About This Year's Theme
Each month, when we prepare to greet the new moon, we recite Chaverim Kol Yisrael — may all Israel be friends. We don’t dare claim it for a full year, but we begin each month with the hope of holding together the messy, beloved family that is the Jewish people. In recent years, that hope has felt fragile, as painful divisions have deepened across our communities.
This year’s theme echoes earlier work in our movement, including the Chaverim Kol Yisrael siddur created by the Progressive Chavurah of Boston and first shared at Institute more than two decades ago. At this year’s Institute, we revisit this old project grounded in inclusion, creativity, and respect across differences, and we ask: How do we rebuild friendship? What is the work of re-knitting connection, and what price are we willing to pay to hold friendship together? Equally, what price is too much?
In our time together, we will explore practices of listening, repair, and courageous presence. We will probe texts and stories of broken families and repaired relationships, and we will learn rituals that welcome return and reconciliation. We will welcome the new month of Av wishing Chaverim Kol Yisrael with our full hearts, and live into that wish.