Blog Post: As Hanukkah Ends, Show Up and Be The Light!

Reflections on 2025

by Karen Shapiro

As I reflect on my participation with Partners for Progressive Israel this past year, I’m empowered by those experiences where I found a spark, a light in the sea of darkness.  I’ve learned and been inspired by the personal connections, leadership building, the Israeli and Palestinian peace builders of all ages and so much more.  

Participating in Partners’ Israel-Palestine Virtual Symposium was a heartwarming opportunity to have intimate and thoughtful conversations with Israelis and Palestinians living in the Land. One of my favorite experiences was hearing a Palestinian Israeli teenager speak about his life-changing experience, meeting Jewish youth his age for the first time while learning the craft of photography, he gained a better understanding of their culture while participating in Givat Haviva’s program, Through Others’ Eyes. 

While in Israel, I was inspired by the work of our progressive coalition at the World Zionist Congress. As Jews committed to equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians, we were in the ideological minority – yet we passed landmark resolutions and have gained executive positions because Partners with the Hatikvah slate showed up where the far-right did not, building relationships and organizing a broad left-liberal bloc. That was an eye-opening experience: it taught me to focus not on what seems impossible, but on the prize, to envision what we want to manifest, and then take action accordingly.

The day before Rosh Hashanah this year, I joined several other members of Partners’ leadership out in front of the French mission to the UN. We joined Mothers for Recognition and Israelis for Peace in a rally to celebrate the French-Saudi plan and to show our support for recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. It felt powerful to anticipate the new Jewish year as we affirmed Partners’ three decades-plus support for this vision of human rights, recognition, and dignity for Palestinians and Israelis alike. 

Shortly thereafter, I participated in the Healing Across Divides workshop with Israeli and Palestinian peace-builders, Nitsan Joy Gordon and Jawdat Kasab, co-sponsored by Partners. They are leaders of the Army of Healers, a movement that transforms pain and anger into trusting and healing. Hearing their personal stories and experiences as well as being an active participant was transformative for me; I have become a more patient listener. In this session I learned, in the words of Richard Rohr, that “pain that is not transformed is transmitted.”  Being more mindful of this has empowered my daily life.

These are just a few of the many shining lights Partners for Progressive Israel has given me this past year. They remind me that even in the darkest times, light can be found when I show up and do the work. I hope you will join me.

Karen Shapiro is a Board Vice President of Partners for Progressive Israel.