Shalom,
I read with interest the discussion on connecting and educating students to Israel and Zionism.
Another way of achieving a real life connection with Israel is to connect your school with an Israeli school.
My experience as a teacher and Principal in both Canada and Israel has taught me that a real connection with Israel starts with a connection with the people of Israel. When the connection is not only with the ideal of supporting Israel but also with an Israeli friend it is much more lasting and meaningful.
That is why we have been running Israel Connect, a Melitz program dedicated to facilitating an inter-personal two-way connection between students from Jewish schools around the world and their peers in Israel.
This connection can encourage students on both sides to explore their own connection to Israel and the Jewish people and help strengthen their commitment to Judaism.
We develop a curriculum for each pair of schools which matches their goals in connecting to each other and facilitate communications between the two groups in order to make the connection meaningful.
For groups who also come to Israel, we also facilitate the face to face meeting, as the next step in their connection and joint learning.
You can have a look at the links below to see some examples or contact me directly.
All the best from Israel,
Amihai Bannett
עמיחי בנעט Amihai Bannett
Educational Director Israel Connect
amihai@melitz.org.il www.melitz.org.il
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