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ASHKELON AND BALTIMORE EDUCATORS MEET This spring, a delegation of educators from Ashkelon, our sister city in Israel, visited Baltimore for a whirlwind tour including school observations, educator consultations and working to develop educational projects. It was an exciting experience for everyone involved. What follows is a speech We are here because we are brothers, and partners on the road we call “The New Friendship.” Our goal is to promote creative initiatives and cooperation between the two communities of Ashkelon and Baltimore, represented by THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. As representatives of formal and informal education in Ashkelon, we are here to strengthen the person-to-person relationships, as well as the community-to-community relations, from both a professional and personal point of view. We came for mutual learning and to promote shared and common projects in which children and youth have a major role. Children and youth hold a main part in this partnership and in the different programs, including the main Living Bridge, Amen, youth exchange and summer camp projects. Our younger generation is our future, and the main human resource for both communities. In order to maintain our Jewish identity, in Israel and in Baltimore, we need to act together according to the Jewish legacy. As the saying teaches, “ כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה - All of Israel is responsible one for the other,” even if they are geographically distant from each other. Educating to give, through the Amen project… educating to honor and respect each other and the elderly, learning our common roots through Living Bridge… shared understanding of Jewish history through We Are Brothers… joining together to visit Jewish sites in Israel’s heritage and learning about the Jewish holidays are the guarantee for keeping our Jewish identity. I will conclude with a story from the Mishna. A man was walking and saw Honi HaMe’agel, one of the important rabbis at that time, planting a date tree. So he asked, “Why do you plant this date tree? This tree will only give fruit in seventy years, and you are not a young man.” Honi answered, “As my grandparents looked ahead and planted trees, so I would have dates to eat, so do I take care of the next generations.” Passover is almost upon us. The holiday represents freedom and independence. It is all about teaching the children, the next generation, to fulfill the mitzvah of “ וחגדת ” - And you shall tell. We need to tell, to teach the story, so that the next generation will know and live by it. I will end by blessing us all that we will be able to fulfill this mitzvah. |
given by Avner Maimon, chair of the Ashkelon Education Delegation, at a reception given at the home of Linda and Steve Hurwitz in honor of our esteemed guests.