December 2002 News:
Dear Friends of
the Schechter Institute, The
past few weeks have given us days of celebration at Schechter, with one event
following another, fast and furious. Last
Monday evening (Dec. 9) we held the gala opening of the exhibition of works created
by the artists who have been participating in Ma'aseh Hoshev, the Artists' Beit
Midrash. Held at the Mishkenot Sha'ananim Conference Centre, the display includes
music, dance, video installations, plastic art, poetry and drama. All the artists
were present, as were some 150 guests. A
real celebration! For
a full account of the exhibit, please see the article
(at the end of this letter)which appeared in this past Friday’s Ha’aretz
newspaper. The
next evening (Dec. 10) we held the SIJS graduation ceremony which bestowed 80
degrees: D.H.L. degrees, M.A.degrees (including the first graduates of the Judaism
and the Arts track) and 4 new rabbis, three of them women. The latter were an
interesting example of our Ingathering of the Exiles: one
hails from Germany, where she is now developing the Masorti Movement; one
from Chile, who will now be the rabbi of NOAM, the Masorti Movement's youth movement
in Israel; one third-generation Jerusalemite from the Old City, who is currently
teaching at the University of Judaism where her husband is a rabbinical student;
and one from the U.S., who is now a rabbi in Netanya. Two
weeks ago - on the second day of Chanukah (Dec. 1) - The 2nd Annual Devorah and
Shraga Genger Prize for Outstanding TALI School
Principal was awarded to Ms. Nava Tal, principal of the Ramat Moriah Elementary
school of Jerusalem’s East Talpiot neighborhood on Sunday December 1, 2002.
In a moving ceremony attended by Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert and representatives
of the Genger family, the TALI Education Fund and the Schechter Institute of Jewish
Studies, Ms. Nava Tal received a $10,000 prize in recognition of the exceptional
educational enterprise she has fostered at the Ramat Moriah school. Speaking on
behalf of the Genger family was Mr. Itay Hacohen, nephew of Mr. Arie Genger. Mr.
Evyatar Hacohen, great-grandson of Dovroah and Shraga Genger and gifted pianist,
performed a lovely musical interlude at the ceremony. And
last but not least, a kit on the Book of Ruth, using works of art as a mode of
interpretation of the text, has just come hot off the press. It is very beautiful
and skillfully teaches pupils not only how to read a written text closely, but
also how to "read" a work of art. It will be used first in TALI schools
and, we hope, also translated into English for schools abroad. The
staff in involved in all these enterprises are to be congratulated on their dedication
and excellence of work, with special recognition to Naftaly Gliksberg, director
of the Artists’ Bet Midrash and curator of its first exhibit, and to the
team of educators who put together the Book of Ruth kit, including Ayala Paz,
Yehudit Zamir, Yardena Lubotzky, Dr. Jo Milgrom, Dr. Yair Barkai, Tirza Rotkovitz,
and others. To
my dear Schechter friends - to all of you- a good week filled with that same light
of learning and enrichment that has so illuminated Jerusalem this month through
the special events and projects that were sponsored by the Schechter Institute.
Shalom,
Alice
Shalvi
Chairwoman,
SIJS Israeli Board
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