Sara loves her students, and she is passionately involved with the Tali Jewish studies initiative at the Jabotinsky Elementary School in Beit Shemesh. This two year-old program aims at reconnecting students to the Jewish tradition through four hours a week of curriculum based on Jewish culture and values. Sara explains, "In Israel, there is a polarization between the religious and the non-religious. Today, Judaism has a connotation of extreme religiousness, and many young people have a feeling of anti-Judaism. The program tries to break this stereotype."

The program takes a non-orthodox approach to Judaism that is not forceful, non-dogmatic, and is respectful to all forms of interpretation of Jewish sources and tradition. Teachers work with students to develop personal relationships with the Jewish tradition and help them reach a feeling of autonomy in Judaism through study. In lessons ranging from Jewish holidays and Shabbat for the lower grades to the weekly Torah portion and modern Israeli literature for the upper grades, students relate their lessons to three themes: connection to land and country, Jewish and human values, and leadership and democracy. Upon reaching the sixth grade, each class organizes a two-day Jewish subject seminar. In addition, students in third through sixth grades elect committees which meet once a week to discuss everything from student affairs to recess activities. As Sara puts it, "We think that by doing this we will make them better children - more sensitive, more responsible, more willing to help others."

This year, The Washington Federation's Endowment Fund has provided funding for a joint initiative between the Jewish studies program at the Jabotinsky School with the Israel-wide TALI movement with which it shares similar ideas and objectives. TALI, a Hebrew acronym for Reinforcement of Jewish Studies in Israeli Secular Schools, develops non-orthodox curricula to teach Judaism in secular schools, and allows for students to experience their religion in new, more relevant ways. One would assume that such a program would be unnecessary in Israel where all people learn about Judaism from day one. However, to our misfortune, many from the secular population in Israel feel alienated from Judaism and pass such feelings on to their children. This alienation is then reinforced in secular schools where little if anything is taught about Judaism and Jewish values, and religion is generally related to with disregard and disrespect. Funded by the Conservative movement, TALI is combating this sense of alienation in the secular Israeli world through innovative educational programs that can rekindle a sense of pride and relationship to Judaism and to the Jewish people. TALI is involved to varying degrees in elementary and middle schools throughout Israel. This program is ideal for schools such as the Jabotinsky School where, as Sara explains, the "spirit" of TALI is felt in the classroom. While some schools are one hundred percent TALI, others may only involve a single class; at Jabotinsky, several teachers in each grade level participate in the initiative.

Washington funding has also helped provide new programs for students, parents and teachers while providing some preexisting programs - for the first time - free of charge. One of the most important improvements due to TALI has been the periodic teacher training retreats for all interested teachers at Jabotinsky. The endowment fund similarly finances a weekend TALI Beit Midrash for teachers. The program also brings together parents and students at each grade level for a special, annual one-day seminar on a specific area of Jewish tradition. In another project, from March until the end of the school year, TALI helped provide teacher/parent community study sessions every three weeks at the school. This fantastic development is another emphasis of TALI, bridging what is often the most difficult gap in the student-parent-teacher triangle.

Sara still lacks funding for her biggest dream, already two years in the planning, of e-connecting her classroom in Beit Shemesh with a classroom of the same grade level in the Washington, DC area. The idea is to link the classrooms during a year-long program of parallel research and shared information with the help of e-mail. At the end of the year, the classroom students and their parents would meet through a live Internet link and share what they have learned and experienced. When it comes to her dream, Sara shows her passion, "I think this idea will be an excellent foundation and the children really want to do it. Even if we take it on as an extracurricular project and stay an hour after school, it's worth it." We hope that Sara's determination will soon be rewarded with a strong commitment from an American school, and together enrich students with a more meaningful relationship to their Jewish heritage.

Sivan 5761 - June 2001