What is Resetting the Table?
Resetting the Table (RTT) works with Jewish organizations and communities across the country; from Hillel to summer camps, Federations, and JCRCs. As of July 2024, more than 4,000 members of the Jewish community had engaged in RTT training (in that year alone!).
The Jim Joseph Foundation reports that 95% of RTT alumni report continuing to use RTT skills post-program, with majorities in 2024 reporting that they used RTT tools to “navigate differences on Israel; to address tensions post-Oct 7; to combat antisemitism; to support their constituents to speak and listen to each other better; to engage new, skeptical, and resistant audiences; and to foster an environment of communal cohesion and resilience.”
Critically, Jewish leaders report greater ability to connect with their own constituents while also strengthening relationships with other communities.
Strengthening Our Community Through Dialogue
Since the spring of 2025, the Birmingham Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Relations Council have partnered with Resetting the Table to equip Jewish community leaders with the skills to engage constructively across differences. Since launching the initiative locally, more than sixty lay leaders and professionals have participated in Resetting the Table's signature Communities Speaking Across Conflict workshop, along with ongoing opportunities to deepen their learning and practice. Participants have, in turn, shared these skills throughout the broader Jewish community through mini-workshops, holiday programs, and other "teach-back" opportunities.
Who is Resetting the Table For?
Participants in Resetting the Table represent the vibrant and varied viewpoints of our Birmingham Jewish community. They are ideologically and politically diverse and are passionate about gaining, practicing, and sharing relationship- and community-building skills.
Why We Believe in Resetting the Table
Resetting the Table’s celebrated workshop offers communication skill-building for charged conversations and a forum for dialogue across disagreement. Participants exchange views and experiences, surface differences and commonalities, and practice engaging differences directly and constructively. The workshop builds community capacity to explore disagreements, strengthening our ability to thrive across difference.
We see this program as an investment in our community and in community relations broadly.
Resetting the Table is hosted by the Birmingham Jewish Federation and our Jewish Community Relations Council.
