Jerusalem Post: “A growing religious voice for peace: Smol Emuni holds third annual conference in Jerusalem”

By Hannah Rozenblat (Originally Published in the Jerusalem Post)

Close to a thousand people filled Heichal Shlomo on Tuesday night for the third annual conference of Smol Emuni in Jerusalem.

Focusing on the theme of safeguarding life during wartime, the conference addressed pressing issues facing Israel today, calling for an end to the war, the release of the hostages, the rebuilding of Israel and Gaza following nearly two years of devastation, and the safeguarding of innocent lives.

Smol Emuni, translated as the “Faithful Left,” is a growing movement that seeks to provide an alternative to what it deems the extreme right-wing religious narrative dominating Israeli politics by introducing a faith-based voice for peace into the discourse.

As a community, Smol Emuni prides itself on becoming a home for left-wing religious and traditional Jews who are committed to justice and peace but feel out of place within wider religious circles and secular left-wing movements.

“The fact that there are religious people on the Left is not a new phenomenon,” said Mikhael Manekin, one of the leaders of Smol Emuni and the former executive director of Breaking the Silence, in a conversation with The Jerusalem Post.

But despite the diversity in the world of activism, Manekin pointed out that “for a long time, there wasn’t a structure that allowed us to all be together and to speak directly to the faith element of the work that we do. And that’s what Smol Emuni was created for.”