Day 3 (Part 3) Alma & Yozma
Day 3 (part 3) Sunday, 3/13/05
I’m woefully behind so I’ll try to make this brief.
Upon finishing at Latrun we headed for Tel Aviv to visit Alma College. Alma was started by Ruth Calderon as a post graduate school for Israelis looking to re-establish their Jewish roots through study of traditional Jewish texts. It is part of what has been called the Israeli Jewish Renaissance. On Shavuot (a holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah) each year Alma runs all night study sessions for the residents of Tel Aviv. Thousands come to study and participate in a wide variety of programs. The attendants are generally secular Jews. The turn out is indicative of the thirst for Jewish learning that has grown and has not been satisfied in the secular society. Alma provides more formal classes as well.
We spoke with Orit Ilan and other Alma students. They talked about their search for a more meaningful non-religious Jewish identity. There is a need in these folks to reclaim their heritage and share ownership of Bible, Talmud and other Jewish texts. It tends to be a very personal exploration. Our delegation asked questions about the students understanding of community and where they saw their connection. (A personal observation made with the prejudice of a Reform Jew…the students seems to have such an intense need to discover a very individual and unique connection that they fail to avail themselves of the history of prior experiences of reformation. I don’t mean to suggest that they should not take their own journey but I fail to see the harm in learning from and about the Reform and Massorti experience. I also worry that the search is so individual that community, a critical Jewish value, is overlooked.)
Following our time at Alma we took a brief walking tour of the area around the school. Tel Aviv is known for its Bauhaus architecture and the subsequent International school of architecture. I really enjoyed see some beautiful building. Bauhaus in Israel was an attempt to show Tel Aviv’s high culture by following the German school after WW I. But as Nazism grew the International school started. Tel Aviv is really an exiting and beautiful city. I still have not had the opportunity to spend enough time here…maybe next time.
From Tel Aviv we drove back toward Jerusalem and stopped in Modi’in to visit the Yozma congregation and school, part of the Reform movement. We met at the school with Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon.
Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon
Rabbi Shiryon is the first women ordain in the US to become a women rabbi in Israel. The congregation and especially the nursery school have been very successful. They are now trying to have a continuation of their program in the grammar school age group. Also, they are trying to build a synagogue with municipal support. Unfortunately they are having difficulty getting support from the municipality. (Remember that Orthodox congregations regularly get government support and in Modi’in the municipality has provided land and funds for building synagogues.
The mayor of Modi’in and some council members and other local government members joined our meeting. There was “interesting” discussion but the municipality still does not appear to be anxious to help Yozma. We finished the day with dinner at the home of one of the congregants.
Gary A
I’m woefully behind so I’ll try to make this brief.
Upon finishing at Latrun we headed for Tel Aviv to visit Alma College. Alma was started by Ruth Calderon as a post graduate school for Israelis looking to re-establish their Jewish roots through study of traditional Jewish texts. It is part of what has been called the Israeli Jewish Renaissance. On Shavuot (a holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah) each year Alma runs all night study sessions for the residents of Tel Aviv. Thousands come to study and participate in a wide variety of programs. The attendants are generally secular Jews. The turn out is indicative of the thirst for Jewish learning that has grown and has not been satisfied in the secular society. Alma provides more formal classes as well.
We spoke with Orit Ilan and other Alma students. They talked about their search for a more meaningful non-religious Jewish identity. There is a need in these folks to reclaim their heritage and share ownership of Bible, Talmud and other Jewish texts. It tends to be a very personal exploration. Our delegation asked questions about the students understanding of community and where they saw their connection. (A personal observation made with the prejudice of a Reform Jew…the students seems to have such an intense need to discover a very individual and unique connection that they fail to avail themselves of the history of prior experiences of reformation. I don’t mean to suggest that they should not take their own journey but I fail to see the harm in learning from and about the Reform and Massorti experience. I also worry that the search is so individual that community, a critical Jewish value, is overlooked.)
Following our time at Alma we took a brief walking tour of the area around the school. Tel Aviv is known for its Bauhaus architecture and the subsequent International school of architecture. I really enjoyed see some beautiful building. Bauhaus in Israel was an attempt to show Tel Aviv’s high culture by following the German school after WW I. But as Nazism grew the International school started. Tel Aviv is really an exiting and beautiful city. I still have not had the opportunity to spend enough time here…maybe next time.
From Tel Aviv we drove back toward Jerusalem and stopped in Modi’in to visit the Yozma congregation and school, part of the Reform movement. We met at the school with Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon.
Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon
Rabbi Shiryon is the first women ordain in the US to become a women rabbi in Israel. The congregation and especially the nursery school have been very successful. They are now trying to have a continuation of their program in the grammar school age group. Also, they are trying to build a synagogue with municipal support. Unfortunately they are having difficulty getting support from the municipality. (Remember that Orthodox congregations regularly get government support and in Modi’in the municipality has provided land and funds for building synagogues.
The mayor of Modi’in and some council members and other local government members joined our meeting. There was “interesting” discussion but the municipality still does not appear to be anxious to help Yozma. We finished the day with dinner at the home of one of the congregants.
Gary A
posted by Gary A at 12:22 PM
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