On Thursday, June 30th , five educators in Israel for the Mandel Foundation Teacher Educator Institute (MTEI), Debbie Bram, Gloria Grischkan, Enid Lader, Miriam Schaffer and Judy Schiller headed to Beit Shean, Cleveland’s sister community. Our hostess for the day was Tzvia Shelley, Living Bridge Coordinator for the Beit Shean Region and Cleveland.
We had a great day of meeting with principals of schools, reconnecting with some of the teens in our communities' joint Ambassadors for Unity program, swimming at the Sachne natural spring, visiting the Beit Shean Dig and meeting with Miri Livne, Head of Education for the Regional Council. The highlights of the day, which were most applicable to our MTEI work were the meetings with the two principals of schools.
Yariv Karin is the principal of Geon Hayarden, a kibbutz High School. The school consists of 600 students who come from settlements in the Beit Shean Valley, Emek Hayarden and Gilboa. Yariv explained that often education is not the most important thing in these students' lives. Therefore, the school offers a wide range of subjects, which the students can choose to specialize in so they can reach their full potential. One of the most fascinating components of the school is that it has classes for Autistic children as part of the general school. The students range from students with severe disabilities who have their own classrooms to students who are able to integrate within the general classroom.
Our second meeting was with Avi Schwarts, principal of Ort Klali, a High School in Beit Shean City. The vision for their school is actually on a large mural in the hallway. The vision is based on: Love of the Land, Respect for Mankind, and Excellence in Achievement. Again, because some of the families do not see education as a priority (only 6% of the students go on to college), the vision is based on values and ecology. The school does not concentrate on the arts, but does have a good program in electronics and science, which can help provide students with marketable skills.
At the end of the day, we met with Miri Livne, Head of Education for the Regional Council, who shared with us the meeting they had that day with a Jordanian education delegation on sharing resources.
The whole day was a wonderful experience. Everywhere we went, we felt the appreciation of our Partnership. They particularly encouraged us to continue the shared curricular and pen-pal projects in which some of our schools are involved.
From the Temple Emanu El Newsletter:
By Miriam Schaffer
This week’s Torah Portion is Pinchas. So who is this Pinchas anyway? He is obviously important enough to have a Torah Portion named after him. Pinchas is the son of the priest Eleazar. In last week's Torah portion, he kills Zimri, an Israelite who was having sex with a Midianite woman. This ended a plague that had broken out killing 24,000 Israelites. As a result, Pinchas receives a special reward as God promises the Priesthood to his descendants. According to tradition, Pinchas was rewarded for risking his life for God's honor and because his actions reestablished peace between the Israelites and God.
Once the plague has abated, Moses and Eleazar can continue with their work before entering the land of Israel. They take a census and divide the land among the tribes according to this census. God also tells Moses to ascend the mountains of Abarim to see the land given to the Israelites.
Several weeks ago, I too had the opportunity to see the land. I visited Israel as part of the Mandel Foundation Teacher Educator Institute (MTEI). I can’t tell you how thrilling it was to be back after a 13 year absence. My days were spent at the Mandel Center in Jerusalem studying with Master teachers on how to make connections with the Bible for ourselves as well as our students. The most amazing thing I learned was that Israeli teachers face the same challenges that we do: how to make Torah study relevant and engaging to their students.
The evenings were spent strolling on Ben Yehuda Street, the old city, the Wall, Emek Refaim which is a mini Coventry. We visited the New Yad Va'Shem which is set up in a very special way to encourage patrons not to skip any part of it. I never felt unsafe.
One of my highlights was visiting with family, which I have not seen for 13 years, especially my 86 year old aunt who is the last of my mother's siblings. My cousin, who used to be a tour guide took me near the Gaza strip to show me the settlements which are part of the upcoming disengagement plan. If you had an orange ribbon, you were against the disengagement. A blue ribbon meant for. Of course, in Israel, you can't be neutral. Everyone has an opinion. He took me to the new Hertzelia, which has been turned into an amazing Marina with huge yachts. The Israelis sure know how to live.
Another highlight was our visit to Beit Sh'ean, our sister city in Northern Israel. We were welcomed with open arms as the Cleveland Federation supports this very poor area. Federation furnished their computer lab as well as the radio station. We met with two principals of schools who shared with us their "vision" for education. We swam in the Sachne, which is a natural spring surrounded by beautiful waterfalls and saw the Beit Sh'ean excavations. We also realized how close we were to Jordan, and how complex life is in Israel. I visited with Miri Davidovich who is our contact for the Ezrat Nashim Group, a group who all lost family members to terrorists and with whom TEE has made a partnership. We have been invited to make connections with their students via pen-pal projects and I will be following up with my teachers to keep the partnership going.
In this Torah portion, Moses is shown the land, but told that because of his act of disobedience of striking the rock, he will not be able to enter the Land of Israel. We are much luckier; we all have an opportunity to visit Israel in our lifetime. Don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity.