Californians may gripe about poorly funded public schools and increasing segregation in the classroom.
But Israeli teachers who toured several Bay Area public and Jewish day schools in early October found a lot to their liking.
The eight, six from elementary schools and two from high schools in the towns of Kiryat Malachi and Chof Ashkelon, were invited here by the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay, under a new program called Partnership 2000 Teachers Exchange.
To some in the group, which included both Orthodox and secular Jews, the San Francisco and East Bay schools on their itinerary seemed almost luxurious.
Ayalah Hagage, an English teacher dealing primarily with new Ethiopian and Russian immigrant students at the Netsach elementary school in Kiryat Malachi, said the most striking difference was the size of the classrooms.
“The classrooms here are huge,” she said. “Ours are small, and not furnished at this level at all. There are none of the luxuries like here.
“And there aren’t two teachers in every class, or only 20 pupils per class.”
In Israel, she said, “my classes have 38 students and most of them are from lower economic conditions.”
The teachers agreed that the level of education they observed being taught the States is of a higher quality than they had expected.
Because her school, as well as her entire town, has undergone many changes over the last few years in having to absorb hundreds of new immigrants, Hagage hoped the exchange project would help her better meet the challenges involved. And she was eager to have her Israeli students correspond with those in California.
“I think it will help improve the whole attitude of our students to have contact with students here,” she said, “Writing to pen-pals, sending e-mail. I hope this connection will hold a long time and we can all benefit from it.”
This is exactly what Nitzan Aviv, who conceived of and coordinates the project at the federation, had hoped for. “Economic development and people-to-people are our main focus,” he said, adding, “the idea is to build a bridge between the U.S. and Israel.”
Tsipi Hecht, an English teacher on a moshav near Ashkelon, also expressed enthusiasm for what she observed.
“I am impressed by the multicultural diversity of the public school we visited, and how they managed to get past the bridges. It was overwhelming,” she said.
In the Jewish schools, Hecht duly noted that the children were studying Hebrew, Tanakh, and other Jewish subjects. “I think they know more than Israeli kids in secular schools,” she said.
Aviv wanted to help the visitors understand the choices that exist here as far as one’s Jewishness is concerned, and how being in a predominately non-Jewish country causes many Jews to adjust their lives accordingly.
“The goal,” he explained, “is to help them understand the Jewish community in diaspora, so they can explain it to the Israeli kids — what it’s like to live in diaspora.”
His plan calls for several American Jewish teachers to visit Israel in December, where they will learn new methods of teaching Judaism and Hebrew, and “see how Jewish education is coped with within an educational setting, and not on a religious basis.
In the end, Aviv said, “the most important thing on both sides is for us to come up with joint projects with the kids involving the Internet, exchanges of e-mail, and so on, so both sides can have an ongoing connection.”
Beyond the classroom, the exchange proved to be an eye-opener for Hagage, who is Orthodox. “What I liked best here is the way the Jews are united and live together in peace,” she said. “The integration here is magnificent between the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform. Israelis should learn from this. It’s a warm community here.
“Really, we were jealous. In Israel there are divisions everywhere, and no one is very open to changes. It’s very exciting to see the openness and tolerance here. And it seemed so natural – they’re keeping their Judaism so nicely. We didn’t expect to see what we’ve seen here, and we plan to go back and explain to others – not just the students. You come away seeing things differently.”
The Israelis were hosted by local Jewish families, who organized Shabbat celebrations and other activities. They experienced a “warmth from the host families beyond anything we expected,” said Hecht.
“I’m totally secular, and I got here such an experience that was really divine. I saw so many people really happy about Torah, and I was really ashamed — I had to pray, and I don’t do that at home. But I had to pray. I almost burst into tears.”
Aviv credited Rabbi Glenn Karonsky, executive director of the Federation’s Center for Jewish Living and Learning, with helping propel the program forward. “Karonsky really made it happen,” Aviv said.
Organizers hope to build on the exchange to eventually include attorneys, physicians and other professionals.