In response to the growing divisions amongst our people, the Ambassadors for Tolerance Project was founded in order to foster tolerance and understanding between the youth of diverse Jewish communities. Two groups of tenth-graders from The Beit Shemesh-Adulum region are paired up every year with two groups of students in the Diaspora, one in Washington D.C., and one in South Africa. Together they learn about Jewish identity, tolerance, pluralism, volunteerism and the various forms of Jewish expression in Israel and around the world. In doing so, teenagers from opposite ends of the world build bridges between Israel and the Diaspora and come together identified as members of one people.

Teens in Israel have no idea how it is to live as a religious minority in a country, and they are unfamiliar with the various non-orthodox streams of Judaism. On the other hand, Jewish teens in America are unfamiliar with Jewish Israeli culture and mentality and do not have an experiential relationship with Israel or Israelis. This program seeks to break down such barriers and to build strong connections between youth in Israel and the Diaspora that will hopefully grow into strong solidarity between Israeli and Diaspora leadership in the future.

This year during the five-month Ambassadors program the paired groups from Beit Shemesh and Washington visited each other for two-week exchanges, one in December and one in April. They visited Jewish sites in both countries, and in Israel traveled across the country from the Golan to Ein Gedi. Roni Hirsch, a 16 year-old secular Israeli from Adulum, was overwhelmed by her experience.

"It completely changed how I see Judaism. A group of us decided to spend the weekend at the Stern's house, an orthodox Jewish family. At first I was really irritated because we couldn't turn on lights or play on the computer, but slowly throughout the weekend I gained a huge sense of respect and love for the Stern family and for Judaism. We lit Shabbat candles, went to synagogue, I spoke to Mrs. Stern for hours, we played charades together, and the whole time it was with such acceptance and openness. I really saw the beautiful side of Judaism without any fanaticism or intolerance. I know now that when I have kids I won't raise them forcibly as either secular or religious, because either way children are raised with ideology forced upon them without the choice of which way to go. I want to light candles and go to synagogue once in a while. I want to give my children a choice."

The ultimate goal of this program is to have each individual reach such a powerful transformation of perception and understanding of self and other as beautifully exemplified by Roni, no matter from which side of the fissure a person may come. We look forward to seeing this program continue to break down barriers and build up bridges, strengthening the Jewish world through the visions of our youth.

Av 5761 - August 2001