ots@ohrtorahstone.org.il

The Yachad Program’s dynamic Jewish Cultural Facilitators are working in community centers across the country, promoting national unity and Jewish literacy amongst Israelis of all ages and backgrounds. By exposing the richness and relevance of Jewish culture and history to all Jews in warm and non-coercive environments, the Yachad facilitators are encouraging unaffiliated or disenfranchised Israelis to reclaim their Jewish heritage on their own terms, making a profound impact on Israeli society.

When Ran Reshef first arrived in the Neveh Ya’akov neighborhood of Jerusalem, the challenges seemed insurmountable. His office overlooks Ramallah on one side and the Arab village of Bir Ballah on the other. In between are hi-rise apartment buildings bearing all the signs of grinding poverty. Every evening, armed gangs roam the streets. As one resident states, “No one chooses to live here.”

A further obstacle to Reshef’s goal of building an inviting and cohesive Jewish community for the 20,000 local residents became apparent on his first day of work at the local community center. The director’s message was clear: “We don’t need any more rabbis here. We have more than enough already.”

But the Yachad Program facilitator’s idealism, warmth and sensitivity have won over even his most ardent opponents. Reshef is bringing together people of every color and ethnicity at the ulpan for new immigrants and the local clubhouse, and providing meaningful explanations of the Jewish festivals and way of life to people of all ages. Even the director who initially opposed his very presence in the community center now insists that he speak at each event that takes place there. “Judaism has so many beautiful and relevant things to offer, and its important that every Israeli understand his or her connection to our heritage,” explains Reshef. “My goal as a Jewish Cultural Facilitator is to combat divisiveness and apathy within the community by uniting everyone around their shared Jewish values.”

A recent tragedy highlights his approach. Last Yom Kippur, a young widow who had struggled for many years with poverty and ill health choked on her medication and died, leaving behind a needy family. While all of her children were distressed by her death, her youngest daughter was particularly traumatized. Finding herself alone for long stretches of time, the young woman began mixing with high school dropouts whose lives were dogged by drink, drugs and crime. She soon became pregnant and although it was unclear who the father was, her Arab ex-boyfriend demanded custody of the baby girl, a campaign that was continued by his family even after he was imprisoned for petty crime.

Unable to cope with the pressure and feeling that she had nowhere to turn, the young woman threw herself from the top floor of her apartment building. Her death shocked the local community, and her friends were especially distraught when they realized that no one had sat shiva for her.

The department of social services turned to Reshef for help; he reacted immediately, gathering together 30 of the deceased’s friends to talk openly about their feelings. He encouraged them to create a memorial service for their friend, and together they studied the Jewish sources, even learning mishnayot in her name. Over time, the group forged a strong relationship with Reshef, and the meetings continued. “What started out as a response to a very specific tragedy has turned into an ongoing support group,” he says. “Some of the street gangs are now taking their first steps from alienation towards integration into a caring community, and they have been exposed to the relevance of Jewish culture to the complex issues they face in their everyday lives.”

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Like Reshef, Jewish Cultural Facilitator Yossi Ohrenstein is also immersed in connecting his Ramat Gan community to its Jewish roots. In addition to teaching classes, coordinating projects and running Jewish cultural activities, Ohrenstein also makes himself available to the public, answering questions and helping out wherever possible.

Recently, a local resident phoned the community center with a question about baking Challah for Shabbat. Unable to help her, the staff referred her to Ohrenstein, who happily agreed to study the sources with her and assist her in search of recipes. “That first, fateful meeting with Penina led to a real partnership,” says Ohrenstein. “There is so much background to the Jewish ritual of Challah baking, and our studies were so interesting that we hatched the idea of running a Challah workshop, which we called ’Bake and Learn.’”

On the day of the event, enina worried that no one would come. But her concerns were in vain; the idea sparked the imagination of more than 100 women, religious and secular, who braved the freezing cold, rainy weather to take part. While they prepared dough and practiced a variety of creative ways to plait the loaves, Ohrenstein related the significance of the Challah to the Jewish home and discussed the importance of Jewish family life. The participants were delighted with the warm, informal atmosphere that he created, his gentle manner of communication and his ability to connect everyday topics like raising children to the Jewish sources – and they asked for more. As a result, Ohrenstein is now developing a follow up project: a monthly Havdalah and Melave Malka ceremony with refreshments, community singing, storytelling and words of Torah.

“Working out of community centers throughout the country, the Yachad facilitators are responding warmly to natural curiosity about Judaism, shattering widely-held stereotypes and introducing new approaches to age-old traditions,” says OTS International Director David Katz. “There is actually a huge thirst amongst the secular Israeli population for knowledge that connects them to their roots and for a sense of belonging to a community, but until now they have shied away from ‘Jewish content programming’ because they were afraid of being coerced or looked down upon. Our 14 Jewish Cultural Facilitators are reaching out to this population in open, accepting environments, encouraging them to discover the culture that unites them and informs their daily lives.”

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