Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at www.djnfoundation.org
62 | APRIL 20 • 2023
Children Learning Hand in Hand
O
n our recent Israel adventure with the Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit’s Motor City Mission, JN Editorial
Director Jackie Headapohl and I took a diversity
excursion in Jerusalem. It was a most enlightening experience.
Our first stop was the Hand in Hand Center for Jewish-Arab
Education. In short, this is a school where Jewish, Arabic, Druze
and Christian children learn together. As the Hand
in Hand website states: “Our goal is to establish and
operate fully fledged bilingual, integrated Hand in
Hand schools in every mixed Jewish-Arab area in
Israel.
”
Moreover, it declares that “the future of our
children is at stake, and we therefore must continue
to fight and advocate for equality and freedom in this
land for those of all religions and backgrounds.
” It is
a noble mission, and we wish them every success.
At the school, we met three students, two Arab Israeli and
one Christian, and two administrators. Their presentations and
comradery gave us a great deal of hope and reinforced the school’s
mission. Another good omen for Hand in Hand’s continuing
success is that it opened its first bilingual seventh-grade class in
Haifa, its second middle school in Israel, last fall.
So, when I returned from Israel, I dove right into the William
Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History to see if the
JN had written about Hand in Hand. Yes, it had. There are two JN
articles about the Hand in Hand program, which was founded in
1997. Its first school, a kindergarten, opened the following year.
Sidebar: At the risk of sounding a bit biased (well, I am the
archivist for the Davidson Digital Archive!), I am always amazed,
every time I enter the Davidson Archive, at the comprehensive
coverage of Israel over the last 100+ years.
Regarding Hand in Hand, see
“Optimism in Israel” in the Jan. 7,
2010, JN. This is a report about Amin
Khalaf’s and Lee Gordon’s visit to
Congregation Beth Israel in Ann
Arbor. Khalaf is the co-founder and
former president of Hand in Hand.
Gordon is the other co-founder
and current director of the
American Friends of Hand in Hand
organization.
Khalaf made some important
points. First, the schools are
recognized by Israel’s Ministry
of Education. Second, of salient
importance, the students at the
school work to master both
Hebrew and Arabic to foster greater understanding of each other’s
culture through its language. This facet of the school’s curriculum
continues to this day.
Five years later, the JN published “Learning Together: Israel’s
Hand in Hand Schools Show Coexistence is a Real Possibility”
(Dec. 3, 2015). This is a report on Gordon’s whirlwind tour of
Detroit, when he visited both
synagogues and a Muslim center in
Metro Detroit.
Today, Hand in Hand is still
growing and highly successful.
More than 2,000 students, ages
3-18, study together in seven
schools across Israel.
I’ll let the words of Ann Arbor
resident Susan Greenberg conclude
this column. In 2010, Greenberg
had two grandchildren enrolled
in the Hand in Hand school in
Jerusalem. She said, “The impact on
the children is unmistakable. They
bond, they genuinely care for each
other.
”
Yes, indeed, when Jackie and
I visited the school, hope for the
future was there in front of our
eyes.
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN
Foundation archives, available for free at
www.djnfoundation.org.
Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair
MIKE SMITH
First-
graders at
the Hand
in Hand
School.