Amichai TZur

The Ma'arag – Kol Israel Haverim Program Annual Reunion: Identities in Jerusalem

A View toward Jerusalem / Naim Aryadi

Perhaps we will gather
all the large stones
in the Jerusalem hills.
Perhaps we will build
another Western Wall
another mosque
and another church.
Perhaps
we will forget the errors of the past.
Perhaps
we will at long last build
another city
not in the Jerusalem hills.
We'll call it Jerusalem.

We met, as we do every year, for the annual reunion of all the schools participating in the Ma'arag – Kol Israel Haverim program. This year, in keeping with the annual theme chosen for the program – The Affinity between the Jewish Language and the Mizrahi Language – we chose to set out on a journey of identities in Jerusalem. The multitude of colors, smells, sounds and languages in the city make Jerusalem a wonderful platform for a discourse on identity. The question that informed us during the course of our journey was: Segregation or Integration?

The first stop was the Armon Hanatziv Promenade. Once there, Hava Schwartz from the Kol Israel Haverim Kerem Institute, asked us: What do we see? Or, rather, what do we not see? Do we come wearing "glasses" that affect the way we observe?

The journey continued and we reached the Museum on the Seam, where we met Racheli Eivenbaum; Racheli, an Ultra-Orthodox woman, who lives in the tension between the traditional and closed Ultra-Orthodox community and modern society. Making her acquaintance and hearing her life story provided us with an invitation to introspection as individuals and as Israeli society. Our second encounter was with Advocate Nasrinne Alian, who deals with the crisis in education in East Jerusalem's Palestinian society. Our meeting with her expanded our perception of the range of identities contained by the city of Jerusalem and generated a complex and charged discussion on identity.

We ended our journey at the Kol Israel Haverim Kerem Institute, where we introduced our annual school network product, Ma'arag HaShana, to the Ma'arag program schools – a Hebrew calendar and a disk-on-key with a collection of lesson plans and articles that explore identity as it relates to the element of time in our traditions. We ended the reunion with an evening of nostalgic songs by artists Amit and Neta Hai – Cohen.

In their own words:
"This opened an opportunity for me to glimpse the worlds of others and to observe them from their own point of view." Vered Toubul, Principal, Nili School

"The visit to Me'a She'arim showed the lack of tolerance and absolute segregation". Rachel Teitel, Principal, Gefanim School

"A fascinating encounter with sights, attires and smells that exemplify the symbolic baggage in which ideology is contained." Orit Koren, Vice-Principal, Shazar Middle School

"The gap between worlds goes far beyond G-d and observance of the commandments, there is a different cultural code here." Sharon Sadeh, Beit Yare'akh High School

The encounter is thought-provoking – Jerusalem, the reunited city? Something needs to be done." Dorit, Mul Gilad School