Educational Experiences in Israel
I love the sounds of Jerusalem. The voices, noises, and music all tell stories that are unparalleled in the Jewish world – and perhaps in the world at large. One I find so compelling is that of my story and the story of the “other,” which I hear simultaneously. There a variety of others in Jerusalem – Arabic, Russian, Amharic, Yiddish, and Hebrew – and over the course of a week, I can listen and hear these voices and countless more. It is one of the incredible characteristics of our city. Join me on a brief tour of some of the other voices I am so fortunate to hear regularly in... Read More
After finishing final exams and celebrating the end of the semester, I decided to spend some of my winter break exploring new sites in Jerusalem. Although I learned a fair amount about Israeli politics over the past few years, I had never actually been inside the Knesset (parliament) building. A close friend recently started working there, and I was excited to learn from her on a guided tour. The tour began with relatively basic questions, pitched to a public group with vastly different levels of background knowledge: When did the State of Israel declare its independence? May 14, 1948... Read More
In 1890, Rabbi Wolf Zeev Yavetz from Zichron Yaakov (a town south of Haifa) wanted to celebrate the Mishnaic holiday of Tu BiShvat with his young students. He decided to plant trees with them. Tu BiShvat was, in Mishnaic times, a calendar landmark set to evaluate the fruit of the trees for tax purposes. Rabbi Yavetz identified the educational and spiritual potential and seized the opportunity for an outdoor educational experience that left a mark both on the landscape and on his students' hearts. When we began forming Kodesh VeChol, the Reform congregation in Holon (a city of 200,000... Read More
Tu BiShvat is known as the Jewish Arbor Day, and as such, it’s the time each year when Israeli schoolchildren plant trees. Perhaps it’s no coincidence, then, that it was a teacher, Ze'ev Yavetz, who instituted the custom of planting trees on Tu BiShvat. Only an educator could come up with such a hands-on, personalized way to connect with the building of the Jewish homeland. There is such profound wisdom in this act, proving that every action, no matter how small, counts. Even the small hands of a child can bring about big change. The change the Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa is... Read More
It can be difficult to pinpoint a single favorite aspect of one’s job, but I know mine. In my capacity as recruitment and marketing director for URJ Heller High (a semester in Israel program for Jewish high school students), I have had the opportunity to chaperone several student groups on their flight to Israel and spend the first week of the semester with them. At the end of that first week, the group travels to Jerusalem to welcome Shabbatat the Kotel (Western Wall). I love watching them walk through the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, peering into all the shops and... Read More
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