Beautiful Testimony from Trembling on the Road House Party Host -- Yoni in Vancouver

So we showed Trembling on the Road in our home last night. Twenty people. Straight, queer, mostly Jews, but not only. Four queer Jews (and others) who work at four different Jewish institutions in town - all of them out. Some of their bosses as well. I will gather quotes from them to send you, but in short, it was a really wonderful evening. Such deep and broad appreciation to be discussing the nature of community, to talk about change, to come up with ideas, to have the opportunity to offer help, to circle around to old and new approaches, to share pain and laughter, to feel a return. From the high level change (how do we get to show this in the Jewish high school) to broad based change (everyone here should have a showing of Trembling in their home 20x20=400), there was openness, self-critique, and presence. That stuff makes a community.

Thanks for the opportunity to do this. It was special for me to tell the story of how we gathered, connecting The Conversation and the Conference for Change, which were all station-stops for us getting to last night that the Center for Leadership Initiatives helped move forward. As the evening came to a close, I reflected on the fact that my two daughters (7 and 4) were snoring lightly upstairs. I felt that we could offer no better modeling for this new year for them than we were at that moment. Ima and Aba were downstairs with friends and colleagues intentionally talking about how to make this world, which is ultimately theirs, a sweeter, safer and more inclusive place. With full hearts and ironically empty-handed (both of my copies of the film had been snagged by visitors who wanted to share with others), we all parted paths with more of a shared vision than ever.

I hope all the others went as well as this one.

Hatima Tova.
yoni