Education Minister Bennett and Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky Celebrate Diaspora Week with Young Jews around the World
Source: Jerusalem Post
Israel Education and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett and Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky hosted an online discussion with Jewish children and teenagers in three different continents Tuesday night to mark the first-ever Week of Strengthening the Connection to Diaspora Jewry. The cabinet announced the launch of this initiative in July, deciding to dedicate a week every year to Diaspora-Israel ties in light of “the many complex challenges shared by the Jewish nation in Israel and the world.” The conversation between Sharansky, Bennett and the Jewish youngsters was conducted via a video conference held at the Jewish Agency’s situation room in Jerusalem.
The discussion focused on the connection between Israel and world Jewry, and included participants from five schools – in New Jersey and Florida in the US, in Safed, Merhavim and Beit Shemesh in Israel – as well as youths at Bnei Akiva summer camp in South Africa.
This was not the first time the students were meeting each other, as their schools are all part of the Jewish Agency’s Global School Twinning Network, which pairs Israeli schools with Jewish schools throughout the world. 650 schools on six continents are currently connected through the program, involving tens of thousands of young Jews in the endeavor. The twinning program started with just three schools four years ago, Sharansky said, and he hopes to see it continue expanding until all the Jewish children in the world are connected in an active dialogue with each other.
Read the entire article in the Jerusalem Post.