Likrat Towards

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Likrat (Towards)
A Dialogue Between Religious and Secular Youth,
on the Internet and in Face-to-Face Meetings
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• The Centre for Educational Technology (CET)
• CET is an NGO dedicated to the improvement of the
  education system in Israel. CET employs about 250
  people, who specialize in content development,
  assessment evaluation and ICT, in all
  disciplines.
• We focus on
• Developing textbooks
• Constructing computerized learning
  environments
• Heading assessment and evaluation processes
• Leading professional development for teachers.

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Background
Israel defines itself as both a Jewish and
democratic state, a fact that heightens the
tension between state and religion
This tension is especially complex in Judaism,
since religion and nationality are entwined
Different notions of Israels Jewish identity
create conflict Between religious and secular
communities
Over the years this dynamic has led to
polarisation, to such an extent that at times,
common ground has been undermined.
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Question to the audience All Israeli citizens
over the age of 16 are issued a national identity
card. One of the headings this card bears is
'nationality'. Citizens are all labeled
'Israeli'. True or False
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Question to the audience Within the Israeli
public education system, every parent has the
choice of sending their child to either a secular
or religious school. True or False
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Why create a special meeting place for secular
and religious students?
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How does ICT contribute to creating a meaningful
and respectful dialogue?
Asynchronous Communication
Creating a virtual community
Meaningful Dialogue
Common database
Provisions Rules
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Question to the audience In order to best
comprehend historical events and their social
implications, students are exposed to a variety
of sources. Are secular and religious students
offered the same sources within their respective
school systems? Yes or No
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Creating a virtual community
Students participate in structured activities in
class throughout the year
Students are identified by their names and schools
Students share the same learning process
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Provisions Rules
Students are asked to suggest guidelines and
rules that will foster a meaningful and
respectful dialogue
Forum discussions are led by both religious and
secular facilitators, who guide the students and
help them to maintain a respectful discourse
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Asynchronous Communication
Students may read several messages and explore
diverse views before writing their response
Students may take their time when writing their
response, which allows them to rethink and
rephrase their message
This contributes to avoiding harsh expressions,
typical in other discourses between these two
estranged groups
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Common database
The Likrat website offers relevant background
information, such as historical and social
events, laws, texts from the Jewish tradition,
and so on. This database is open to all students
to draw information in support of their views and
to enrich discussion.
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website examples
R Shabbat (Saturday) activities Friday evening
we all get together, and on Shabbat I'm a youth
group leader at B'nai Akiva. From what I know
about secular kids my age, their Shabbat is for
partying, clubbing and that kind of stuff. They
know nothing about Shabbat's real values!
S Weird Who are "they" that you're on about?
We may be secular, but that doesn't mean we
aren't a part of the same nation, and share a
history. When you say "they", you're making a
generalisation, as if we're all the same! There
are many secular people who do know the meaning
of Shabbat, they just approach it differently.
R Shared values? Yeah, Shabbat is important to
some secular kids. But does it mean the same to
them as to us? Yes and no. For us, Shabbat is a
holy and special day. How is it special to you
guys? If you're partying, it's like you don't
care!
S Not everyone's the same It's totally your
right to think whatever you want and I've got no
problem with it. But I think that you're dissing
something without thinking and that's not fair.
We do know what Shabbat is. Shabbat is
different from the rest of the week and is
something special for everyone. Shabbat for me
is dinner with the whole family, trips to nice
areas, resting, and lots of other stuff. Waiting
for a response
R New question Do you guys think that shops and
malls should be shut on Shabbat? I think it
depends... If there are religious people in the
neighborhood they should be considered. On the
other hand, people who work all week and only
have Shabbat free to go shopping should also be
considered. What about you guys?
S Jewish state Hey. Even though I don't observe
Shabbat I think that there should be no public
transport and shops should be shut. We live in a
Jewish state, and the laws of the state relate to
the laws of Judaism. But wait a minute, the
majority of the population is Jewish, but not all
of it. So, in some towns and neighborhoods that
are mainly Arab like Nazareth it's OK to have
shops open and transport running on Shabbat. For
people who work all week, Shabbat's a great day
to enjoy the outdoors, and there's always the
evening when Shabbat officially ends to go to
the mall.
Facilitator Another point of view Hi everyone,
why don't we try a different approach Shabbat
is important as a day of rest not only for
religious reasons, but also for social ones.
Shabbat is defined by law as the day of rest in
order to protect the rights of employees in the
face of their employers, as well as those of
business owners to maintain fair competition.
Since Shabbat is the day of rest in Judaism, it
seemed the obvious choice, out of consideration
for the working religious population. Do you
agree?
S I've never thought of it that way I totally
agree with you. I have always connected Shabbat
to religious people and it can be pretty
frustrating. Your explanation showed that though
a day of rest could be any day of the week,
Shabbat is the easiest option for Israel, since
religious people rest then anyways. I think your
approach is correct and I'm going to start
thinking about Shabbat differently.
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Likrat Facts and Figures
Likrat has been active in Israeli schools for
8 years, with the support of Zav Pius
organization and the Ministry of Education
10,400 - students from both religious and secular
schools have participated in the project so far
2 evaluation and assessment reports indicate
that Likrat offers a successful model for a
meaningful encounter among students from both
communities
95 of the teachers and 85 of the students argue
that they experienced a meaningful dialogue
within the framework of Likrat and would
recommend it to other Schools
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Thank You!

• Sharon Ayalon Avital Drori
• sharonay_at_cet.ac.il
  avitald_at_cet.ac.il
• CET
• Centre for Educational Technology
• Israel