Aviva Phillips meets
with Bina Program
Director Noga Brenner-
Sarnia in Tel Aviv.
A Secular-Jewish Path
Israeli program promotes Jewish identity through study and volunteerism.
Esther Allweiss Ingber
Special to the Jewish News
A
viva Phillips of Oak Park, a
board member of both Ameinu
Detroit and national Ameinu,
an organization of progressive American
Jews, has concerns "about dor hemshech
(the continuing generation)" and whether
it will remain Jewish.
To reach the young adult cohort that
stopped experiencing Hebrew school,
Jewish-run camps and Israel missions
after graduation, she said the Jewish com-
munity needs to ask, "How do you offer
something meaningful for this age group
that is not affiliating?"
The answer for Phillips is in service
learning and stressing cultural Judaism,
like what is offered at the Bina (wisdom
in Hebrew) Center for Jewish Identity and
Hebrew Culture in Tel Aviv. The Israeli
yeshivah gives students a Jewish cultural
and ethical education.
When a Bina educator came to New
York Ameinu to lead a session focused on
morals, ethics and cultures of Judaism,
Phillips was certain American Jewish kids
could benefit as well.
A diverse group of intellectuals and
educators founded the Bina Center follow-
ing the 1995 assassination of Israel Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin. According to its
website, the founders envisioned Bina as a
"forum for secular Israelis to explore their
Jewish roots in a pluralistic, analytical and
creative way, with the ultimate goal of tik-
kun olam (repairing the world)."
Bina's programs help adult participants
to develop their personal identities and
16 June 16 • 2011
define their roles as Israeli and world
citizens. The center also aims to inspire a
lifelong appreciation of textual study and
social justice, values seen as "essential to a
compassionate, Humanist national ethos,
which is both Jewish and Israeli."
Outreach To IDF
A decade ago, Bina started outreach to
young adults with programs targeted at
those in the Israel Defense Forces, about to
enter the IDF or its veterans. Attracted to
Bina's projects for tikkun olam and social
justice, the participants work, study and
volunteer as a group in neighborhoods
that are particularly challenging.
The pre-army groups study three days a
week and volunteer in the community one
day. The post-army groups study one day
a week and volunteer for three days.
Last winter, Phillips and her hus-
band, Mark, met program director Noga
Brenner-Samia at Bina, across from Tel
Aviv's central bus station. Aviva Phillips
also spoke to four of the 200 students at
the center.
"I was curious to know what kinds of
young adults were coming to these pro-
grams, what they hoped to accomplish
while they were there, and how they
thought it would affect their lives over the
long term',' Phillips said.
• Stay was intrigued by Bina's mix of
learning and volunteering within the com-
munity. She had attended a secular school
and felt that understanding more about
Judaism than just the holidays that are
celebrated is important.
• Mona felt a need to better understand
her roots, culture and history. She was
drawn to this community of students
whose volunteerism is part of their stud-
ies.
• Nitai appreciated Bina's approach to
applying Judaism to social justice actions.
He wants to be more involved in both areas.
• Nehara, who serves in the army, felt
confused about her upbringing: her par-
ents' anti-religious sentiments contrasted
with the religiosity of her grandparents.
She hopes what she learns at Bina will
clarify her choices about religion.
Seeing The Need
Phillips is convinced that Bina "has found
a means to bring Jewish content into the
lives of young adults at a critical point of
their choosing how to live as Jews." And
she sees the need.
The Phillipses met in Israel and lived
on a kibbutz. The couple enrolled their
three Israeli-born sons in a Reform Jewish
Sunday School and sent them off each
summer to Habonim Dror Camp Tavor in
Three Rivers, Mich. The boys also partici-
pated in several extensive Israel programs
though Habonim.
Despite the positive early Jewish influ-
ences that parents like the Phillipses give
their children, the 2005 Detroit Jewish
Population Study, commissioned by the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
reported "33 percent of households under
age 35 and 30 percent of households age
35-49 are not associated with the Jewish
community via membership in any type
of Jewish organization."
The population study reported, "Most
Jews who are unaffiliated or marginally
involved view Judaism only in terms of
synagogue life and religious practice. The
ethnic, historical, social and cultural con-
nections should also be emphasized."
For southeast Michigan, Phillips is
working within Ameinu to develop pro-
grams that focus on service learning and
cultural Judaism for campus seminars.
They would add Jewish content to stu-
dents' volunteer efforts to solve local and
world problems. Ultimately, she envisions
outreach to Jewish adults up to age 30.
"Bina instills in young adults a sense of
social justice Phillips explained. "We can
start talking about: 'What is there within
Judaism that brings Jews together to help
each other?' and ' Why do we as a people
want to do good acts?'"
Deborah Levy of Glencoe, Ill., a 2009
University of Michigan graduate, says she
benefited from the education she received
about Israeli cultural and political issues at
Bina's Tikkun Olam track. English-speaking
Jews, ages 22-28, study and volunteer in Tel
Aviv for either five or 10 months.
"I think that courses like the ones Bina
offers definitely would help young Jewish
adults stay connected," Levy said.
Phillips would like young adults to learn
you can identify culturally as a Jew, too,
and see how Judaism affects your life in
the things you do every day:'
Esther Allweiss Ingber is director of Ameinu
Detroit.
For information, contact Ameinu
Detroit at (248) 967-3170 or visit
the Bina website at
www.tikkunolamisrael.org .