The videos that bind

RHONDA SPIVAK

Former principal of Winnipeg’s Ohr Hatorah School, Rabbi Amihai Bannett, who now lives in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, has recently become the educational director of Israel Connect, a program dedicated to developing two-way, long-term interpersonal connections between Jewish youth around the world and their peers in Israel.

The program is run by Melitz, a 35-year-old organization that develops and implements informal educational programs. Israel Connect’s programs “enhance Jewish identity and commitment to the Jewish people ... [twinning] young Jews from ... schools, university campuses and the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] using the Internet, video conferencing and face-to-face encounters. We currently work with 50 schools worldwide, including a number of schools and student organizations in Canada,” Bannett told the Independent.

According to Bannett, the possibilities of twinning schools in Israel with Jewish schools in various parts of the world are limitless.

Recently, “10th grade students from a school in Ashdod participated in a video conference with their peers from the 10th grade in a school in Lima, Peru,” Bannett said.

The connection between the schools began as an initiative by an art teacher at the Ashdod school, who previously had served as a Jewish Agency emissary in the Jewish school in Lima. The teacher contacted Bannett and, together, they contacted a Hebrew teacher at the Jewish school in Lima. It was the two teachers who “formed a program to enhance the connection between the 10th graders in Ashdod and Peru,” Bannett said.

“This video conference was the first time that the students were able to see each other. For Chanukah, both classes prepared videos and presentations about Jewish life in Israel and Peru, respectively. Next December, the children from Peru will actually get to meet their Israeli friends in person and visit their twin school in Ashdod,” he said.

“One of the most emotional moments ... was when the Israeli students sang their twin school’s anthem in Spanish as a surprise for their friends and showed them signs, which spelled out ‘We love you and are waiting for you in Israel.’ The principals were both excited to be able to utilize modern technology to connect Jews who are so far away geographically,” Bannett added.

According to Bannett, there is a cost for every connection made by each pair of schools or groups, which is paid either by the groups themselves or by sponsors who are able to fund a connection.

Bannett, who served in the IDF’s elite Golani Brigade and continues to serve on reserve, is also involved in fundraising for the Israel Connect project. The Melitz team in Jerusalem provides the educational and organizational support for the project, which is supported by donors from around the world.

Bannett said that the program is open to all: “Melitz’s educational approach is characterized by a commitment to pluralism. We believe in empowering young Jews to take responsibility for owning and shaping their Jewish identity.”

Additionally, there is a new two-track project that will be launched to connect university students from around the world with their Israeli peers in Israel.

“One [track] is to connect immigrant soldiers and their IDF units with schools and university campuses from their home community. The second track will connect IDF units with their peer group on university campuses in the Diaspora. Next year, there will be a pilot for this program at Columbia University in New York.”

For more information on Israel Connect, visit israelconnect.org. Anyone wishing to “connect” with Bannett can e-mail him at [email protected].

Rhonda Spivak is a Winnipeg freelance writer and editor of the Winnipeg Jewish Report.

^TOP