Ayala Snir
"It was, as always, an important and meaningful conference"... "...highly enriching and provided food for thought"... "...an excellent choice of lecturers, a fascinating world of content" ..."Good thing there was a balance between the different voices". These are but a few of the impressions we heard from participants at the 2015 Kol Israel Haverim Conference on Education and Society that took place December 1, 2015 at the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv.
Four hundred educators and social activists from all over the country met to examine the relationship between Israeli Judaism and democracy as reflected through the lens of current affairs in Israeli society. Among the conference participants were Alliance-Kol Israel Haverim's Chairman, Mr. Sam Pinto, Lieutenant General (retired) Gabi Ashkenazi, previously IDF Chief of Staff, and Gil Shwed, CEO of Check Point Ltd.
Dr. Yehuda Maimaran, Kol Israel Haverim's CEO, opened the conference and spoke of the security situation in his remarks. "Terror attacks", he said, "are a display of contempt for human life that leads to dulled senses and imperviousness." Out of these events, from the least expected places, other, sane voices arise. This was best expressed by Eli Bareket, Education VP at KIAH, who presented the Honorary Award to the KIAH School for Deaf in Jerusalem for its action on the behalf of Jewish Haredi, secular and Arab pupils alike: "The School for the Deaf", said Bareket, "sounds the voice of the shofar all year round. It is an example of the implementation of Kol Israel Haverim values and exemplifies shared existence of all factions of Israeli society".
Gila Tatar, the School's principal, shared an event concerning a neighbor who expressed dissatisfaction at the very presence of Arab students in the Kiryat HaYovel neighborhood. Following the insult, Ahmad - one of the students – chose to sign a calming message: "I understand that you are afraid because of the numerous Arab children, I would also be afraid if I were Jewish. But we live here together"...
This year, for the first time, Kol Israel Haverim awarded the Kol Israel Haverim Award for Education and Social Activism, which is to be awarded to an individual or an organization that made a significant contribution to promote education and social affairs in Israel. The award for 2015 was given to Nissim Cohen, CEO of the Yecholot NGO, for advancing central values of love and human dignity, for the creation of opportunities for all students, regardless of background, to fulfill their potential, for leading meaningful social change in the State of Israel and creating meaningful educational and social mobility by narrowing gaps between students throughout the country.
Retired Judge Dalia Dorner, who fascinated her audience, speaking of prejudice against minorities, said: "In Israel's Charter of Independence it says that Israel will strive to develop the land for the benefit of all its inhabitants. We haven't done that. It is a mistake. An intelligent nation does not exclude twenty percent of its residents."
Rabbi David Stav, Chairman of Tzohar, pointed out two interesting yet contradictory phenomena – hostility, on the one hand, against religious establishment and a strong wish to connect to Jewish tradition and values, on the other. "Israeli society expects the Torah of the Nation of Israel to lead the discourse of social activism... the Nation of Israel doesn't like to be judged, but is a nation that seeks Judaism and an affinity with its past and its values".
Dr. Yifat Biton, Tmura Center CEO and jurist, chose to try and decipher the organizing principle behind social cohesion in Israel. "Surprisingly, it is Jewish identity, which is perceived as the element that most threatens non-Jews in the country, that can end up generating a sense of non-excluding community".
Rafiq Halabi, Head of the Dalit el Carmel Municipal Council, claimed that "there will be no democratic state without aiming for social justice" and chose to quote Martin Buber: "If we live side by side, in the end we will live one against the other" ...
During the second session we delved into a discussion on Israeli Judaism and democracy in workshops that dealt with different aspects of shared existence. The facilitators were Oshra Lehrer Shaiv, in charge of Gender Equality in Education at the Ministry of Education (Otherness and Educational Responsibility in Ethnicity and Gender in a Democratic Israeli Society); Rabbi Elad Portal, Sephardi Communities researcher and Imam Eyad Amar, principal of the Kfar Qassam High School (Between Religion and Civics in Israeli Society); Shmuel Shattach, CEO of the Ne'emanei Torah Va'Avodah Movement, who spoke of gender segregation in schools; Insaf Shuahanna and Noa Shapira, who jointly run the Living Together project in the Educational Technology Center (Learning to Live together – On the Encounter with the Other); Michal Avera Samuel, CEO of FIDEL – The Association for Education and Social Integration of Ethiopian Jews in Israel (Between Dream and Reality – An Endless Journey); Naama Keti'i from the AMRAM Association for Abducted Yemenite, Balkan and Oriental Children (What have we learned from the abductions of the Yemenite Children - 60 Years Later?); Iris Doron, principal of the Remez High School in Pardess Katz, Rena Mar'i, a science teacher at Remez, Raz Gabai, a Hebrew teacher in Ar'ara and Em Sahla on Teachers Crossing Sectors.
The outstanding Kol Israel Haverim educational activities definitely reach a peak at the annual conference. We are glad to witness the expansion of our influence with every conference, and to note the development of a genuine Kol Israel Haverim community that includes partners, staff, program participants and the general public who seek to deepen their familiarity with the Kol Israel Haverim message.
