A People Who Can Pursue Peace: Rachel Landsberg’s Opening Address at the Smol Emuni US 2026 Conference

A heartfelt thank you to Rabbi Matalon and Rabbi Sol—for your words and prayer for peace -  and for welcoming us back into this beautiful sanctuary for the Second Annual Smol Emuni US Conference.

My name is Rachel Landsberg. I am a co-founder and organizer with Smol Emuni US. If this is your first event with us, welcome.

I am deeply grateful to be here today in community with each of you - more than 450 in this room and hundreds more joining us by livestream from all over the world.

We are here today to do what we do at all of our Smol Emuni US events:

to listen,
to reflect,
to face truths that challenge us,
to center the values and Torah we hold dear,
and to embolden ourselves toward action.

When we planned this conference, we did not know what would unfold in the week leading up to it. And here we are, once again, in a moment of crisis. I want to name the fear and uncertainty that I am feeling right now, and that many Jews across the world are feeling. It is a familiar feeling.

And at the same time, I want to note that many people are living with fear right now.

Some who are present in my mind:

We American and Diaspora Jews.
Israeli Jews.
Palestinians.
Iranians.
Immigrants and those seeking refuge here in the United States.

And there are many, many more. 

Because of the current situation, six of our scheduled speakers from Israel and Palestine are unable to be with us in person today. Their absence is deeply felt.

We are thankful that three of them will still join us virtually: Rabbi Mikhael Manekin, founder of HaSmol HaEmuni in Israel, Limor Yaakov Safrai, also from HaSmol HaEmuni, and Knesset Member Gilad Kariv.

We will miss the voices of others who had hoped to be here: B’nai Avraham activist Efrat Reubinoff, Palestinian journalist Jacki Khoury, and Rabbi Zach Truboff.

I want to thank all of our speakers and moderators—especially those who stepped in at the last minute to be with us today.

Over the course of this conference, you’ll hear Jewish Israeli voices, American Jewish voices, and Palestinian voices. Some among us are observing the fast of Ramadan, and we want to extend our warm wishes of Ramadan Kareem. We believe deeply that the only path forward is one we build together.

Thank you to our conference supporters, including the New Israel Fund - and to our individual donors who have put their faith in our work.

A few words about the day:

Even in the midst of any fear or uncertainty you may be feeling now, we ask you to join us as we turn to the essential work of today’s conference.

This year we chose a verse from Tehilim, chapter 34, to help guide and frame our conference. 

In this psalm of thanksgiving, King David describes a path for

 הָ֭אִישׁ הֶחָפֵ֣ץ חַיִּ֑ים / the person who desires life.

He advises:

 ס֣וּר מֵ֭רָע וַעֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב /  Swerve from evil and do good 

בַּקֵּ֖שׁ שָׁל֣וֹם וְרׇדְפֵֽהוּ׃ /  Seek peace and pursue it.

Before we can pursue the good, we must first be willing to turn away from evil—to see it clearly and confront it honestly. That is the work of our morning plenary.

To do that, we must look squarely at the reality unfolding in Israel and Palestine – with honesty, integrity, and humility.

Violence continues to devastate Palestinian life in Gaza, the West Bank, and within Israel.

In Gaza, following Israel’s attacks, 98 percent of the population has been displaced. Over a million people remain without adequate shelter. Basic conditions of water, sanitation, and medical care are collapsing. Only a handful of hospitals are still functioning, and Israel does not allow thousands of children who need urgent or life-saving treatment to access it.

Israel continues to bar journalists from entering Gaza. Doctors and humanitarian workers who speak publicly about what they witness risk losing access to the people they are trying to help.

In the West Bank, the situation has also deteriorated sharply since October 2023:
There are near-constant military raids, expanding checkpoints and closures, deadly violence, and the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians from their homes.

There are attacks and killings by settlers, demolitions, near-complete blocking of movement between villages, towns and cities.

On top of this ongoing situation, a war is being waged by the US, Israel, Iran, and others, that is devastating lives across the region. 

If we take the words of Psalm 34 seriously, we cannot look away.

We must call out the suffering, the destruction, and the structures of injustice.
We must grapple with our own accountability.
And we must ask: what are our moral responsibilities—as Jews shaped by Torah, and as Americans whose government and institutions play a role in this reality.

In our afternoon plenary, we will focus on עֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב / the command to do good.

Having faced difficult truths in the morning, we will ask what it means to respond with courage, responsibility, and hope.

What can we do to stop the destruction and violence that continue to unfold?
How can we help dismantle structures of oppression?
What are the pathways for repair and for return?
What does it mean for us to act faithfully in this moment?
How can we move forward together?

One of our goals for today is to create opportunity for connection and reflection. We hope our smaller breakout groups - as well as lunch time and other transition times - will allow for conversations and meaningful interchanges with each other.  To help us notice that we are not alone. To share openly and honestly what we are feeling—our fears, our disappointments, our concerns, where our hope still lives. 

We recognize and celebrate the diversity of opinions within this space. And we ask that - in the safety of this community - each of us open our hearts and minds today to new perspectives. We think that is essential in order to pave a path forward.

Returning to the verse that frames our gathering today, the second half of the pasuk asks of us:
בַּקֵּ֖שׁ שָׁל֣וֹם וְרׇדְפֵֽהוּ / Seek peace and pursue it.

Our commentators notice repetition in the second half of the verse. Why does it say both “seek peace” and “pursue it”?

Radak suggests that the first phrase בקש שלום / seek peace is בפה, with our mouths. We should seek peace in the way we speak and in how we communicate our hopes and our dreams. We should talk about peace.

And ורדפהו—to pursue it—is בלב. It is not enough to speak about peace; we must feel it deeply in our hearts. We must embody the mindset and disposition of peace.  We must believe it is possible.  

Rashi offers a different understanding:

בקש שלום  - במקומך — seek peace - in your own place.
ורדפהו - במקום אחר — pursue it - elsewhere.

Peace-building is an active endeavor. We begin in our own place—bringing peace and building bridges where we are. But we do not stop there. We chase it. We work for it. We seek to bring it to every place that needs it.

This verse in Tehilim reminds us of our aspirations—of who we are called to be, even when we fall short.

A people who can desire life, for ourselves and for others.
A people who can turn from evil.
A people who can do good.
A people who can pursue peace.

In order to reach for these aspirations, let us, today, face hard truths and try to understand what has gone awry. Let us look at our role in it and the role of governments and institutions we have supported. Let us commit to next steps—to halt the violence and injustice now unfolding, to move toward repair, and ultimately to build a world in which peace can truly take root.

Thank you for joining us today to do that.