A conversation with Eli Bareket,
Deputy CEO, Kol Israel Haverim, Head of the Memizrach Shemesh Beit Midrash
Eli Bareket, Head of the Memizrach Shemesh Beit Midrash for the last decade, recently undertook the establishment of the Kol Israel Haverim Department for Jewish Education. The Department structure, which will include the veteran Morasha and Maarag school programs and the Memizrach Shemesh Beit Midrash for Social Leadership, will operate in both public and local community arenas. Within the Department, a MAFTEAH Unit – the Center for Educational Processes Development – will be set up to pool the writing and development of educational materials and for their distribution in the various KIAH programs.
In honor of his entry to the new position, I met with Eli Bareket for a conversation on the course taken by Alliance and on his journey within it. "One hundred and fifty years ago", says Eli, "an interesting encounter took place between French Jewry, Enlightenment values, the Haskallah movement, humanism and equality, and the extraordinary traditions of Oriental Jewry. Alliance established a network of schools in North African and Mediterranean countries and this encounter created a blend of tolerant, containing and connected Judaism. Today we are at the peak of a reverse journey – from the 'East' to the entire People of Israel. We are gathering all the traditions that are relevant to our lives as Israelis and restoring this property to Israeli society. The sun that shone during the encounter between Alliance and Oriental Jewry can heal the entire people of Israel with its rays."
From the House of Prayer to the House of Hillel
""How did I come to Memizrach Shemesh? I was always 'Memizrach Shemesh'. In fact, large components of Israeli society are 'Memizrach Shemesh'. The integration between Jewish tradition and social issues is the place where the majority of Israeli society meets – in a shared desire for an open and connected community Judaism, without dichotomies, that strives for social justice. Memizrach Shemesh is home to these people and to these attitudes; as our motto states, "Memizrach Shemesh - Learning to feel at home".
"I was lucky in that I did not receive my powerful connection to tradition and heritage in institutions for formal education. I went to public school, and took in a lot at home. As a child, I independently decided to complete my education at the synagogue, after school. That's where my Jewish identity took shape, along with what I absorbed at home. A Judaism that I received by choice, from people that I love. The old men at synagogue taught me everything – praying, learning Torah, and taking part in ceremonies.
As a young boy I would participate in their vows of silence. I would sit with the old men, enjoying tea and cookies, and we would read Psalms together all day. I remember that when I grew older and went to boarding school, I approached the vice-principal and told him I planned to take a vow of silence on the following day. It amused him. I went around school all day with a sign saying 'I've taken a vow of silence' and read Psalms."
The non-dichotomous approach of a Judaism that belongs to everyone was part of Eli's life at several crossroads. As a student in the Hebrew University he moved into Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Romema neighborhood. An ultra-Orthodox yeshiva student who knocked on his door tried enthusiastically to convince him of G-d's existence and of the revelation at Mount Sinai. To the visitor's surprise, rather than having to give a long lecture, he discovered a person who agreed with him, but didn't look like him or wish to look like him.
Once at the Hebrew University, Eli established the TZACH student cell – Students for Social Justice. He was active in the ISEF foundation and also participated in the Ma'ayanot Institute program. Through his activities, he met social activists with whom he has continued to march shoulder to shoulder to this day. The connection between like-minded people, who met in each other's homes and studied the traditions of Oriental Jewry in a cozy setting over glasses of mint tea, was extremely productive. Dr. Meir Buzaglo, who heads the Tikun movement and Yehuda Maimaran, Kol Israel Haverim CEO, who led the group together, are now leading remarkable changes in Israeli society, each in his own domain.
Further on down the road, Eli Bareket began to run the Hebrew University's Beit Hillel as a center for Jewish life on campus. The "Thousand Gates" model for Israeli Judaism that he developed was adopted by the international Hillel movement and another eight new Hillel Houses were subsequently opened on various campuses throughout Israel.
Yehuda Maimaran, who conceived of and founded Memizrach Shemesh, invited Eli Bareket to participate in the founding cohort of the Memizrach Shemesh fellowship program. Program participants, such as Rabbi Yitzhak Chouraqui, Drori Yehoshua and Yaffa Benaya have since become leading figures within and beyond the organization. The group dealt in in-depth study of the perception of social responsibility in Oriental Judaism. In 2005, when Yehuda Maimaran moved on to fulfill his vision and established the Morasha school network, Eli Bareket was chosen to take his place.
The Sun of Righteousness with Healing in its Wings
One of the Memizrach Shemesh core programs is Netuim, founded two years ago, with the support and sponsorship of Kol Israel Haverim Chairman Sam Pinto and in partnership with the Posen family and the AVI CHAI Foundation. The program connects young adults raised in peripheral areas that have remained central to their lives and unites them in a task force motivated for social change in their communities. As the program's first cohort, from Migdal Ha'Emek, Afula and Beer Sheva, approaches its finishing point, the program's impact on the students and their respective communities is both apparent and significant.
"During a recent encounter we held with the students, one of the participants spoke about his family and the challenges he faced, about the balance to be maintained between obtaining higher education and family allegiance, between succeeding and belonging. He spoke about how comfortable he feels about his identity and about his place of origin, about the social challenge that he undertook by working with at-risk youth, and about the strengths he developed in facing his challenges in life."
"As I listened to him, I remembered myself twenty years ago, and tears came to my eyes. What the young man had – that I didn't have then – was the ability to be clear and articulate. He had a vocabulary that I didn't have in my day, and that touched me deeply. Words – a language – that he had acquired in our Beit Midrash."
"The Memizrach Shemesh concept, throughout its activities, involves a transformation of one's weaknesses into strengths, and the transformation of one's strengths into social action for public benefit. Don't ask "What am I lacking that I need?" but rather "What do I have that the world needs?" What is my role. What is my responsibility. It can be done with anybody. That is how you build leadership for social change that works from within the community and for the community."
Another new Memizrach Shemesh program is the Daily Hacham, which consists of building an internet database as an infrastructure for educational work. The database will include primary sources from the sages of the Oriental Jewry on diverse social issues, such as social justice, customs and traditions, love of the people of Israel, the Land of Israel, and relations between the people of Israel and the world's nations.
"The idea originated in a meeting with an individual who, in fact, represents secular Judaism – Daniel Posen. Daniel, a major partner in our Netuim program, noted that the important content that we present is not as familiar to the general public as it should be, and that we should seek out innovative ways of reaching the Israeli mainstream. We began working on accessing and collecting materials, and have thus far gathered some 500 textual sources from over 100 sages. The program bears great tidings for the people of Israel."
Looking towards the Future
Kol Israel Haverim, under the leadership of Sam Pinto and Yehuda Maimaran, is once again becoming an educational superpower that operates throughout Israel and makes its impact on tens of thousands annually. The founding of the Department for Jewish Education is part of the momentum of the organization's development, and indicates the consolidation of a holistic approach at Kol Israel Haverim.
"They say it takes a village to raise a child. We want to work with the entire village, and create congruence and dialog between values at school, at home, in the neighborhood and in the synagogue. People should all work with a shared vision and be in dialog with one another. Kol Israel Haverim reduces gaps, not only between the rich and the poor by providing equal opportunity for excellent education, but also ensuring opportunity for consolidating identity and recognizing its value while enjoying the diversity of voices and traditions."
Following the founding of the Department for Jewish Education, Moshe Shriki was chosen as Director of Memizrach Shemesh. Moshe, a born educator, was previously the principal of the Kedma School in his boyhood Jerusalem neighborhood. A graduate of the Memizrach Shemesh fellowship program, he filled the position of Educational Director at Memizrach Shemesh following his return from an extended tour of duty abroad.
"Moshe Shriki has been a journey companion for many years. During the past two years he led Memizrach Shemesh with professionalism and love, and was greatly appreciated. May there be more like him! He is the right person for the challenges that we face.
We have come a long way since Yehuda Maimaran founded Memizrach Shemesh. Today I feel that Israeli society is ready for the "Revelation at Sinai". The dichotomies between religious and secular are all falling apart and everybody want to connect to tradition and translate it into their own values. Everybody wants Jewish social values. Everybody hears the voices. The next challenge is – the Land of Israel."
