The Shalom Center

08/21/2026

Glad to share this invitation from Jewish Investor Network:

Join JIN (Jewish Investor Network) to learn about Palantir—the technology company whose tools enable ICE’s immigration crackdowns, Israeli and U.S. military violence, and massive surveillance operations used by police, banks, militaries, healthcare systems, and more—and the concrete steps you can take to move money, institutions, and political power away from Palantir and the violence it enables.

Together, we’ll explore why Palantir is not aligned with Jewish values and how divestment can be a practice of teshuvah. We’ll hear from Jewish leaders about the spiritual significance of divesting, from organizers running campaigns to get institutions to cut ties with Palantir, and from the Presbyterian Church, which voted this summer to divest its pension fund and foundation from Palantir.

Divestment as Teshuvah: Purging Palantir for the High Holy Days
A Zoom workshop
Tuesday, September 15, 6pm ET / 5pm CT / 4pm MT / 3pm PT

Registration link on comments

08/19/2026

/ The Shalom Report /
• Cohort ב applications are live! •

Learn more, apply now, and share with your networks.
[ Link in comments! ]

"There is a traditional teaching that all of the Torah is contained in the first letter (ב)...So, in principle, if we understand the first letter, that should tell us a great deal about what follows."
-Stan Tenen, Bet – A Letter Portrait (1995)

== Cohort ב ==
A Jewish sacred justice cohort weaving relationship, exploring Jewish post-activism, and crafting public offerings in the overlap of activism, art, and spirit-work.

== Applications open: ==
August 19th-September 25th

== Cohort Year: ==
November 2026-August 2027

== In-person convening: ==
April 2027, Fetzer Institute

== Stipend: $1,000 ==
plus project reimbursement & room, board, and reasonable travel for the in-person convening

Follow the link in the comments for all the details!

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Stay up to date on all things Shalom Center:
• Upcoming events & programs (all listed on the Events tab on our website)
• The Shalom Report newsletter (sign up on our website)
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08/17/2026

/ The Shalom Report /
• Return and possibility this Elul: Celebrating Cohort א and announcing Cohort ב! •

In today’s Shalom Report, Rabbi Nate takes a look back on the magic of our inaugural sacred justice cohort, Cohort א, and announces the pending launch of our next cohort, Cohort ב!

He writes:

“In this season of awakening to both return and possibility, this letter contains both!

First, return.

You may remember that in the spring of 2025, we launched Cohort א, with 20 creative thinkers, unconventional activists, and ritual artists weaving relationship, exploring Jewish post-activism, and crafting public offerings.

[ . . . . ]

We see the layers of impact that these individuals are having in the world, and the ripples and webs they’re weaving through relationships and their projects, as the core of our impact.

Just as Elul, the final month of the Jewish year, which we entered last week, is a time to celebrate endings, it is also a time to celebrate new beginnings. After all, our reflections this month set us up for the wide openness - the possibility - that comes with a brand new year next month.

* With that in mind, we are thrilled to announce that applications for Cohort ב will open this Wednesday, August 19th! * ”

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Follow the link in the comments below to read Rabbi Nate’s full Shalom Report post, where you can also find much more about the amazing work that Cohort א members have done over the past year, AND hear about what’s coming up next — Cohort ב: what’s about, how to learn more, and how to apply!

08/12/2026

/ The Shalom Report /
• Why was Kornacki talking so much about Michigan? •

by Rabbi Nate DeGroot

[ 🔗 Registration and reference links in comments 🔗 ]

Watching NBC's Kornacki Cam last Tuesday night, tracking primary results here in Michigan where I live, I was fascinated - though not surprised - that about 95% of the coverage on the national broadcast focused on the Michigan primaries, even though there were four other state primaries happening across the US that night.

Why was so much coverage devoted to Michigan? Almost assuredly it was because of the Democratic Senate primary race between candidates US Representative Haley Stevens and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. And why was that race of such interest to a national audience? Of course, yes, because Michigan is a swing state and a purple state and that Senate seat means a whole lot when it comes to the midterms in November. But perhaps even more centrally, because Israel, Antisemitism, and AIPAC were on the ballot.

If your Jewish communities are anything like the Jewish community here in Metro Detroit, you are probably seeing a mix of excited energy, confusion and concern, and deep fear and pain amongst your people when it comes to this race in particular, and these issues more broadly, as many of us grapple with questions that are not conducive to quick sound bite answers, like:

How do we call for ending the sale of offensive weapons to Israel without feeding antisemitism? Are candidates who challenge or oppose all U.S. military aid to Israel colluding with antisemitism? Can we take a stand against AIPAC’s role in the upcoming elections without slipping into antisemitism? How can we grow critical anti-authoritarian coalitions while holding strong differences around Israel?

If any of this resonates, I hope you'll consider registering for our latest program, happening September 3rd, where longtime Shalom Center board members, Cherie Brown and Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, will dig into these timely and fraught topics with nuance, care, and clarity.

And if you haven't already read them, I encourage you to check out Rabbi Alana Alpert's article about the Senate race here in Michigan and Jay Michaelson's article exploring El-Sayed's positions on Israel/Palestine, both published in The Forward last week. [ Links to both in the comments below. ]

Follow the registration link in the comments to join us on Sept 3rd!

- Rabbi Nate

[ To receive our Shalom Report posts directly in your inbox as they are published, sign up for our newsletter on our website via the address in our FB header! ]

08/06/2026

/ The Shalom Report /
• New program! Israel, Antisemitism, and the U.S. Midterm Elections •

Understanding the issues with Cherie Brown & Rabbi Mordechai Liebling

September 3rd, 7-8:30pm ET // 4-5:30pm PT

[ Registration link in comments ]

The upcoming midterm elections in the U.S. are critical for trying to halt the brazen authoritarianism and anti-democracy policies of the Trump administration.

And — as we have most recently seen play out in the hotly contested Michigan senate primary — the issue of U.S. support for Israel and for the policies of the Netanyahu government, alongside AIPAC’s spending in US political races, is once again front and center as wedge issues in the elections, potentially dividing the Democratic party.

These complex issues, which are presently gripping so many of our communities, are not conducive to quick sound bite answers:

How do we call for ending the sale of offensive weapons to Israel without feeding antisemitism? Are candidates who challenge or oppose all U.S. military aid to Israel colluding with antisemitism? Can we take a stand against AIPAC’s role in the upcoming elections without slipping into antisemitism? How can we grow critical anti-authoritarian coalitions while holding strong differences around Israel?

Join two veteran lifetime Jewish social justice activists, Cherie Brown and Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, as they dig into these timely and fraught topics with nuance, care, and clarity.

[ Registration link in comments ]

08/04/2026

Dear Friends, The National Havurah Committee is currently holding its summer institute, and tonight there will be a memorial celebration honoring Reb Arthur, alongside Mitch Chefitz and Kelly Beller, all of blessed memory.

We've learned that the memorial celebration will be livestreamed, and can be joined via Zoom. For more information, please see the link in the comments below!

07/29/2026

Continues today! Post Humanism and Aleph Intelligence with Graie Hagans

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Our three-part series with Graie Hagans exploring the consequences - good, bad, and expansive - of AI continues today! If you missed last week's Part 1 but are still interested to join, no worries! Just register to join us and you'll instantly receive the video recording of last week's session, and can join us for today's part 2 and next week's part 3!

How can the Jewish wisdom of the Aleph and the spiral of Jewish time offer us insight amidst the rapid unfolding of this technological revolution?

Sessions:

• 1) As we usher in Tisha B’av and reflect on the destruction of the Temple, we explore themes of destruction of reality, safety, order, and the supremacy of the human. We will explore the history and de/construction of the human and non-dualism in Judaism.

• 2) As we turn towards Tu B’av, we will draw our attention to the cycles of history and opportunities of a future rooted in an expanded love ethic.

• 3) For our final session, we will explore a uniquely Jewish framing of AI and the potential to build a different world beyond human.

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(Please contact [email protected] if finances are a barrier to attend.)

07/22/2026

STARTING TODAY!
Post Humanism and Aleph Intelligence with Graie Hagans

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Don't miss your chance to take part in this personal and thought-provoking three-part series exploring the consequences - good, bad, and expansive - of AI.

How can the Jewish wisdom of the Aleph and the spiral of Jewish time offer us insight amidst the rapid unfolding of this technological revolution?

Schedule:

• July 22 - As we usher in Tisha B’av and reflect on the destruction of the Temple, we will explore themes of destruction of reality, safety, order, and the supremacy of the human. We will explore the history and de/construction of the human and non-dualism in Judaism.

• July 29 - As we turn towards Tu B’av, we will draw our attention to the cycles of history and opportunities of a future rooted in an expanded love ethic.

• August 5 - For our final session, we will explore a uniquely Jewish framing of AI and the potential to build a different world beyond human.

>

07/15/2026

Here's an exciting preview! Coming for Yom Kippur, a compelling new collection from Ayin Press, featuring thought-provoking pieces from a number of creative contributors, including The Shalom Center's own Rabbi Nate DeGroot and Shalom Center Advisory Council member Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD. Also features wonderful artwork by Jessica Tamar Deutsch, who created the beautiful portraits of R' Arthur z"l and all the other participants for The Shalom Center's FortyFest in 2023.

Publication date Is Sept 8, but you can preorder now via the link in Ayin Press' post below. ✨✨✨

A Yom Kippur companion exploring embodiment, expanded consciousness, and social transformation. Yom Kippur has always held more than guilt, obligation, and passive atonement. I Am Prayer: An Embodied Yom Kippur Companion engages this holiest of days as a portal into embodied practice, ecstatic aware...

07/14/2026

/ The Shalom Report /
• Post Humanism & Aleph Intelligence: What it means to be human in a changing world •
by Graie Hagans

[ RSVP link in comments! ]

As a new organizer, a decade ago, one of the first rules I ever learned was to meet people where they are, but never to leave them there.

Right now, when it comes to Artificial Intelligence, we’re being told that we’re at threat of being left behind. We are told to worry about our jobs, our data, and our security. And with good reason. But if you are anything like me, the anxiety you are carrying isn't just about the economic and political shifts of AI. We are living through a massive shift in reality, and what being human means. This is an exploration of how to meet ourselves as humans where we are and not leave ourselves behind.

Join me and The Shalom Center for a three-part series, *Post Humanism and Aleph Intelligence.*

Each week we’ll explore what it means to be human in a changing world - from climate collapse and ecological disaster that demands a world in which human supremacy is no longer sustainable, to the emergence of increasingly intelligent AI that creates a world where human supremacy may no longer be feasible. We’ll learn from Jewish and non-Jewish imaginative and prophetic scholarship to explore our changing relationship to our own humanness, the possibility of companion relationship with AI and the possibilities of a world ripped out of science fiction. And maybe we’ll find a place of human alignment strong enough to hold us to all our kin.

L’shalom,

Graie

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Join by registering via the link in the comments!