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QUICK EPISODE OVERVIEW

It’s been almost two weeks since the Colleyville synagogue hostage situation, an antisemitic event that was incredibly scary for Jewish communities. During this conversation from just a few days after, we dive into the feelings of isolation that many of us are experiencing, the all-encompassing nature of grief, our internalized terror and communal need for healing, and what it looks likes when we show up and support one another across lines of difference.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. How are you feeling after the hostage situation in Texas? How did your feelings, thoughts, and reactions evolve in the days and weeks after? And, what are you doing to take care of yourself?

2. Moving outwards from ourselves, what have you been noticing in terms of how those in your community are feeling and reacting? What types of messages have you seen on your social media feeds or in your inbox?

3. Tracie describes feeling an all-encompassing grief after her father died and relates it to the isolation many of us are feeling in the aftermath of this attack. What parallels have you drawn (or can you draw) from this situation to others you have experienced? Did you notice anything generative or interesting that came out of these parallels?

4. April and Tracie talk about what it looks like to genuinely show up for one another in times like this to provide mutual support and to hold us in our grief (and all other feelings). And, they point out that there’s a difference between “showing up” for optics (i.e. making a statement) versus genuinely showing up for one another. What’s the difference between the two? How do the impacts of these things differ? And, what can you learn of this difference going forward, particularly when it comes to racial justice and community care generally?

5. April and Tracie also talk quite a bit about internalized terror, something that Jews and white Ashkenazi Jews in particular experience. What is your experience with internalized terror? Have you ever heard of this concept or similar ones before? Where have you seen this play out?

6. At the end of the episode, April tells us that she recognizes how many of us are likely in different places when it comes to our healing right now, so we may or may not be ready to hear some of these points about internalized terror, grief, and community support. Take some time to be with yourself. Where are you at in your healing? What kind of vision do you have going forward for yourself and for your communities?

COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS?

Let us know in the comments below!