBTQ friendly environment to try to distract from the Occupation, a practice which has earned the label “Pinkwashing.” At the same time, there are the sometimes unfair asks that are made of Jews and/or Israelis.
To help us make sense of how to navigate these intersecting identities and issues, NJN will be hosting a webinar with two leading Jewish and progressive leaders known for their thoughtfulness and nuance.
@idit1836 (she/her) is the President & CEO of Keshet, the national organization for LGBTQ equality in Jewish life, a role she has held since 2001. Under her leadership, Keshet has mobilized tens of thousands of Jewish leaders to make LGBTQ+ equality a communal value and priority for action.
Our own- Rabbi @amichailaulavie - social activist, storyteller, writer, and community leader is the Co-Founding Spiritual Leader of the thriving Lab/Shul community in New York and the creator of the ritual theater company Storahtelling, Inc.
This webinar will be moderated by Noam Shelef (he/him), NJN’s Vice President for Communications. Noam is not only a veteran advocate of peace and human rights in Israel/Palestine, he also spent part of his career leading efforts to uphold LGBTQ rights in workplaces.
#Labshul #Joinus #gather #shabbat #sabbath #ritual #godoptional #everybodyfriendly #artistdriven #experimentaljudaism #queerjudaism #JewishLife #jewishholidays #jewishevents #jewishtradition #jewishcommunity #lgbtq #pride #israel #palestine
Jewish teaching is clear: if there is a hungry person, one must feed them. That’s why, this Shabbat @jews_for_food_aid is proud to be participating in “Food Aid Shabbat” as part of the Jews for Food Aid for People in Gaza campaign. Lab/Shul wants to call attention to this campaign that expresses a clear, simple message from the Jewish community: that we support food aid for people in Gaza and an end to the Israeli government’s food aid blockade.
If you have not signed on yet, we encourage you to do so now at foodaidforgaza.org
Before Shabbat comes in or after havdallah, please consider making a donation to the Gaza Soup Kitchen. Our campaign has already moved over $50,000 to feeding people whatever food is available in Gaza.
This is what it means to choose life: for every Palestinian. For every Israeli. For all the people of the land. For all of us.
🔔 PROGRAM ALERT 🔔
Sabbath Queen Documentary Screening + Talkback with Rabbi @amichailaulavie and @sandidubowski
June 5th at 6:30pm est
NYC
You’ve asked, we’re answering…
NOW is your opportunity to watch or re-watch the critically-acclaimed documentary filmed over 21 years, that follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie’s epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel.
Sabbath Queen is now in 65 film festivals, 50 cinemas, received a New York Times Critic’s Pick and was named one of the New York Times’ favorite films of the 21st century, and has won 8 awards including Boston Jewish Film Festival’s Audience Award for Best Documentary and UK Jewish Film Festival’s Best Documentary.
The 6/5/25 screening will be followed by a talkback with Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie and Sandi DuBowski.
A $10 suggested donation enables us to present programs like this one.
#Labshul #Joinus #gather #shabbat #sabbath #ritual #godoptional #everybodyfriendly #artistdriven #experimentaljudaism #queerjudaism #JewishLife #jewishholidays #jewishevents #jewishtradition #jewishcommunity #sabbathqueen #sabbathqueenfilm
🔔 PROGRAM ALERT 🔔
Courageous Conversations on Israel/Palestine
Saturday, May 17, 2025
6:00-9:00pm ET
Exact location provided upon registration
📲 REGISTER via calendar link in bio or visit: https://www.labshul.org/event/courageous-conversations-4/
Courageous Conversations fosters meaningful dialogue amongst community members, led by professional facilitators from within the Lab/Shul community and the Lab/Shul ritual team. Utilizing both large talking circle and small group formats, this program nurtures understanding, empathy, and essential communication skills while embracing the diverse perspectives, beliefs, and experiences that shape our collective fabric. Each session offers a supportive space for thoughtful discussion, equipping participants with tools to navigate conversations across disagreement with openness and respect.
This program will begin with a meaningful Havdalah ritual – led by @shirakline – to set the stage for learning and conversation.
Light pescatarian nosh and beverages will be served.