People-to-People Partnerships - High Touch & Hi-Tech

In the 2,000 year old catacombs of Beit Shearim

Today, the 17th of Tammuz, the Roman army breached the walls surrounding Jerusalem. It was the end of the siege of Jerusalem, and the start of the Roman onslaught, which ended in death and destruction of the city, the community, and the 2nd Temple.

Jewish leaders adapted to the destruction of the Temple, the ultimate "central agency" for Jewish life, by establishing an academy in Yavneh, and a Sanhedrin, a convening of 70 leaders, that was portable and was not dependent upon Jerusalem.

I began my day in Bet Shearim, where for awhile the Sanhedrin met, and where Judah the Prince, the compiler of the Mishnah, was buried. The Sanhedrin, the Talmud, and all that followed were creative adaptations to new conditions - no Temple, no Jewish sovereignty.

Ours are not the first generations of Jews to deal with cataclysmic change.

The BASIS Summer Forum split into 3 tracks today. One group focused on arts and culture. They looked at video, photography, music, film, and attended a performance of One of a Kind, an acclaimed children's show combining theater, story-telling, and animation about the Ethiopian experience in Israel.


Actors from 'One of a Kind' discussing the play with BASIS
participants after the performance.

Another group went to Jerusalem - their theme was "Memory and meaning in the Shadow of the Sacred." That included study tours of Yad VaShem or the Western Wall and workshops on shlichut (use of Israeli emissaries in a school community and on family education).

I chose the 3rd track, which traveled north to Oranim College, focusing on school twinning and use of technology.

After visiting the caves of Bet Shearim, we examined school twinning and other partnerships as mechanisms to promote Jewish peoplehood and identity. We reviewed several models of school, youth, and educator partnerships and were presented with powerful evaluation data tracking impact of these strategies. Then we turned our attention to technology. We looked at distance learning, radio broadcasting, and innovative uses of technology in collaborative art. Finally, Doron Nesher, of Timeless Jerusalem, demonstrated his virtual reality application, linking students and educators in North America and Israel for virtual meetings, classes, games, and parties.

The visit at Oranim had a powerful impact. Those who have been involved in school twinning shared their successes, and the schools who have not twinned were inspired. The evaluation data showed compelling evidence of substantial positive impact on students and teachers. Every participant with whom I spoke left Oranim with practical ideas to implement in their school and with a deepened vision of how to use people-to-people programs and technology to bring Israel alive in their schools.