Ayala Snir
Close to a quarter million people encountered the Daily Sage over the past few months, whether on its Facebook page, the Ynet news, Walla or Kippa websites, or on Channel 2 TV, radio or opinion articles.
The Daily Sage project connects with the editor of the Makor Rishon daily newspaper, who discovered her great-grandfather among the sages in the project, and Avery Gilad, who interviewed Dr. Yehuda Maimaran, CEO of Kol Israel Haverim in the World this Morning program. The Daily Sage also connects with the contemporary media discourse on the Zagury Empire TV series and the article in the HaOketz website by Eli Bareket, Vice-CEO of Kol Israel Haverim and the initiator and leader of the project. Most of all, the Daily Sage project connects thousands of people who liked, shared and registered for daily study of Sages on the dates of their demise.
The Daily Sage is an accessible internet database of the Sages of Israel from recent generations and their teachings. It presents the rich traditions of the Jews from Islamic lands and the open and rich outcome of their encounter with the modern age - a moderate and inclusive Jewish identity that does not impose its values; Judaism at the center of which lie traditional social values, ethics and humaneness.
Among the numerous gifts resulting from the project are three unique booklets dealing with three of the Daily Sage project's seven focal topics.
The first of the series, Between Israel and the Nations, focuses on Judaism's negation of racism – a central value at Kol Israel Haverim – and brings together the sayings of sages on promoting peace in the world.
Sages Prayers for Independence Day – the Redemption of Israel, the second in the series, is a collection of sayings that express the yearnings and love for the land of Israel of the Sages and their communities. Along with the joy at the Gathering of the Exiles, it includes a sober view of the difficulties and complexities involved in this historic development. The booklet reveals how Judaism and Zionism can go hand in hand and be aligned with tolerance, a love of Zion and the deep understanding, obvious to the Sages even in their times, that "I have no other land".
'I will Reside amongst Sages' – Torah Learning for Shavuot, is a collection of Sages' sayings from recent generations. Quotations from Scripture or ancient texts appear alongside the sayings, to which sections of contemporary poetry or piyut that interact with the main topic have been added. A fascinating collage, if you will, that brings together texts by Rabbi Mordecai Abadi and Sage Abraham Azulay with classic children songs and love songs by rock star Barry Sakharoff.
The booklets are educational tools, written to promote Kol Israel Haverim socio-educational activities in dozens of schools, National Service year volunteers and students throughout Israel. They have circulated between the organization's facilitators, teachers, school program coordinators, principals and adult education settings.
I believe that the Daily Sage website is a gift to society. Beyond the fascinating documentation of the Sages' teachings of which we would probably not have been aware had it not been for this admirable collection, it engages the present day, with contemporary technology and interactivity; the public is invited to add Sages that do not appear in the database and to reveal their hidden treasures to us. We plan to expand the public scope of the project and spread the word in additional circles. Because the Daily Sage is ... a tradition that cannot be forgotten.
