אתר כיח
The Daily Sage is a compilation of teachings/writings from the Sephardic/Mizrachi sages that offers access to a world of Jewish content from Mizrachi Jewry from the past 200 years. The teachings of these sages and their culture have been relatively inaccessible or ignored by the education curriculum in the areas of Jewish philosophy and literature despite their creative and innovative Torah contributions. The Sephardic and Mizrachi Rabbis produced sophisticated works that can offer a much-needed positive contribution to the development of Israeli culture and offers a sense of pride and belonging.
Netuim is a two-year Beit Midrash program of MeMizrach Shemesh consisting of 25 study sessions of 3 hours each that reinforces identity and promotes social leadership for young adults who come from 12 peripheral communities across Israel. These areas include: 12 peripheral cities: Hatzor, Tzfat, Migdal Ha’Emek, Afula, Tiberias, Nazareth Elite, Netanya, Lod, Kiryat Malachi, Ofakim, Netivot, and Arad, with 180 student participants. University students each receive a 10,000 NIS scholarship toward their tuition, to assist them in pursuing higher education and are provided tools to become leaders to promote social change.
Often Sephardic/Mizrachi women are excluded from participating in religious practice. Increasingly women are leaders in their communities, whether it be in the synagogues and be considered as an integral part of the congregation, as well as in schools where they can teach Jewish law and life.
Israeli Rabbis enjoy broad influence across Israeli society and can determine whether to foster unity or promote divisiveness within public discourse. This has been demonstrated by the increasing trend in Israeli society for Rabbis to issue stringent rulings creating an exclusivist religious approach that associates Judaism with only laws rather than broader social Justice. This has the effect of alienating traditional and secular people with differing approaches or levels of religiosity. In turn, Israel is confronted with heightened religious and social polarization leading to extremism. Furthermore, the Israeli Rabbinate does not teach Rabbis in Israel about social, economic and psychological matters that may arise in communities ranging from divorce, drug abuse, domestic violence, youth at risk and poverty.
Kerem Institute for Jewish Humanistic Education was established in 1974 by Alliance–Kol Israel Haverim as an alternate track for teacher training in universities and colleges. Kerem offers a unique approach in the field of teacher training and development. The Jewish Humanistic approach is intertwined in all our activities and manifests in a variety of ways.
The unique home where Kerem dwells – a green and beautiful corner hidden in the heart of Jerusalem – visually expresses the character of the place that lovingly combines the old and new. The warm atmosphere and small rooms allow for intimate and in-depth learning, where Israelis with different identities gather and feel comfortable to study together.
Kerem is a prestigious institute in the Jerusalem cultural landscape and attracts prominent teachers, school principals, and various stakeholders in the social and education fields. Our student community is diverse and is made up of men and women with differing Jewish identities and lifestyles. Our staff includes expert teachers, academics, and artists who are all leaders in their fields make up our unique and pluralistic spirit. Their different approaches enrich our students in many diverse perspectives towards Judaism.
By embracing a broad Jewish Humanistic educational approach, Kerem aspires to deeply influence the Israeli society through training and development of excellence, creativity, and social commitment. More than 700 Kerem graduates rank among the leaders of numerous Jewish initiatives in Israel. Graduates include: Dr. Ruth Lehavei, founder of the Keshet School for religious and secular students, Dr. Hana Pinhasi, director of the Teacher Training School in the Hartman Institute, Prof. Michal Mushkat-Barkan, director of the Pluralistic Jewish Education Program in the HUC, Dr. Ariel Levenson, founder of the Secular Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and many others, Dr. David Biton, Yardena Nachtomy and Yafa Bnaya – three of the original group that joined Yehuda Mimran to established "Mimizrach Shemesh".
Overview
Israel’s secular educational system, as an important arena for instilling values and clarifying issues of belonging, commitment and responsibility toward Israeli society faces enormous challenges to impart meaningful Jewish, Zionist, civic identity among children and youth in Israel. In turn, many secular Israeli pupils feel alienated as they face an identity crisis and lack a sense of belonging. This is manifest in them not knowing the Hatikva or why they should go to the army. Ma’arag (Tapestry) Program for Excellence in Jewish, Zionist, and Civic Education seeks to promote solidarity in Israeli society through a shared sense of Jewish identity, social values, and mutual responsibility. Ma’arag programs creates a bridge between state schools where Zionist and civic identities are stronger than their Jewish identities, and religious schools where Jewish identity is stronger than Zionist or civic identities. Ma’arag creates programs in Israel’s secular educational system that instills Jewish, Zionist civic values and social responsibility over a range of subjects from literature and history to science and mathematics. Ma’arag programs in schools continually approach every activity through the prism of Jewish identity and for each pupil to personally connect with it and empower them to reach their academic and personal potential as Jewish Israelis.
Subjects
The teachers are trained and empowered to build and develop concrete pedagogical tools and lesson plans, based on the school’s vision and values, and develop seven educational “products”, which are then integrated in classroom learning. In the area of Biology & medical ethics, the Ma’arag program teaches pupils to appreciate complexity and consider whether national law and religious law complement or contradict one another. After a school exhibition about the splitting of the Red Sea, pupils attempted to transform this narrative into chemistry terminology. Alternatively, in mathematics pupils assess the significance of certain numbers in the Tanach and identify how geometry and measurements were used in constructing the Tabernacle. In this manner, pupils in Ma’arag programs connect with their past by bringing it to life and making it relevant in the pupils’ everyday lives while deepening their identities.
To effectively promote Jewish values throughout all the subjects, The headmaster together with the management meet twice a month for 3 hours to learn texts, along with psychological, pedagogic and management tools that foster dialogue in schools on matters relating to Jewish identity. They in turn teach the teachers who teach the students.
In the middle and end of the year, the school management conducts a training program for all the teachers in the school about their values that they want to foster in the schools. This takes place altogether over a period of three days.
In order to continue to provide ongoing support during and after the program, Ma’arag program created an “Online Beit Midrash” as a tool for educators to access and discuss a wide array of texts to be used in their classrooms, creating a meaningful shared dialogue on Jewish, Zionist and civic identity, including subjects such as: Treatment of the ‘Other,’ Shabbat in the Israeli Public Sphere, Partial Justice, Marriage and Gender and more. You can view the Online Beit Midrash here: Maarag Online Beit Midrash.
Activities
The Ma’arag program facilitates for schools to arrange field trips and programs on heritage and leadership to enhance the identities of pupils. Teachers and pupils identify role models from the Tanach and the modern State of Israel. This can help teachers and pupils to identify their values and different styles of leadership in order to cultivate their various strengths. Pupils also identify contemporary people who have excelled in their fields and won prizes for example in the area of game theory and consider what values did these people have and how can they be emulated?
Ma’arag pupils have organized projects reflecting Jewish values such as sports competitions based on the values of Chesed where older students help the younger students. Environmentally conscious students have built water storage facilities inspired by water conservation in the Tanach.
Methodology
Ma’arag advances a unique dialogical educational methodology that enables teachers and students to go through an introspective process to identify what is important to them and why. To spur on discussion, Ma’arag programs utilizes the ‘Dilemma methodology’ on various issues related to identity such as whether pupils would choose for their Bar Mitzva the traditional approach of attending Synagogue and being called up for an Aliya to the Torah, or the modern social trend of travelling abroad. This dilemma is a tension between tradition and modern social trends. Pupils proceed to learn texts on the significance of Bar Mitzva so that they will be more informed to make an educated decision in the 21st Century.
Other methods Ma’arag programs employs includes ‘Kesem Hashmini’ that is a social psychology tool that identifies the group dynamic enabling teachers to tailor the educational material to the group. Ma’arag program also utilizes organizational management methodologies to foster change in schools and advance specific values.
Ma’arag programs proceeds to guide teachers enabling them to find and interpret sources in order to develop textual-based projects embedded within the Jewish tradition that are both personally meaningful to teachers and pupils. This offers them both a greater sense of ownership and motivation culminating in inspiring pupils to action and increasing their commitment to social justice.
As Ma’arag programs address a diverse range of areas, Ma’arag’s message seamlessly permeates across different departments that have traditionally maintained barriers between them. The school achieves unity of purpose by placing the vision in every curriculum and classroom wall. The teachers consider this entire process when writing the curriculum. Teachers are participants in the endeavor to establish a Jewish identity leading them to create innovative projects and have a sense of ownership of what they teach.
Impact
Rather than subjects being taught independently and separately from one another, Ma’arag’s approach of fostering Jewish identity across different disciplines in a school leads to unique synergies being created between subjects. As a result, this heightens academic output and increases grade scores.
Ma’arag programs are impacting new generations of children and youth each year, and are generating a revolution in Jewish, Zionist and civic education throughout the country. Over the past 4 years, Ma’arag programs have worked with 100 schools from years 1-12 impacting over 20,000 students. Ma’arag programs are currently operating in 20 schools, training 2000 teachers and influencing the lives of 17,700 pupils. Ma'arag programs have developed over 700 lesson plans that foster and enrich a strong Jewish, Zionist, and civic identity. Each year an additional 7 schools adopt Ma’arag programs. Ma’arag programs works with headteachers, the leadership in schools who in turn work with the teachers, students and parents.
Our committed partners include: AVI CHAI Foundation, Adelis Foundation, Agudat Sabah, Ministry of Education, Municipalities throughout the country.
Israel’s education system is marked by substantial gaps that exist between the country’s center and its periphery in terms of government investment per student, educational content, the availability of technological equipment and more. Believing that every child is entitled to receive quality education, KIAH established the Division for Educational Excellence in 2001. The Division’s mission is to narrow these gaps in levels of education between the country’s center and periphery, mainstream and marginalized populations.
In order to effect lasting changes, the Division for Educational Excellence targets schools in socio-geographic regions with a view to long-term capacity building. All of the Division’s diverse programs have in common a commitment to improving quality of teaching, setting high standards, developing students’ motivation, encouraging critical thinking, strengthening self-image and fostering independent learning skills.
The Division works in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and local municipalities and enjoys the partnership of leading academic institutes, hi-tech and other advanced companies, foundations and private donors. Through the Division, KIAH has built a network of scholastic advancement programs that operate in schools throughout the country, aiming to provide every student in Israel with the necessary conditions to ensure his or her success in fulfilling their potential.
The Division currently works in over 45 schools nationwide, impacting some 25,000 school students and 2,300 teachers.
Israeli society is beset by increasing polarization between haredim and secular Jews, and to a lesser extent between Ashkenazim and Sephardim. Social and political lines are drawn over the debate regarding which of Israel’s democratic or Jewish features should be heightened or relegated to the other. There is a quest for contemporary Jewish identity and Israel’s civic identity to be based upon socio-public responsibility that overcomes the increasing extremism and schisms in Israeli society.
תכנית לבירור שאלת החיים המשותפים לקראת קבלת תעודות
טקס הענקת תעודת זהות לתלמידי כיתות י', הוא טקס מעבר לאומי, המציין קבלת אזרחות ישראלית, המקנה כרטיס כניסה, להשתתפות בחיים האזרחיים של מדינת ישראל, על חובותיה ועל זכויותיה.
מבחינה חוקית, קבלת תעודה הזהות היא אוטומטית, אך מבחינה מהותית, קבלת תעודת זהות מסמלת את קבלת הערכים האזרחיים של מדינת ישראל כמדינה יהודית ודמוקרטית. למרות זאת, אנו עדים להתגברות גילויי הגזענות, תופעות האלימות וחוסר סובלנות בקרב בני נוער, הסותרים את ערכי המדינה. תופעות אלו, קשורות באופן ישיר להכרות סטראוטיפית עם האחר, ובהעדר לגיטימציה לשונות.