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Newsletter No. 1 |
August 2009 * Av 5769 |
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GANDEL INSTITUTE ON TRACK TO MAJOR GROWTH |
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The Gandel Institute for Adult Jewish Learning (Israel's Florence Melton Adult Mini-School) is about to enter its fourth year and is set to make its mark on Israeli society.
In the coming year we hope to have 24 study groups operating throughout the country with over 350 adults enrolled. In addition Gandel courses will be offered in three communities in North America for Hebrew speaking adults. There is in Israel today a tremendous thirst for Gandel learning and within the next few years we are set to become the largest provider of adult pluralist education in Israel.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is proud of the Gandel Institute's achievements over the past four years, emphasizing once again the role the University is playing as the University of the Jewish People.
The Gandel Institute has been extremely fortunate to have recruited outstanding educators headed by Dr. Yonatan Mirvis, Founding Director, Dr. Nicham Ross, National Director and Tsafy Simons, National Coordinator.
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| GANDEL FACTS AND FIGURES |
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In the first year of operation, the Gandel Institute had 87 students in 8 study groups, all located in the northern part of the country. In the second year we expanded to 14 groups, including new sites in the center of Israel. During 2009-2009 we finally penetrated into the south of the country and expanded our activities to 17 groups. We anticipate that in the coming year we will have 24-25 groups.
In order to cope with the growing number of students, our faculty continues to expand. In addition their is a continuous flow of people with excellent credentials applying to become members of faculty and study group directors.
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| MEET OUR GANDEL FACULTY: DR. AYELET OETTINGER |
 Dr. Ayelet Oettinger holds a PhD (cum laude) in Hebrew Literature from Haifa University. She is a recipient of the Wolf Foundation Prize for excellence in her first degree, the Pulver Prize for her MA thesis, and a Certifice of Honor from the Knesset for achieving excellence in her studies. She is head of Literature Studies and Academic Writing in the Pre-Academic Studies Center at the Haifa University, lecturer at Oranim Academic College of Education and the Arabic Academic College of Education in Israel - Haifa. Guest lecturer at Yad Ben Zvi, Diaspora Museum and the Ministry of Education. Ayelet is a member of the Gandel faculty and of the curriculum development team as well as a site director.
Ayelet's acquaintance with The Gandel Institute for Adult Jewish Learning began by chance: "I lectured to "Limmud Galil" participants on medieval poetry, and at the end, was offered to instruct a Gandel course. I agreed without really knowing what I was getting into, and the fact that I still teach Gandel classes four years later, speaks for itself."
Ayelet comes from the academic world, and the idea of teaching Jewish culture and lore to the public, fascinated her. She is still moved when students read, understand, enjoy, appreciate and finally accept their (our) cultural heritage. The Gandel course quenches a thirst for knowledge, providing a true well of living waters.
What impresses Ayelet most about Gandel study is the methodical manner in which the courses are constructed, and is very proud to be a part of the team of writers. Each lesson deals thoroughly with a different issue, suggesting a 'journey' not only in time and place - but also between diverse, pluralistic and usually contrasting, points of view, all stimulating thought and leading to an integrated conclusion. Each group experiences the journey by paving its own, different track! "I have learned to be 'a guide' rather than 'a lecturer': at times conducting the group and at times watching the participants lead the way. Both group-discussions and personal-stories, stimulated by the texts dealt with in class, yield a strong experience, and remain with all of us, students and me alike, even as time passes by."
Ayelet feels that a true advantage of the program is that the academic knowledge is not detached, but rather bares significance and relevance to our everyday lives. "It enables us to explore our attitudes, feelings and thoughts, to alter and to crystallize them, as we learn." She quotes one of her students, who told her that the Gandel course has been "the most meaningful Jewish experience in her life, so powerful that it changed the way in which she educates her children, and her everyday life." The Gandel course really makes a difference, affecting not only the learning individual but his/her family and community, as well. It is fascinating for Ayelet to witness people in Israel enjoying and opening up to Judaism, thanks to a project that began in the Diaspora. This is another wonderful example of the ongoing dialogue and mutual contribution, between Israel and the Jewish world.
In September Dr. Oettinger will be a visiting lecturer in Melbourne and during her visit to Australia she will be a guest speaker at the Sydney Melton School Graduation Ceremony and the Ayeka Project in Melbourne.
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| FIRST OFFICIAL GANDEL GRADUATION IN THE NORTH
[Tsafy Simons, National Coordinator] |
 In July 2009 five study groups from the North of Israel celebrated graduation at a beautiful ceremony which took place in the city of Naharia. All graduates received a Gandel Certificate of Learning in honor of their two years of study.
"I feel so much more connected to my Jewish heritage" said Tali Erez, a graduate from Kfar Shammai. She spoke about a Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony on the beach in Tel Aviv that she had recently experienced, and how her friends with her felt so much less knowledgeable than herself.
Netta Goldman from the Naharia group compared study at Gandel to a tour of a city: you walk down Rambam Street and turn into the Bialik Street, which meets up with the Ben Gurion Avenue and takes you down to King Solomon Square. On your way you meet other tourists, talk to them, compare past experiences and current thoughts, and eventually you come home so much more enriched and satisfied.
The ceremony included a lecture by Dr. Ayelet Oettinger, a leading member of faculty and curriculum writer, on the subject of Tisha Be'Av to Tu Be'Av, from grief to celebration. The event ended with a performance by the Tslil Galil Choir, three of its members are Gandel students.
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| MELTON BRINGS GANDEL COURSES TO PALO ALTO
[Jane-Rachel Schonbrun (FMAMS Director) and Nirit Kedem (Israel Connection Director)] |
The Oshman Family Jewish Community Center (OFJCC) in Palo Alto is a thriving agency undergoing a major expansion. Our new home, a $150 million project on the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life, opens to the community in September. The OFJCC offers recreational, education, social and cultural programs for all ages that enhance and enrich Jewish identity.
According to the 2004 Jewish Community Study conducted by the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, there are approximately 5,000 households (comprising 20,000 people) in the South Peninsula Jewish community that are self-identified as Israeli or having been born in Israel. With this in mind, the OFJCC created the Israeli Connection Department in May 2007 to provide programs and events of interest to the Israeli community, to further enhance opportunities for building meaningful relationships and social networking within the Israeli community, and to keep the larger Jewish community connected to Israel through the OFJCC.
During the first year of activity (2007-08), Israeli Connection produced and executed over 40 events with more than 4,000 participants, serving all age groups. Many of these events were produced in collaboration with major Israeli and Jewish organizations. A similar level of activity and participation was realized during the second year of such activity (2008-09). Going forward, the vision for OFJCC Israeli programming includes creating a home for the Israeli community on the JCC campus where they can feel welcome and part of the larger community, and helping the Israeli community to keep their traditions, heritage and culture and pass it along to the next generation. A priority has been placed on adult education for the Hebrew speaking community.
Though the Israel Connection Department has offered a small variety of adult education opportunities for the Israeli community in the past, never before has there been a program of long-term in-depth study such as the Gandel courses. We plan to offer the program as an expansion of our Palo Alto Melton Mini-School, beginning in January 2010. There is a committee working on recruiting students and finding excellent faculty, and there has been great enthusiasm for the program in our initial conversations with constituents. We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity for learning to the Israeli community, and we are confident that their participation in our community of learners will be transformative, for both the individuals and the community.
Gandel Study groups for Israeli speakers will also be opening in Miami, Florida and St. Louis, MO in the 2009-2010 academic year. Click here for contact information of these sites.
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| THE GANDEL STUDENTS OF HADERA
[Mara List] |
 In a modest, narrow room, upon a long table, covered in a white tablecloth, are the student readers of the Gandel courses covering "From King Solomon until Leah Goldberg".
This is the place where every Tuesday a group of energetic students meet to quench their intellectual thirst and curiosity in chapters of commentary, poetry, and legends from Jewish culture. An ex school principal, past and present teachers, an engineer, a housewife, parents and grandparents to sabras, a doctor of history, all of whom have one thing in common: a love of Judaism, our country and the Jewish people.
This is not any sample group, but the pearls of society, the salt of the earth.
They love to volunteer and give of their time to those in need.
They are avid readers and know every Israeli author and book.
They love to tour the length and breadth of the Land of Israel
They are keen to share stories and speak about their country.
Theirs is the narrative of the founders of Hadera, the engineers of the State, their stories are juicy like a ripe pomegranate.
The meeting is loud and stormy; each one has something to say, to add, to correct.
They sing together the songs of Rachel, they study about Rambam and Rashi, and delve into the depths of Jewish wisdom to search again and again for the answers on life and fate.
They sing with the same rhythm and intensity, amazingly synchronized.
There are jokes as well as words of criticism. Now and again someone is angry and another sheds a tear, as this, here, is our story.
These are the students of the Gandel group in Hadera, becoming facilitators themselves.
They understand the meaning of the written word beyond what is said, beyond the student readers and the teaching of the young, talented and educated facilitator.
And so the meeting goes over the one hour, the teacher and the students do not feel the time passing by.
And no class ends without the question ... what is the subject of the next class?
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| GANDEL BEIT SHEMESH STUDIES WITH MELTON CAPE TOWN
[Tsafy Simons] |
 The Gandel Institute study group from Beit Shemesh operates within the framework of Partnership 2000 Beit Shemesh - Mateh Yehuda - Washington - South Africa of the Jewish Agency. As part of their activity in June 2009 the group visited the Jewish Communities of Cape Town and Johannesburg, studying and spending time together with the local Melton group in Cape Town. The visit was led by Shimkue El Ami, a site coordinator and faculty member of the Gandel Institute.
Highlights of the visit to Cape Town included studying Jewish texts with fellow Meltonians and a Kabbalat Shabbat with community members and the Ambassador of Israel to South Africa. Viv Anstey, the Melton Mini-School Director in Cape Town was instrumental in organizing this outstanding program. The group also visited the Cape Town Holocaust Centre, Jewish Museum, the Gardens Synagogue, and the Astra sheltered workshop for intellectually disabled adults.
Through the Melton-Gandel experience the group was able to begin a dialogue with community members. This experience provided both sides with a new view of their desires and abilities to establish meaningful Jewish life within their community.
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