On their ninth day in Israel (January 10), a day before their journey was to end, the Australian educators visited the Arava Pre-Military Academy, which seeks to develop young leadership. Afterwards, they experienced the ancient power of Masada and the Dead Sea. The delegation concluded the day with an educational workshop on Vision.
The Ben Hashitin Premilitary Academy (mechina) in Hatzeva is all about setting an example and accepting the other. The educational program focuses on Israeli society, contributing to the community and bonding with the desert. In the academy the pre-army students are exposed to a broad spectrum of subject matters, including psychology, economics, Judaism and politics. By living together, they s acquire skills that will help them in the future - in their military service as well as civilian life.
After their visit to the pre-military academy, the delegation went on to visit Masada, the ancient fortress at the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, overlooking The Dead Sea. This site is famous not only for its breathtaking beauty, but also because of its tragic story. During the Great Jewish Revolt, Jewish rebels holed up in the fortress. The Roman Legion laid siege to Masada, and when the rebels realized the situation was hopeless they decided to commit mass suicide, so as not to end their lives as slaves. About 960 people ended their lives there.
After visiting The Dead Sea, the delegation returned to central Israel. In the evening they participated in a workshop on vision, organized by the KKL-JNF Education Division’s Overseas Department.
The department is developing an educational kit, which includes a unit on vision, dreams and realizing Zionist values for young Jews living in the diaspora. “It’s a new kit, that we are currently working on, we call it “From Vision to Reality”, and it’s designed to enrich the toolbox of KKL-JNF’s Morim Shlichim (educational emissaries)”, says Malca Barkay, Diaspora Content Director at the Overseas Department.
“So, we decided to enrich the delegation’s contents with a vision-development activity”.
The speaker, Naama Klar, Director of the Reut Institute, stressed that “Vision is not just something you happen to think about because you have some free time, it is something very basic and central we each need to define for ourselves, especially teachers, like you all are”.
She explained that the Reut Institute is an organization that seeks to advance social innovation in Israel and throughout the Jewish world. “We focus on identifying the gaps between the decision makers’ work assumptions and reality, and identifying challenges and opportunities”.
“If you don’t have a vision you’ll stay stuck in the past, or become slaves to a constantly changing reality”, she said. “And what is a good vision? It is an inspiring vision, a powerful one. Your dream should be ambitious but also attainable”.
On the topic of the transition from vision to impact, she said: “Impact leads to change, in values, priorities, habits, action”.
Afterwards, Klar challenged the delegation members to write a vision - how they would like the world to look like in ten years. They all took out their cell phones and started typing, then they were asked to share their vision with the person sitting next to them, who gave them feedback.
For example, Neil Cohen from Moriah College in Sydney, wrote:
“The young Jewish community will be a community of good, humble human beings, who are respected, not feared or isolated, among the general population”.
Klar told the group members to write their visions in their calendars, and set a reminder, in two weeks, after they return home, to go over it and improve it. They were also asked to revisit the vision after a year and check if any changes had occurred – whether in their own lives, or the lives of their students, colleagues, and families.
“As educators who touch the lives of the next generation of Jewish leaders, you have great influence, and this is why your vision is so important”, she said.
Before wrapping up the workshop, she asked everyone to send a thank-you note to a person who inspired them.
“Use your vision as an empowering instrument”, she concluded.