Over the past several months, more than 100 members of Louisville’s Jewish community have participated in something both deeply personal and profoundly communal: practicing how to better disagree with one another.
Author Dara Horn
What began as a series of training sessions and facilitated conversations during the Year of Civil Discourse (YOCD) is now entering its next chapter. This summer, YOCD officially launches Phase 3, moving from small-group learning and facilitator development into broader community engagement and public programming.
At a time when communities across the country are grappling with polarization, fractured public discourse, and rising antisemitism, Louisville’s Jewish community is choosing a different path, one rooted in curiosity, relationship-building, and the Jewish understanding that disagreement itself can be sacred.
The goal of the Year of Civil Discourse has never been agreement. In fact, the initiative was intentionally built around the belief that healthy disagreement is both necessary and deeply Jewish. Jewish tradition is filled with debate, questioning, and multiple perspectives existing side by side. The challenge before us is not how to eliminate differences, but how to remain connected to one another through them.
Since launching in late 2025, the initiative has focused on helping participants build practical skills for navigating difficult conversations, especially around issues impacting Jewish life today. Using the nationally recognized Resetting the Table framework, participants have practiced listening across differences, asking better questions, and engaging in conversations that prioritize understanding over winning.
One of the most meaningful developments of the initiative has been the creation of a 26-person facilitator cohort. Over the last several months, these facilitators have participated in intensive training sessions, practice groups, and ongoing small-group conversations designed to deepen their skills and prepare them to help lead future community dialogue opportunities.
But perhaps most importantly, they have also been building relationships.
Facilitators have continued meeting in small groups throughout the spring, practicing difficult conversations together, sharing experiences, and learning what it looks like to stay engaged even when discussions become uncomfortable. In many ways, these groups have become a living example of what the Year of Civil Discourse hopes to foster throughout the broader community: spaces where people can bring their full perspectives while remaining connected to one another.
The Year of Civil Discourse initiative is one of those things that proves to be exactly the right opportunity at exactly the right time. As conversations about issues of importance to Jews – as well as others – continue to be challenging and fraught with misunderstandings and vitriol, helping to change the way we interact with each other is essential. The training that we’ve been working through has opened my eyes about just how difficult this is, as even in “practice sessions” it is surprising how seemingly simple things – like listening to and respecting the opinions of others – are struggles to achieve. Yet the fellowship of those going through the training has been pretty remarkable; hopefully that fellowship will percolate through our broader community once the events begin. – Barry Alberts, YOCD Facilitator
As YOCD enters Phase 3, the initiative will increasingly shift toward larger public-facing events and opportunities for broader community participation.
The first major event of this next phase will take place Monday, Aug. 10 at Congregation Adath Jeshurun, featuring acclaimed author and scholar Dara Horn. The event, titled Jewish Identity in an Age of Rising Antisemitism, will explore contemporary antisemitism, Jewish identity, public discourse, and the challenges facing Jewish communities today.
Horn, whose bestselling essay collection People Love Dead Jews sparked national conversations about Jewish identity and antisemitism, has become one of the leading Jewish voices examining how Jews are understood, represented, and discussed in contemporary society. Her work often challenges audiences to think more deeply about Jewish identity beyond tragedy and historical memory, while also confronting the realities of modern antisemitism.
The conversation comes at a particularly important moment. Across the country, many Jewish communities are wrestling with difficult questions surrounding belonging, safety, identity, and how to engage with one another across political and ideological differences. The event aims not simply to present a lecture, but to create an opportunity for meaningful community engagement around difficult and timely issues.
Organizers hope the event reflects the larger goals of the Year of Civil Discourse: creating spaces where people can engage thoughtfully, honestly, and respectfully even when conversations are difficult.
A second major YOCD event featuring author and thinker Yehuda Kurtzer is planned for November, continuing the initiative’s focus on bringing nationally respected Jewish voices to Louisville for meaningful community conversation.
As this next phase begins, organizers are emphasizing that the success of the initiative depends not only on facilitators or organizational leaders, but on the broader community itself.
What we need now is participation.
We need community members willing to show up — not because they expect everyone to think the same way, but because they believe this community is worth staying in conversation with. We need people willing to listen generously, speak thoughtfully, and remain engaged even when conversations feel difficult. We need spaces where disagreement does not automatically lead to division.
That does not mean every conversation will feel easy or comfortable. In many ways, the opposite is true. Civil discourse is not about avoiding tension or pretending differences do not exist. It is about learning how to navigate those differences without losing our shared sense of community.
The Year of Civil Discourse also recognizes that this work extends beyond formal programs and events. The hope is that these skills and relationships ripple outward — into synagogue conversations, family dinners, workplaces, community meetings, and friendships. The project is ultimately about strengthening the fabric of Jewish communal life in Louisville at a time when many communities are feeling increasingly fragmented.
There is also something distinctly hopeful about this moment.
At a time when public discourse often rewards outrage, speed, and certainty, the Year of Civil Discourse is asking participants to slow down, remain curious, and make room for complexity. That kind of work is not always flashy. But it is meaningful. And increasingly, it feels necessary.
Over the coming months, community members will continue hearing more about opportunities to participate in YOCD events, trainings, and conversations. Whether someone attended the original trainings or is engaging for the first time, organizers hope Phase 3 creates more entry points for the broader community to become involved.
The work of civil discourse is ongoing. It is imperfect, challenging, and deeply human. But it is also one of the ways we strengthen trust, deepen relationships, and ensure our community remains connected even during difficult moments.
And perhaps that is the real goal of the Year of Civil Discourse: not to eliminate disagreement, but to build a stronger Jewish community capable of holding it together.
This event is proudly sponsored by the following endowment funds through the Jewish Federation of Louisville:
Ida and Bernhard Behr Fund
Goldstein-Leibson Cultural Arts Fund
Eleanor and Max Hyman Fund for Adult Education
Michael and Phyllis Shaikun Community Enrichment Fund
Author Dara Horn will speak Monday, Aug. 10 at Congregation Adath Jeshurun. The evening begins with her talk at 7 p.m.
To register, go online at yocdlouisville.org.