Ayelet Hashachar’s ‘Chavrutah’ program engages 16,000 Israelis in weekly study/discussion sessions by phone. As an organization that dedicates itself to bridging between Israelis in Israel with incredible success, we would like to know if you would have contact or lists of Israeli ‘yordim’ whom we can interest in our “Chavrutah World” Program (see draft proposal ideas)

http://ah.ksr.org.il/news/38-f.....-time.html

AYELET HASHACHAR
“CHAVRUTAH WORLD CITY PROJECT” FOR ISRAELIS LIVING ABROAD

BACKGROUND

Israel – A Divided Nation.
According to statistics, Israel is facing one of it’s biggest crises. It is not the threat from without, but the threat from within. Polarismization has had the effect of creating two Israeli societies, the secular and Ultra Orthodox.

Chavrutah Israel is a unparalleled unique program run by the Ayelet Hashachar Organization who’s aim is to foster friendship and understanding among Israelis of differing cultural backgrounds in a grassroots effort to engender peace and good will.

At present 16,000 individuals (8,000 partners) participate in the weekly phone conversations, sponsored and arranged by the staff in our Jerusalem-based offices. In the space of six years, the program which started as a good idea, has now blossomed into the country-wide success familiar to so many. We expect to expand the Israeli Chavrutah program to 20,000 participants by September 2011.

Established in the Spring of 2005, the overall Director, Riki / Shlomo Raanan, has many years of on-site experience with running and maintaing such programs.

The Israeli Chavrutah Men and Women’s Offices employ 40 staff members, trained to match viable partners according to age, background and educational level.

The Chavrutah Team comprises fully trained men and women who initiate and maintain the matching of study pairs, provide backup information where necessary, maintain contact with each participants including regular assessments and success of their chosen program..

Bridging. It is our experience, that one of the most effective methods of finding common ground is to allow and enourage each pair to alot a portion of their time, usually an hour a week by phone, to self chosen discussion topics. . Subjects might include poetry, literature, history, music, medical ethics, sports or Jewish texts. Material and phone expenses are covered by the organization. Group meetings bring these pairs together intermitantly for face- to-face gatherings. Similarly, tours and social events encourage a sense of the wider community.

Each ‘Chavrutah’ undergoes careful assessment and initial matching, with folloup involving in- depth review with each participant, assessing the relationship and its success at the hands of trained staff who provide guidance and support to each participant. The Chavrutah Team is always available as a sounding board and encouraging support system.

Aims : Chavrutah phone session’s main aim is to bring opposing sides of Israeli society together in an amiable positive atmosphere, leading, in many cases to strong bonds and extended family friendships. This combines the Ayelet Hashachar motto of ‘Bridging, Education and Jewish Identity’.

CHAVRUTAH WORLD CITY PROJECT

Based on our current experience with the highly successful Israeli model, it is our wish to expand this program worldwide, aiming at Israelis living abroad.

Major World Cities – According to our statistics, close to 250,000 Israelis live in Los Angeles alone. In many cases, these individuals have no connection to the general Jewish populace in the way that most American born Jews do. In many cases, Israeli youth and children in particular, eventually loose all connection with their language and culture while never making strong connections to the American community.

Creating an American-Israeli culture – Lacking any connection to the local Jewish organizations, Israelis often feel ostrasized. They struggle with a new culture and language, often poorly assisted by local fellow Israelis, but never quite adapting to their new surroundings. Later, when they wish to return to Israel, as many often do after a number of years, they see they have broken ties and lost connection. This is especially true for their children who may have even been born in the States.

Chavrutah World and Pen Pal Chavrutah World, will provide a network whereby adults and adults and children alike will be able to bond with Israelis in a pleasant and positive way, leaving the door open for their return to their country of birth or, at the least, boosting their confidence through strong and familiar ties with their country of origin.

Reasoning behind Chavrutah World Project. The decision to expand the project to include Israelis living abroad is in response to the vast number of enquires received annually by our offices to include Hebrew speakers from all over the world in our highly successful technique.

PEN PAL Hebrew Speakers Internet Project
Chavrutah equivalent project for Israeli children living abroad to connect them with youngsters their own age living in Israel.
Aim : To give them a strong human connection to their home country
To help them adjust healthily, while maintaining their language and culture
To maintain their Jewish and Israeli identity
To give them the opportunity to learn about their native background

your assistance would be very much appreciated as this promises to be a fantastic project,
many thanks

Also of note, my parents made me go through “confirmation” even though I went to a Jewish highschool. Confirmation is like a Sunday school for teenagers up through grade 10. After that, I stopped going to Reform services at the shul unless my parents absolutely made me.

In college, I became the Hillel vice president. Not so I can have people to pray with, but so I can have a community to connect to. That’s how I look at religious institutions. I don’t need them for prayer, I need them to connect to the community.

My American grandmother thinks that what defines the Reform movement is the amount of English used in services. She thinks that the less English they use, the more Orthodox it becomes. She doesn’t like rabbis, especially Orthodox ones that are revered. She got a science degree and used a different name in college so that she can fit in, even though the college she went to has a very large Hillel today.

As to your comment, I think overall, Israelis are just like any other immigrant group. One group doesn’t strive to be more American any faster than any other immigrant group. I think in my case, because half my family lives in the US, and the other in France, my roots in Israel were very weak. Weaker the roots are to the native country, the faster the family would assimilate. My dad grew up in the States, and he bought his parents’ house so we know live in the house he grew up in. So I was technically an American when I lived in Israel, as well as a French citizen (though my French family is almost completely of Tunisian descent). I was a tri-citizen from birth. We regularly went to France and the US for vacation. I still had a little culture shock when I moved to the States, and I’m still not used to it completely, meaning I prefer the Israeli way in certain aspects.

In conclusion, Israelis are like any immigrant group. The move to the US for work. In my family’s case, since my mother was the only non-American citizen, my family wasn’t immigrating in the fullest sense of the term. The US wasn’t completely new and our roots in Israel were weak.

One, my American grandparents. They are very secular and a bit hostile to the “religious” community, especially the orthodox. When my dad was a kid, his parents (my American grandparents) made a deal with the Reform synagogue so that they can send him to Sunday school with out becoming members of the shul. Additionally, their insistence that I learn “proper” American manners that stripped my of Israeli behavioral norms.

Two, the Reform synagogue. Their heavy use of English in services was unexpected for me. I only been to a service once before moving to the States and it was in an orthodox shul in Paris for my brother’s bar mitzva, since I grew up on a kibbutz. Also, their Sunday school system is terrible.

I didn’t meet Israeli Americans my age till I reached high school(3 chatichot), but they had much stronger connections to the ol’ country. One of my Israeli American friends went back after high school to join the IDF. I didn’t since I had no family there and since my family moved to the States, my parents never made it seem to me that I should have a connection with Israel, though they have dozens of Israeli American friends.

One of my dad’s friends is a JNF director for the Maryland/Delaware/DC area. He says there are a lot in this area, especially Rockville(DC suburb).