Finding hope in these maddening times

What I learned from running a futures workshop during times of political upheaval

Amidst the madness of the political chaos in Israel sparked by the current government’s revival of their attempt to capture more control of the State apparatus, I had the opportunity towards the end of March to step away from the now and into the future with one of the organizations I admire: the Tzedek Centers.

In four words, what the Tzedek Centers does is build supportive physical communities. Literally. In many ways, it is a throwback to the ideas that fostered the pioneering Zionist movements, and specifically the movement I grew up in, Hashomer Hatzair: the idea that voluntary communities rooted in place and with purpose are the only proven vehicle for individual self-realization. That we as human beings cannot exist unrooted, cannot find ourselves in the great sea of humanity without an anchor, a bedrock, a center that gathers others of shared values and purpose to work together for common cause, when that common cause is to lay the foundations for self-realization.

I’ve been a fan of the Tzedek Centers for some time, primarily because I am convinced that the solution to Israel’s political polarization is the decentralization of power to communities. Secondarily, because, full disclosure, it grew out of Hashomer Hatzair. So when we decided to train their leadership to use futurist tools, I was excited. The country was ‘only’ at war with others, on a pause from being at war with itself. When the current government ramped up its divisive efforts I grew nervous: would community leaders be able to step back from the madness and imagine a better future?

The answer, of course, is yes: it turned out that davka (an untranslatable Hebrew word basically meaning ‘in spite of,’ in a good way), davka when things look darkest, a look beyond the present to the future is warranted. I decided to write this article because I believe what came out of the FutureTense 2035 workshop with the Tzedek Centers may be helpful beyond the room.

FutureTense is based on my observation that the best way to develop strategy is to work backward. Envision the future you want to reach, then derive your strategy backward from there. Most organizations do the opposite—they develop strategies based on current resources and constraints, limiting them to incremental changes rather than transformative possibilities.

The FutureTense workshop is a concentrated, 2.5hr session that orients organizations, movements, and companies to practical futurist tools for strategic thinking. It is my attempt at building capacity to shift from reactive crisis management to proactive future-building. It’s always useful but today I would argue, against a backdrop of political turbulence and social division it’s essential. Critical. I’ve found the methodology offers organizations a structured approach to developing long-term strategies instead of merely responding to immediate challenges.

And so it was with the Tzedek Centers that we started by distinguishing between “resilience” (חוסן) and “pioneering” (חלוציות). While much of civil society has focused on resilience, it is important to remember that resilience focuses on adapting to adverse circumstances and building capacity to withstand hardship. In contrast, pioneering (the best English word I can find for the concept of Halutziyut, from the root of ‘to pull out of’ or ‘to save from’) involves actively shaping new realities by creating alternative systems and structures. I’ve found that for the most part, Israeli political thought has become skilled at resilience but lost its pioneering spirit—the quality that established the State.

With that in mind, we worked to describe the four potential futures Israel is facing along the axes of Democracy and Equality/Liberalism. The first scenario—a dystopian vision of low democracy and low equality—felt the most likely. One participant called it ‘Russia 2.0,” a future with increased religious control, suppression of secular culture, targeting of minorities, and privatization of essential services. When asked where they’d be in such a future, several said they’d leave Israel. Notably, this represents a ‘resilience future’ where people adapt to dire circumstances rather than flourishing. Similar conditions exist in Turkey, Hungary, and, of course, Russia. This is the future it seems we will end up in if we focus inwards.

The second scenario—low democracy with high equality—sparked a discussion about the tradeoffs between freedom and social security. An analogy could be Singapore, with exceptional public services but significant limitations on expression and political rights. Participants could imagine how this could come about: the defeat of the current government in the next election by a secular/liberal bloc, who chose to maintain power to block future takeover by the ultra-orthodox and messianic settlers, excusing their anti-democratic, technocratic moves by saying it wasn’t them that changed the rules – they’re using the new rules the Netanyahu coalition made for the good of the country. This, too, seemed possible given the rhetoric in Israel.

By the third scenario, combining high democracy with low equality, we realized the past resembled the future we didn’t want: a hyper-individualistic society with democratic processes alongside deep disparities in wealth and opportunity that drive polarization and internal strife. A society where people fight for survival, where politics is just another battleground.

It was the final scenario—high democracy and high equality—that reawakened the hope many in the room thought had died. Together we envisioned a society characterized by personal security created through strong civil solidarity, institutions worthy of trust, educational opportunity affordable to all, freedom of religious practice, and constitutional protections for all citizens.

And then we envisioned the way we could get there by placing ourselves in 2035 and “remembering” the key developments that would mark the journey: the establishment of an Equal Opportunities Authority by 2032, adoption of a constitution around 2030, greater autonomy for local authorities by 2028, and successful adaptation to AI-driven economic transformation starting after the next elections in 2026, and how the Tzedek Centers and the people in the room took part in the building of that preferred future.

Despite having run FutureTense many times for different groups, this one, for me, was different. I entered the room as worried, if not more worried, than many of the participants. I came out believing a better future is possible – if only we escape the false dichotomy between addressing immediate crises and building long-term solutions. I came out hoping that there will arise a political movement that recognizes the most effective strategies create paths that connect present actions to preferred futures. I came out of the room recognizing that even the worst future we imagined is survivable, but the best future is worth fighting for.

If Israel in 2035 is to become a society where diverse communities thrive in security and dignity, where our institutions care for us and enable us to become our best selves, where economic opportunity is ubiquitous, work must begin today to build the infrastructure—both physical and social—that makes such a future possible. I believe the Tzedek Centers have a vital role to play in that future – as well as the many other extraordinary civil society organizations that have proven that Israelis still maintain much of that pioneering spirit that established the miracle that is Israel.

And I’ll end with an offer: if you, too, would like a FutureTense workshop for your organization, community, or company, let me know. I’ve found it to work across cultures and languages, and above all else to generate the one resource I find we need most these days: hope.