“Shake Yourself from the Dust, Rise Up” - Sixth Annual Amadot Conference

Ever since Adam HaRishon sinned in Gan Eden, our world is marked by crises – personal crises and public crises, physical crises and emotional crises, material crises and economic crises, family crises and national crises, ongoing crises and momentary crises. The list goes on and on.
Generally speaking, there are three ways of dealing with a crisis. The first is characterized by despair and submission, desperation and surrender. The second way to handle a crisis involves acceptance, accommodation, and adaption. And the final approach is using a crisis as a means for growth. Not only “shake yourself from the dust, rise up,” but also “don your garments of glory.” (From “L’cha Dodi”)
The theme of Orot Israel College’s Sixth Annual Amadot Conference was “From Crisis to Growth.” Rabbis, educators, academics, and experts in the field arrived at Orot’s Elkana campus for the prestigious conference to present their research and viewpoints, to exchange ideas and opinions, and even to propose practical solutions and modi operandi. Some of the lecture topics included: crisis and growth within the family unit, on an individual level, among the youth, and in the public sphere; religious Zionism and the rabbinical world; Holocaust and revival; the Disengagement from Gush Katif; and other historical examples of crisis and growth. Even a number of students from Orot’s Rechovot campus were invited to share their research on this timely issue.
Each of the participants concurred that they had gained a lot from the stimulating lectures, which were broadcast via the media. The proceedings will iy”H be compiled, published, and released as the next volume in the Amadot series.