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Etty Hillesum Cards

We are two women peace activists, Dina Awwad-Srour and Emma Sham-Ba Ayalon, a Palestinian and an Israeli.

We believe that Etty Hillesum’s words carry the wisdom of deep humanism that the world needs now so urgently.

30/08/2026

Last Chance to Join

Online Course: Sacred Activism

"I often think that all we can really do is to radiate the little bit of goodness we have in us in all directions."
— Etty Hillesum, November 15, 1942

4 meetings, Sundays or Saturdays: 6, 12, 19, 27 September 20:00-22:00 Palestine/Israel time, on Zoom

Price: 180 euros
Payment link: https://buy.stripe.com/9B614m51IfK29SG4sh9IQ05

Each of us is called to ask: what is my response to a broken world? What is mine to do?

Sacred activism is activism rooted in spiritual depth — one that seeks to heal rather than fight, and draws its strength from stillness rather than urgency.

We are opening an online course to explore these questions together, with space for self-reflection, council, writing, art, meditation, movement, and sharing. A course platform will hold all study materials and a space to share and exchange with one another.

We take Etty Hillesum as our guide. Her diaries trace a young Jewish Dutch woman's path toward inner freedom under a totalitarian regime — her choice to believe in the humanity of all people, even those cast as enemies, and the future she held onto even as the world around her darkened. She died in Auschwitz at 29.

We are Dina (Palestinian), a group and biodanza facilitator, lecturer, and writer, and Emma Sham-Ba (Israeli), a rabbi, poet, and artist. Together we created the Etty Hillesum Cards in English, Hebrew, and Arabic, wanting to share the inspiration Etty has given us.

6 September, Sunday 20:00-22:00: What is Sacred Activism?
12 September, Saturday 20:00-22:00: Are We Not Yet Willing to See?
19 September, Saturday 20:00-22:00: What Heals Hatred?
27 September, Sunday 20:00-22:00 What Is Mine to Do?

23/08/2026

What We Don't Want to See

The war has ended, or so we are told. Not for the people of Gaza.

The real crisis has just begun. Hunger. Sickness. People trying to find shelter in this heat, with winter coming and no clarity about what comes next. The killing has not stopped.

The world watched the World Cup. The world watched the war with Iran. Recently 112 bodies from two families were found under the rubble in Gaza. Facing death and loss again and again, while headlines move on to other things.

It is as if we have put a blind eye on Gaza. Partly because we feel helpless. Partly because the mind cannot hold this much pain for this long, so it looks for somewhere else to rest. This is what indifference does. It is not usually cruelty. It is exhaustion, protecting itself.

But exhaustion is not the same as powerlessness. There is still a question worth asking, especially now, when it would be easier not to ask it: what is mine to do? What is my sacred activism in this turmoil, this craziness?

We cannot end the war. We cannot dig through the rubble. We cannot bring back the 112 bodies of those two families, or the twenty thousand children before them. But we can refuse the second death, the one that happens when a life is forgotten. We can hold what we witness instead of pushing it aside. We can let our hearts stay open in a world that keeps asking them to close. This is sacred activism as we understand it: not fixing everything, but staying present to what is real, and letting that presence guide our next step, however small.

Join us in our coming online course.
Sacred Activism.
For more information: https://forms.gle/9hR244rQyQHaSVfU8

20/08/2026

From a participant, on what this work has meant to her...

"Under Emma and Dina's wisdom, guided by the spirit of Etty Hillesum's soul — through reading her diary excerpts, looking at powerful art conveying Etty's feelings, journaling, making art, dancing, reflecting, and sharing from our hearts — this course has supported me through this dark time in history. Now more than ever, Dina and Emma are showing us: someone is with us now who can guide us back to our true homes within ourselves. No matter what is happening externally, we can find the strength to make it through internally — with love."

— Jules, USA

This is exactly the kind of space we hope to create together: not an escape from what's happening in the world, but a place to find steadiness inside it.

✨ Join us for Sacred Activism — four Sunday evenings inspired by Etty Hillesum.

📅 Sundays and Saturdays: 6, 12, 19, 27 September
🔗 For more information: https://forms.gle/oEbwU5K3wZZhjgQu7

18/08/2026

rWhat Heals Hatred? 🕊️

It's easy to hate someone you don't know. Someone whose face you've never seen, whose story you've never heard. Distance makes hatred simple. Also the media make it easier to hate another nation especially when you know nothing about this nation.

But something shifts the moment you actually sit with someone — really listen to their story. The heart opens, almost against your will. You begin to see them, not as an idea or a threat, but as a person. And compassion becomes possible.

This is why healing hatred is, first and always, inner work. Etty Hillesum understood this deeply — she wrote that once you begin the real work within yourself, you're no longer consumed by what's happening outside you. When you find that inner freedom, the world outside — its events, its people — no longer has the same grip on you. You start to meet others with a plain page, without judgment already written on it.

And healing hatred is also a decision. Choosing not to hate doesn't mean excusing what was done, or pretending harm didn't happen. It's not about the other person at all, really — it's about you. About choosing to become free. About choosing to live a fuller life, one that isn't shaped by something as heavy as hatred.

Hatred is a strong word. Healing it asks something just as strong of us.

This is one of the questions we sit with together in Sacred Activism.

📅 Sundays and Saturdays: 6, 12, 19, 27 September
🔗 For more information: https://forms.gle/mNGkAMDxTXpvZ6qA6

16/08/2026

What it means to build friendship across the line 🌿

People often ask us what it's like — a Palestinian and an Israeli, building something together for over a decade.

The truth is, our friendship has always moved beyond our national identities. We share so much: as writers, as peace activists, as women searching for meaning. But we also don't pretend the symbolism isn't real. It matters that this closeness exists between us — because it isn't guaranteed, and it isn't easy.

What has made it work isn't the absence of difficulty. It's the ability to really see each other — strengths and weaknesses both — and meet that with compassion instead of judgment. It's staying transparent, even when it's uncomfortable. Being able to say anything to one another, and to actually hear honest feedback in return. That kind of trust doesn't happen on its own — it grows, slowly, through the work of showing up together, again and again, for over ten years now.

When we're asked what we believe is Etty Hillesum's greatest gift to us today, as the world faces so much division and suffering, we keep coming back to the same things: the choice to see the human being in the other, even in the face of cruelty. The discipline of keeping our hearts open to the world's pain, rather than looking away. And the practice of holding, even quietly, the future we still wish to see.

This is what we try to bring into every course we teach — including Sacred Activism.

📅 Sundays and Saturdays: 6, 12, 19, 27 September
🔗 For more information: https://forms.gle/VgW6hB9x9QYpE5qC8

13/08/2026

Why Etty? 🕊️

We are both peace activists. And for years, we've asked ourselves the same question: what could actually bring peace to this land?

Etty Hillesum lived through the Holocaust. She was killed in Auschwitz at 29. And yet — even in the middle of that horror — she found a way to step out of victimhood. She was able to see the human being even in those the world called her enemy. She could somehow rise above the situation and see the larger picture, even from inside the darkest one imaginable.

She made a choice. Again and again, she chose how to respond to what was happening around her — not because the world gave her reasons to hope, but because she did the inner work to find that choice within herself.

This is why Etty matters to us. She reminds us that we always have a choice in how we respond. And that real freedom — the freedom to choose — is first found inside.

This is at the heart of everything we teach, including Sacred Activism.

📅 Sundays/Saturday: 6, 12, 19, 27 September
🔗 [https://forms.gle/ucJv1ymnBs9QLgFL7] for more information

11/08/2026

How it all began 🌿

Our story starts in 2010, at a crossroads.

Dina was working at Bethlehem University, feeling the pull toward something new — though she didn't yet know what. She joined a seven-day intensive retreat for Palestinians in Jericho. There, she met Hanna, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, who would later become her husband.

Hanna was part of a group of Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals who shared a dream: to build a peace research village in the Middle East. When he introduced Dina to this group, she met Emma.

Dina and Emma connected immediately — both writers, both peace activists, both searching for ways to hold hope in a wounded region. They began sharing a blog with a small circle of friends. One day, Emma shared a quote from Etty Hillesum. Dina had never heard of her. She searched for Etty's diaries online, bought the book, and began to read.

Their friendship deepened from there — and together, they began holding an annual Holocaust memorial ritual in Israel, inspired by Etty's life and words, to bring healing to this collective trauma. That ritual continues to this day — for 15 years now.

To know more about our project and our story, visit our website 🔗 www.ettyhillesumcards.com

09/08/2026

💬 From a participant in our courses...

"This course was so sweet and special. Or perhaps it is the result of all the courses I've taken, but I am more aware now of when my body and speech wants to react out of anger, hurt, or something — and am learning to take a pause, and ask myself: what will these words, these actions truly produce? After that pause, my speech has less edge and more kindness and compassion. And even if there is some fierceness in my response, it leaves the personal behind. That is a gift of your work. Thank you."

— Debby

This is exactly what we hope for in the space we create together — not a course that teaches you what to think, but one that gives you tools to pause, to listen inward, and to respond to the world from a steadier place.

✨ Join us for Sacred Activism — Sunday evenings/and one Saturday evening inspired by Etty Hillesum.

📅 Sundays: 6, 13, 19, 27 September
🕢 19:30–21:30 (Palestine/Israel time)
🔗 https://forms.gle/UktwW1QRg2HYyRNY6

29/07/2026

For me, Emma sacred activism is about empathy.

It is about solidarity. Sacred activism means that I care, and that I show it.

It is standing in solidarity with communities facing genocide, loss, or trauma.

It is about rebuilding the sense of community and interconnectedness.

It is about connecting to a power bigger than myself, one that can act through me. It helps me act not from my own strength alone, but from something larger.

It also means allowing space for grief: grief about what people do to each other, and what we do to Mother Earth.

Sacred activism is about alchemy and beauty. It is finding beauty without closing my eyes to destruction and horror. It is learning from Etty to find God in the heart of people, and in the most unexpected places.

It is about creativity, about art. It is about bringing Etty's wisdom to people who can draw strength from it to face their own struggles.

And it is about refusing to hate. Choosing unconditional compassion, again and again, even when it is hard. It is remembering that the fire of the burning heart is stronger than the fire of destruction.

Join us for our coming online course; Sacred Activism.
For registration and details: https://forms.gle/7DUUGDLYKfJhPK1DA

25/07/2026

What is Sacred Activism for me (Dina)?

Sacred activism is about vitality. When I am in my vitality, I do not take things for granted. I am alive to ask the questions and make my own choices from that place.

Sacred activism is also about being radical. I know this word is scary. It is scary because we all need to be loved, seen, to belong, to be included. Trying to find that balance can cost us ourselves.

My sacred activism is not about losing myself. It is not about hurting others. It is about no longer needing an excuse to be myself. I am still looking for the answer to two questions. What does it mean to be radical these days? What does it mean to be true to myself? I know that being true to myself might not be accepted by others, especially by those I love.

This is where it becomes political. A world that numbs its people is easier to govern. A world that keeps people busy consuming is easier to control. I see how people have learned to numb themselves. We live in a world so loud and so violent that helplessness feels like the only honest response, and numbing feels easier than facing it. But numbed, we are not alive. And a population that is not alive does not ask questions, does not resist, does not choose.

I see how consumerism has become a tool to cover that helplessness. Buy the thing, scroll the feed, look away. And still, the people doing this are not happy. Their vitality is being sold back to them in small doses, just enough to keep them quiet.

To stay in my vitality, to insist on asking questions, to refuse to numb myself: this is not separate from politics. This is where my politics begins.

Join Emma and me in our coming course.
Sacred Activism
Sundays and Saturday, September
Link for more information: https://forms.gle/7DUUGDLYKfJhPK1DA

Address

P. O. Box 273

1697200

Opening Hours

Monday	09:30 - 14:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 14:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 14:00
Thursday	09:00 - 14:00
Friday	09:00 - 14:00
Saturday	09:00 - 14:00
Sunday	09:00 - 14:00

Telephone

+972535291379

Website

https://www.ettyhillesumcards.com/

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