Dialogue series focuses on `sacred listening'
In a small group setting in January, metro-area residents talked about topics that many people try to avoid — religion, sexual assault, racism, sexism, mourning, anti-Semitism — to name a few.
These discussions occurred as part of the “Two Community Dialogue for the Jewish and African-American/Black Communities.” The dialogue series was held weekly in January, with two sessions at Temple B'nai Israel, 4901 N Pennsylvania, and two at Langston University-OKC, 6700 N Martin Luther King Ave.
The series was sponsored through a partnership between the temple, Langston, the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma City, Ralph Ellison Foundation and the Respect Diversity Foundation.
At one weekly session, Rabbi Vered Harris, spiritual leader of Temple B'nai Israel, shared the premise of the dialogue program. She said one of the key components of the series was “sacred listening.”
“We are accustomed to saying `Yes, I hear you' or `I'm listening.' Sacred listening is about being very intentional in the time and the space where we are. ... to slow down our conversations to try to
be intentional about our communication,” she said. “It really is a holy act.” The diverse group of people who gathered at the recent session watched a videotaped Ted Talk presentation by a black man who spoke about talking to his son about racism he would face as a black man in America.
The group also watched a videotaped presentation of a Jewish woman talking about issues of sex and sexual assault in the Jewish faith community.
Afterward, people divided into small groups and discussed the themes that came out of the two video presentations while sharing a meal together. Harris said people who signed up to participate were divided so that each small group had representation from both the
black and Jewish faith communities.
Michael Korenblit, who founded the Respect Diversity Foundation with his wife, Joan, served as the facilitator for one group. He started his group's discussion by saying that the metro-area black community and Jewish faith community had strong ties at one time, and the series was just another way to help strengthen those bonds.
Helen Opper, who is Jewish, said her favorite part of the program was the small group discussions.
“I decided to participate in the series because the opportunity for this kind of community dialogue is quite rare, and because community engagement and diversity is something that I value in my work and personal life,” she said.
Opper said being part of the conversations made her more closely examine some of her own experiences.
Successful series
Rabbi Harris said the series was enlightening, and she was pleased with the way it turned out.
“It's been so wonderful, I'm just thrilled,” she said.
“Participants have learned things about each other from both within and outside our communities. People have been respectful of other people's feelings. I don't know what's next, but I know how the people who have participated have been enriched.”
Mautra Jones, Langston University's vice president of Institutional Advancement and External Affairs and executive director of the Langston University Foundation, said Langston leaders also were happy with the series.
“It was something that was nearly a no-brainer
for Langston because part of our mission is to make sure we are open-minded and making sure that we create learning opportunities for our students, faculty, staff and the community,” she said.
Jones said the first session dealt with community and belonging, while the second session explored taboo topics and experiences with conversations. The third session was titled “Diversity Within my Community” and the fourth explored “Memory and Mourning: Anti-Semitism, racism, slavery and the Holocaust.”
Jones said she realized that participants were OK exploring controversial or challenging topics, the kind that “some people don't want to talk about, some people don't want to come out of their comfort zone.”
“When they came to campus and the temple, the participants were excited to talk about the issues,” she said. “People were engaged so I feel like we accomplished our goal of getting these two communities together and bringing about a deeper understanding and appreciation of both cultures.”