“Hevruta” is a framework for meetings of young people who are either attending the “Bina” pre-army “mechina” or participating in garin “Reut” – a national service program for young women sponsored by Bat Ami located in the Shapira neighborhood of Tel Aviv.  Forty two secular and religious young people are building a bridge for the future; a bridge of dialogue, tolerance and mutual respect.  The meetings, are a result of ongoing cooperation between Yesodot, Bat Ami and Bina and are graciously supported by The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.  All involved believe that these meetings strengthen the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and believe that these meetings which are at eye to eye and heart to heart levels are of utmost importance.

The participants, religious national service girls and secular boys and girls, meet on a regular basis to get to know one another directly and to hold a serious of discussions on sensitive yet significant topics which are part and parcel of the Israeli experience.  The meetings which address issues of Judaism and democracy are facilitated by Orit Schreiber and Itamar Manof – one religious facilitator and one secular facilitator who set for the participants an excellent example of cooperation and of all of the values upon which the program is based.

The program deals with issues such as: family, marriage in Israel and relationships, special needs in society, Tu B’shvat and the land of Israel, conversion and “Who is a Jew”, tolerance and mutual respect.  The highlight of the program is a joint Shabbat whose characteristics and program is planned by the participants.

The staff of Yesodot, Shoshi Becker the Educational Director, Dan Nevo our experience facilitator, and Rina Yitzchak Yashar who directed the program, provided professional support for the facilitators in developing the contents and in coordinating the logistics of the meetings.

The program was evaluated and the results of the evaluation elicited how significant the program is to its participants.  The following are a number of examples of answers received from the evaluation:

What was significant for the participants who are from the Bina secular mechina?

“To hear different sides, different opinions, to become acquainted with different approaches.  To create a relationship with girls who are somewhat different than I am.  In a number of conversations many conflicting opinions were expressed – for example: a conversation with a convert on “who is a Jew”.  It’s also interesting to discover that the opinions of girls in Reut are similar on some issues where I thought they would be very different.”

“I was exposed to different opinions and positions and I learned more about myself, on my point of view and what is important for me to defend or understand.”

“Particularly to understand my own opinions through the opinions of others that I had not been exposed to previously.  It’s interesting to see where we agree and where there are gaps in our thinking.  It’s a serious challenge to speak only for the sake of understanding and not to try and convince someone.”

What was significant for the participants who are from the religious Garin Reut?

“Mostly – to meet people who we do not get to meet on an everyday basis and to begin relating to them.  When I saw the gap between us, I understood how important it was to express my opinion.”

“It’s wonderful that we have the opportunity to explore the most painful and less comfortable points in our meetings.  When we talked about love and married life I felt that the breach between us was huge and it was difficult in the beginning because there is a rift between us on this subject.  And davka our conversation and straightforwardness did not harm or make the rift deeper.  It created an opening into a world which is “different”.  In my opinion it is very significant to have the ability to relate in a good and positive manner, one that is pleasant and inclusive.  The topics we talked about were often charged for both sides (for example the topic of relationships and family which led to the topic of homosexuality) but even so we were able to speak and listen in an appropriate manner.”

“The acquaintance and friendship that we see despite the rift in values and beliefs between us, there is dialogue between us and a lot of respect and camaraderie.   We see that we can speak pleasantly without yelling and belligerence. And also to discover that there are stigmas that really don’t exist.  For example we discovered that what we often see on television is a very leftist point of view and does not fairly portray people who are religious.

“The significance of meetings between religious and secular people who really don’t know how to differentiate between haredim and religious people and who think that the religious world is very extreme and who suddenly discover that we have a middle and there are common points to bridge.”

The findings of the evaluation have encouraged us and we are currently initiating a young leadership program which will reflect in its content and structure Jewish and democratic values and will serve as a source of tolerant respectful leaders.