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R26

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D

iaspora Jewish communi-
ties are not the only ones
with Jewish education
problems. Israel's general
(secular) public school system has
never been quite sure just how to
approach teaching Jewish stud-
ies. Caught between the need to
address diverse world views and
the traditional halachic approach
to Jewish studies, the general
public schools opted for limited
studies in order to escape the
moral and educational conflicts
inherent in teaching this subject.
Now, a new program, designed
to present a pluralistic and not
necessarily halachic approach to
traditional Jewish studies, is
bringing the enrichment and ex-
citement of Jewish texts and
sources to Israeli high school
teens in the general public school
system.
The program, developed by
Elul, a non-profit organization
founded in 1989, aims to create a
pluralistic educational framework
for Jewish studies to encourage
dialogue and understanding be-
tween religious and secualar
Jews. It combines study of tradi-
tional Jewish sources with mod-
ern Hebrew and Israeli texts,
through non-conventional batei
midrash (houses of learning).
In 1991, the Ministry appoint-
ed the Shenhar Committee to un-
dertake a three-year study of
Jewish studies in public educa-
tion. 'This was the first time that
Zionist, secular Israel was ex-
amining Jewish studies and not
leaving it to the Orthodox com-
munity," says Mr. Bar-Or, Elul's
co-director. "The committee rec-
ommended putting forth a
revolutionary idea — the non-
Orthodox take responsibility for
Jewish education in their own
sector."
But this was easier said than

done. With no infrastructure and
a shortage of qualified teachers,
the Ministry of Education turned
to Elul to develop a program.
Since the program's inception,
12 batei midrash have been start-
ed in 12 different high schools in
the Jerusalem areas, with near-
ly 500 students in grades 9
through 11 participating. Next
year, Elul hopes to be able to ex-
pand beyond the Jerusalem area.
At the same time, Elul has em-
barked on a teaching training
program designed to help teach-
ers create interactive Jewish
study frameworks for their stu-
dents. Now in its second year,
more than 40 teachers from 13
schools are taking part.
The teachers meet seven hours
a week to learn how to develop al-
ternative methods of conveying
Jewish texts to Israeli youth. The
program includes unique meet-
ings between religious and secu-
lar teachers to enable them to
compare methods of instruction.
In addition, Elul has just start-
ed a curriculum development pro-
ject and has been asked by the
Ministry of Education to develop
a nation-wide curriculum for Jew-
ish studies.
The Experimental High School
in Jerusalem is one of the gen-
eral public schools which has opt-
ed for the belt midrash program.
Some 25 students, mainly in the
9th, 10th and 11th grades, have
chosen to spend an extra two
hours a week in school to study
Jewish texts.
The learning is non-frontal: A
theme is selected and the group
begins with a general introduc-
tion to that theme. Sheets are
passed out with selected texts re-
lating to the theme, which include
both traditional Jewish sources,
modern Hebrew literature, psy-
chology, world literature, gener-

Park West Gallery

29469 Northwestern • Southfield

810-354-2343

Best Wishes for
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New Year.

FURNITURE & CABINET
REPAIR
Joe and Barb Waldman

These students don't face the same problems as Israel's secular schools.

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