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January 12, 2001/Tevet 17, 5761, Vol. 53, No.15
Educator on mission to meld religious, democratic values
VICKI CABOT
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No, the impassioned young Israeli is not making matches in the traditional sense, but like a good shadcahen (matchmaker) he is pairing seemingly incompatible halves into a satisfying whole.
Through his work at Hiburim, he marries divergent, often opposing, elements of Israeli culture, creating a seamless educational approach that combines both Jewish and Western values.
"We want to bring Jewish tradition and liberal Western values together," says Glaser, who recently visited the Valley.
Hiburim - the word means "connections" in Hebrew - was founded two years ago in response to concern about the growing rift in Israel between the secular and the religious streams. It seeks to provide professional training and resources to help educators integrate Judaism with humanism in their classrooms.
Education in Israel is usually an either/or enterprise, explains Glaser, with separate systems of religious and secular schools. Curricula emphasize one approach, ignoring or marginalizing the other and making little attempt to incorporate it into teaching.
The compartmentalized system not only reflects divisions in Israeli society, but also helps to perpetuate them.
"I have a deep concern about the polarization," says Glaser. The rift fuels suspicion and distrust on both sides. A secular fear of religious extremism has led to a troubling alienation from Jewish tradition, he says, and humanistic values such as democracy and rule of law are increasingly seen as potential threats to religious tradition.
Glaser's mission is to cut across those boundaries.
"It is not about helping the secular and the religious to coexist," he emphasizes. "It is about drawing on both traditions."
Run on a shoestring budget from Jerusalem offices by Glaser and a changing group of dedicated interns - including Scottsdale college student Rachel Hughson - Hiburim has spent its infancy cultivating relationships in the educational community and developing strategies to accomplish its goals.
It is funded through a patchwork of grants from foundations and individuals and is applying for a 2001 grant from the Women's Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation in Phoenix.
As Hiburim has attempted to define its mission and determine its course, developing professional training and support services for teachers has been paramount. Programmatic goals have been secondary, Glaser says.
One of its first accomplishments has been creating a supportive network for teachers to share information and professional concerns.
Glaser calls it an "oasis," giving teachers the opportunity to reflect and discuss practical and philosophical issues with colleagues in a comfortable environment.
"If you are running a race, you can't always think about how you are running," says Glaser, of the need to provide venues for teachers to take time out.
Mentoring also is a key element, as is development of materials reflective of Hiburim's integrative philosophy.
"We're reengineering the educational environment," says Glaser.
Hiburim's Tikkun Olam project is its first programmatic initiative, seeking to join together the Jewish value of repairing the world with the Western value of social responsibility.
Fifteen schools and 27 organizations in Haifa are involved in the project, which will place students as organizational volunteers. Glaser says the citywide program, which involves students in grades first through 12th, required intensive preliminary work to generate interest, acquire partners and match schools with social service agencies. He credits the support of Haifa's mayor, Amram Mitzna, as well as the Ministry of Education, Haifa University and other organizations, for helping to implement the program.
Teacher training commenced in December; matching and placement of students will follow in the coming months.
"Students will develop their thinking, commitment and skills," says Glaser, of the ambitious project. Besides helping others, they will be creating caring communities within their own schools based on tikkun olam (repairing the world).
During his recent visit to the United States in late December, Glaser met with communal representatives to learn about U.S. programs, reflective of Hiburim's values, including Facing History, Facing Ourselves in Boston and The Washington Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values.
Glaser says founding Hiburim was "just doing what comes naturally to me." Australian by birth, Israeli by choice, he studied law and economics at Melbourne University and then did advanced study in philosophy and education at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Raised in a Reform home with strong Jewish values, he was active in the Jewish youth movement in Australia, which had a Zionist component. He notes that of the 90,000 Jews down under, 7,000 are Israeli citizens, an exceptionally high percentage for a Diaspora community.
Glaser traveled to Israel as a youngster on a family trip, but says it was as a young adult that his connection to the Jewish state became compelling.
"I began to realize that Israel was about communal responsibility, about belonging. It was my historic home, but I wanted to make it my personal home."
Glaser made aliyah 15 years ago when he was 24. His wife, Helen, who also is from Australia, is an advisor to Hiburim and works in the field of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.
Helen Glaser recruited Rachel Hughson, a University of Arizona Judaic studies major spending a semester in Jerusalem, to work for Hiburim. Hughson says Hiburim's mission complements her interest in social action and her commitment to Reform Judaism.
Hughson is a member of Temple Solel and was an active participant in its youth program.
Before founding Hiburim, Yonatan Glaser was international education director of the Reform Zionist youth movement. Research completed while doing a fellowship in Israel for Israeli educators, provided the seeds for the Hiburim program, he says.
Ten years from now, Glaser hopes to see at least three or four Hiburim programs up and running in Israeli schools. He also would like to see a growing base of knowledge in educational integration to attract serious academic research.
"I'd like to become a real player in Israel," he says, his commitment as much a reflection of his professional goals as his personal aspirations.
Glaser, who lives in Jerusalem with Helen and their three young children, is concerned about Israel's future - and his own.
"What happens in Israel determines Jewish morality," he says, bemoaning the present societal and political schisms.
He believes that by melding Jewish tradition with Western values, Israel can realize its own aspirations as a positive force in Jewish life.
"History is not the past," he says. "It goes into the present and determines the future."
For information, contact Hiburim's Web site, www.hiburim.org.il.