In January, La MaMa Theater on East 4th street housed a weeklong run of Grey Rock, a play about a Palestinian man building a rocket to send to the moon. The play focuses on the relationships between the five characters as well as the idealism behind the dream of reaching the moon. Grey Rock is written by a Palestinian playwright with a cast composed of five Palestinian actors.

Ms. Barak’s junior honors Hebrew class went to see the play, after which the students had the opportunity to have a discussion with the playwright and director, Amir Nizar Zuabi. The show generated many interesting conversations among the students, who had strong and varied opinions of the play. Grey Rock was written to be a human story, not a story about politics, but it does include scattered negative references to the Israeli army and checkpoints. Some students found this portrayal upsetting, but others thought it was eye-opening and important.

“I think that it was incredibly important for us to see a play written by a Palestinian playwright,” said Gail Hafif ‘20, “Typically our views of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict come from our parents or the media. The media is so polarized, and as modern orthodox Jews, we support Israel. Thus, I believe it was refreshing and eye-opening to see the conflict through the lens of a regular Palestinian man.”

“The thing about Grey Rock is that it was interesting and eye-opening and I’m glad that we went because it’s always good to expose yourself to new and different opinions and see another perspective,” said Elizabeth Newman Corré ’20.

Ms. Krupka, who attended to the play with Ms. Barak’s class, agreed, saying that “I think as committed Zionists, it’s really interesting to gain the perspective of others and then to be able to talk about that perspective with each other in a way that doesn’t subvert my zionism, but contributes to my zionism.”

Later in the week, Gabe Low ’15 spoke to Ms. Barak’s class about his experience serving in Tzahal, an interesting juxtaposition with the attitude toward Israeli soldiers in the play. In Grey Rock, checkpoints are referenced from the Palestinian perspective as an obstruction to everyday life. Low described his own experience from the Israeli perspective guarding the Chevron checkpoint, often considered the most dangerous one. He described the difficulty in ensuring that Israel remains safe while also minimizing the burden to those passing through the checkpoint.

Overall, while Jewish day school can often provide a more one-sided view of the conflict, students agreed that the play and Low’s speech when combined allowed for a more balanced view of the Arab-Israeli conflict.