Yerushalayim of our Imagination

Thoughts on Yom Ha'atzmaut

Too often, we allow ourselves to see not what we have, but what's missing. This is especially true when we look at the modern State of Israel, and even at the modern city of Yerushalayim. Through a study of Tehillim 122, we can come to a better appreciation not only for Yerushalyim, the subject of that chapter, but also for the blessing of the Medinah which, although not complete, represents a source of great blessing for the Jewish people.

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Orot Students Study Medical Ethics

By Rav Uriel Touitou, Excellence Program Coordinator

In the Orot Excellence Program's course on medical ethics students learned about the intersection of medicine, Jewish law, ethics and morals. During a recent tour at the Shaare Zedek hospital as part of their study they observed how professionals deal with real-life halachic and medical challenges presented by the rapidly advancing world of modern medicine.
Created ten years ago, Michlelet Orot's Excellence Program provides advanced students tools and skills to transform their intellectual abilities into tools they can in their educational career. In addition to offering enriched courses that focus on education and teaching, the program looks to expand students' horizons by offering classes on subjects they would not encounter during their normal course schedules.
In a world of instant communications and media, students find themselves exposed to questions about organ donation, pregnancy and childbirth issues including abortion, fatal diseases as well as many others. To address many of these questions, students in the Excellence Program attend a course in medical ethics given by Prof. Menachem Schlesinger and Rabbi Menachem Schahor. Study includes frontal classes as well as a tour at the Shaare Zedek hospital guided by lecturers from the hospital's Schlesinger Institute for Medical Halachic Research.
During their recent tour students met with doctors and nurses and heard proposed medical solutions to address marital problems and pregnancy and childbirth issues. The tour included a lecture on the subject of medicinal treatment for brides before the huppah and an additional lecture on the issue of genetic match between couples. Students learned about genes that might be carry diseases, the identification process and medicinal treatment to prevent possible future diseases, genetic matching between spouses and coping mechanisms for couples where both spouses are genetic carriers of the same disease.
In the Department of In vitro Fertilization students learned about different stages of infertility treatment as well as the challenges that couples face in their quest for pregnancy and childbirth.
The students' final lecture addressed the challenges of running hospitals on Shabbat and hagim according to halachah. Run various systems whose operation requires chillul Shabbat requires hospital directors and poskim to find creative halachic, technological and scientific solutions.
Student responses to the course were excellent. They found that this special course opened a window for them to an important and fascinating world which they would not have been otherwise exposed.

The English Department goes to a live performance of "My Fair Lady"

Dr. Vitela Arzi
Head of the English Department

No study in the field of Foreign Language Teaching would be complete without a viewing of the classic film "My Fair Lady." This film encompasses the linguistic sub-fields of socio- linguistics, psycho- linguistics, and of course practical linguistics in the form of phonetics, diction, syntax, lexis and more. All of these components are studied within the context of Introduction to Linguistics and Applied Linguistics as taught in the English Department at Orot College of Education.

However, says David Wapner, instructor of the Linguistics courses, "there is a vast difference between "simply" teaching these linguistic topics within a formal classroom setting in a theoretical sense, to that of actually seeing them in "play" in the practical forum and in an extra curricular venue. "

We were fortunate indeed , as a live production of "My Fair Lady" in English, performed by the Light Opera Group of the Negev, has come to theaters in Israel at the time that our students were just wrapping up the study of the aforementioned components in class. Mr . Wapner contacted the producers and we were given tickets at a special discounted price; we received some additional assistance from the Dean of Students Rabbi-Dr. Rachimi, who helped to defray some of the students' expenses.

The students were abuzz with excitement awaiting the date and then the hour, and finally arriving at the theater in Mody'in.

Says Shira Tzubeiri, a second year student: "It's the first time that I'm watching an English speaking play, and it was an unusual and challenging experience. It was very special to meet my friends at a location other than the classroom, and it contributed to our social integration as a group". Her friend Shulamit Isaacs adds: "This magnificent well produced play was a fantastic learning experience, which brought alive all the theoretical knowledge that was amassed in the classroom . Seeing the material come to live on stage validated everything that we had studied on a purely theoretical basis."

Watching the play together with other extra-curricular activities initiated by the English Department , reflects a holistic approach to the learning experience in general , and to language learning in particular which the English Department advocates and practices.

Students of the Department of Counseling and Social Education Visit the "Retorno" Rehab Center

The "Retorno" drug rehab center, located near Beth Shemesh, provides treatment for tens of adolescents (boys and girls) and many adults from the orthodox and ultra-orthodox backgrounds who sought an escape through alcohol, drugs, gambling or other additions.
Accompanied by their teachers Limor Tal and Bella Even-Hen, the Orot students visited the center during a week of practical work to witness the staff's professional work and devotion to their patients. The students heard personal stories of several patients, some of whom themselves became part of Retorno's training staff and administration.
Students absorbed a number of critical messages during their visit. They witnessed the catastrophic results of destructive parental and educational behaviors, including a lack of attention, sensitivity, and a failure to understand the child and teenager's soul. The students learned that drugs and alcohol represent an attempt at a permanent escape for pain. Often, teens mask this deeply hidden pain because they lacked an outlet to express their feelings in conversations with any meaningful figure in their life. Students were introduced to some of the treatments as well as to the complex challenges that the center addresses, and also learned about various methods of support and reinforcement, such as sentences that express love ("we love you") to someone who addresses the group, or a physical hug (or virtual hug in case there is prohibition of touching between man and woman).
One of the highlights of the tour was in the quarried cave of the Retorno site where meetings are held at candlelight, in group dynamics style. These experiential and powerful meetings enable both individuals and the whole group the ability to develop trust, support, acceptance, belonging, identification, intimacy and development of self-awareness and awareness to others.
The students left the center with tears in their eyes and a heart full of excitement and gratefulness for "a most instructive experience and memorable lesson for life".

Teaching the Value of Freedom at the Seder

An Article By Rabbi Reuven Spolter
Director of Recruiting and Special Projects

Should we cause our children to suffer in order to help them fully appreciate the Redemption we're supposed to relive on the night of the Seder? Maybe we should. After all, as parents, we cause our kids to suffer all the time.
You can download this article in pdf format by clicking here.

Along the same lines, my wife Rena shared with me this story of parents outraged an an educational attempt to help kids appreciate the suffering of the Holocaust. Do you agree with the incensed mother at the end of the story? I'm not sure.

Becoming Better Teachers at the Sands of Nitzan

Orot has always considered field trips an integral part of teacher training, founded upon the basis of "ארץ ישראל על פי תורת ישראל" - “Eretz Yisrael in accordance with Torat Yisrael”. Orot realizes that for graduates to effectively communicate a love of the Land to their own students, they must invest their time and energy acquiring knowledge of the Land and appreciation for it.
We believe that a student that experiences preparation and guidance of a field trip will regard the issue of field trips as a school teacher in a different way from a teacher who didn't have the same experience. For this reason, as part of their educational program, all Orot students participate in a number of yearly tiyulim, giving them a deeper and broader appreciation for the Land of Israel.
These college-wide field trips represent a unique phenomenon in the world of teacher training in Israel and are led by first-year students (with the help of 2nd and 3rd year students) in the Department of Eretz Yisrael Studies, who invest great effort preparing to guide their fellow students during the tiyul. Watching students integrate with each-other and their instructors while travelling the land and learning from fellow students brings Orot’s administration great pride.

Trip to the Sands of Nitzanim
A month ago, about 350 students of Orot visited the sands of Nitzanim, located along Israel’s coastal plain along the Mediterranean between Ashkelon and Ashdod. Nitzanim is close to Nitzan, a town where some of the former Gush-Katif families reside following their uprooting four years ago.
The tour began with a history of Nitzanim during the War of Independence, when it served as a critical strategic Israeli stronghold. Although ultimately abandoned, Israeli forces at Nitzan succeeded in stopping the Egyptian troops advance to the North, preventing them from conquering the coastal plain and the Tel-Aviv area. The students then visited the residents of the nearby Yishuv Nitzan, hearing the sad and moving story of the uprooting of Gush Katif.
After the stop at Nitzan, the students proceeded to the sands of Nitzanim, beginning with its fascinating and historical cemetery. They continued to the west to the sand dunes, one of the last and largest remnants of Israel's coastal sand dunes with its attendant animal and plant life. They then enjoyed a two-hour hike through the sands to the sea-shore.
This trip to a site close to the center of Israel, combined history related to the founding of the State of Israel, the story of the Gush Katif expulsion and physical exercise through the sand dunes, to produce a wonderful, educational experience that not only enhanced our students’ year, but will make them better teachers as well.

Israeli Filmmaker Speaks to Orot's Film Students

Director and scriptwriter Shoshi Greenfield recently joined the students and faculty of Orot's Department of Communication Studies for a discussion of her film, "The Rebellious Son."
The well-received film, screened in community centers and theaters across Israel, tells the story of Greenfield's brother, a "hilltop youth" coping with the pulls of Israeli life and family and social pressure, all while trying to integrate these into a religious and Zionistic worldview. In addition to the personal story about her brother and his struggles, the film presents a unique perspective on the nuanced and complex relationships between Jews and Arabs, the settlers and the state, and between the founding generation of the settlements and the generation that grew up there.
After a screening of the film, the director told her personal story upon which she based the script and explained some technical aspects of the film's production. She described some of the challenges of producing a feature film, as well as some of the techniques that would be useful to students creating their own films.
Students currently studying in Orot's Department of Communication Studies found the meeting with the scriptwriter important for their practical training. "She had a lot of courage to do this production, and it was important to hear from her how she overcame the challenges that arose during productions. As someone studying communications she represents a model to emulate."
To learn more about "The Rebellious Son" visit the film's website.