Virtual Jewish School Meetings
Source: Otiot, a weekly Israeli children's magazine, wrote about Israeli & Jewish schools abroad that contact, interact & learn together through the Israel Connect project. Neveh Sarah Herzog girls in Bnei Brak meet with students of Etz Chaim School in Moscow. Alon Moreh Students meet with students of the Magen David Halabi Community School in the US. Haifa students keep up contact with students in Vilna, Lithuania.
Israel Connect is a program of the Melitz organization dedicated to developing and facilitating a two-way, long-term and interpersonal connection between Jewish youth from around the world and their peers in Israel in order to enhance their Jewish identity and commitment to the Jewish people. The project twins young Jews from frameworks such as schools, university campuses and the IDF using the internet, video conferencing and face to face encounters.
One of the highlights of the Bnei Brak – Moscow connection was the online Yom Yerushalayim celebration. After months of meetings and individual contacts, the two classes met to celebrate Yom Yerushalayim. The Bnei Brak girls shared some of their personal Jerusalem experiences with their Moscow partners. Then they sang Naomi Shemer's Jerusalem of Gold. They were joined by the Moscow students singing Shemer's hymn to Jerusalem in Russian. This was a truly touching experience.
Among the Israel Connect projects is a weekly chevruta session between students of the Jerusalem Shefa Yeshiva and students of the Ohr Avner School in Dnipropetrovsk in the Ukraine. The student pairs on both sides connect via Skype and learn together for an hour every Wednesday at 12:00 noon.