The BA'MACHSHAVA Beit Midrash Photography Competition

A few pre-army volunteers in their National Service year step back from the locked dormitory gates. Standing behind the locked doorway are some young pupils, observing them. Photographs that evoke deep feelings, interest and questions. Another small group of volunteers, standing at the start of a circular race track. Each at a different starting point. What awaits them at the circular track's end?

This sample is part of the assortment of photographs that was recently sent to us by a group of young men and women, pre-army volunteers participating in BA'MACHSHAVA ["In Thought"], a social action Beit Midrash for community service, designed especially for National Service groups. These volunteers undergo a unique experience: They leave home and spend a year away from their familiar surroundings to make their impact through social change. Theirs is undoubtedly a transformative experience, one that raises questions and challenges. During the course of the year, our Beit Midrash accompanies their social activism and raises relevant issues for clarification and discussion.

Tamar Zaken, head of the Beit Midrash, recently took on a new initiative. The connection between people their localities is a central issue in Beit Midrash study. Moving from place to place – gaining a sense of belonging, encountering social gaps, levels of involvement – is part of life for a National Service volunteering group. Tamar created a photography competition that she named "Illustrating Thought – Making Room for Place". Participating volunteers took photographs expressing their feelings and experiences, and linked them with textual sources they studied in the Beit Midrash.

"I'm proud of the communes. You can tell that they have internalized the program's content. They understand what a midrash is, and they can connect what they've studied to social issues," says Tamar."We want to make the exhibit into an ongoing tradition."
The submitted photographs express the impact that study and reflection had on the volunteers. Dilemmas concerning social gaps and questions about making a difference came up repeatedly, showing the impact of the Beit Midrash and the importance of complementing social action with an educational-theoretical process.

The photographs were posted for public critique on Facebook, and several of them were submitted to the judges' panel. Three top photographs were chosen. A group portrait of volunteers who had worked at the same site over several years, an inter-generational photograph, sent to us by the Hadassim commune, was awarded third place. Second place was awarded to a photograph showing a group of sprinters on a racetrack, each at a different starting point, submitted by the Acharai Netanya commune. The Neve Haddassah commune was awarded first place for the photograph described above, which deeply moved the judges for its sincerity and courage and showed an internalization of the social values taught in the program.

We wish the winners success and hope that we, too, will soon have the privilege of making room for place.