“Listen to understand, not to respond.”

Those words became the unwritten assignment of our six day delegation in Israel.

As one of eleven  faculty members from universities across the United States, Canada, Germany, and England participating in a policy delegation organized by Academic Exchange, I expected to learn about security, diplomacy, October 7, Gaza, Israel’s borders with Lebanon Syria, Iran, and the geopolitical realities that dominate the headlines.

But those were not the lessons that changed me.

What surprised me most was not the diversity of perspectives we encountered, but the intentionality behind them. Our three guides, all of whom had served in the IDF in positions of varying rank and responsibility, could have introduced us only to voices that reinforced a single narrative.

Instead, they did something far more courageous.

They insisted that we hear a wide range of perspectives, challenging us to listen not to respond, but to understand.

Over six days, we listened to voices from across Israel’s political spectrum, including diplomats, military strategists, journalists, philosophers, Arab citizens of Israel, Palestinian voices, October 7 survivors, intelligence experts, and scholars. We heard from Ofer Zalzberg, Amos Harel, Miri Eisin, Raz Zimmt, Jonathan Spyer, Yoel Guzansky, Moshe Halbertal, Mahmoud Muna, Mohammad Darawshe, Tal Becker, Mark Regev, Haviv Rettig Gur, Gil Hoffman, Elad Goren, Ben Wahlhaus, and Maazal, an October 7 survivor whose testimony transformed headlines into human experience. Their perspectives often challenged one another, yet each invited us to think beyond the headlines.

No one asked us to agree.

They simply asked us to listen.

As educators, we ask our students to think critically, weigh evidence, and wrestle with competing ideas. Yet our public discourse increasingly rewards certainty over curiosity and rebuttal over understanding.

Israel reminded me that genuine learning begins with the willingness to be uncomfortable.

Listening became an act of humility.

Every evening before bed, I placed a sweatshirt and sweatpants at the foot of my bed.

Not because I planned to wear them.

Because if the rocket sirens sounded during the night, we would have approximately six minutes to get dressed and........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)