The KKL-JNF World Conference on Education began on July 18, 2018, with a visit to the KKL-JNF House in Tel Aviv. About 250 teachers, principals and educators are participating in the conference, which is held annually by the KKL-JNF Youth and Education Division’s Overseas Department. This year, the participants hail from fifteen different countries, and while they are here, they will have a firsthand experience of Israel along with receiving educational tools that they can use in their educational frameworks back home.
KKL-JNF House. Photo: Yoav Devir
The conference is the highpoint event of year-round educational activities organized by the KKL-JNF Education Department together with school principals, teachers and educators from around the world. This year, the conference marks Israel’s seventieth anniversary. For eight days, participants will tour throughout the country, listen to lectures, participate in workshops, enrich their educational toolbox, connect to KKL-JNF values and deepen their connection to the state of Israel.
“The huge demand from educators throughout the world to participate in our challenging educational program in Israel, and the desire to share ideas, upgrade programs and experience Israel’s scenery gave birth to an international gathering that grows stronger every year. The conference expresses KKL-JNF’s goal of strengthening our bond with the Diaspora,” said Hani Desa, Overseas Department Director in the KKL-JNF Youth and Education Division.
This year, representatives arrived from fifteen countries throughout the world, including the USA, Latin America, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Sweden, France, Morocco, South Africa and, of course, a group of Israeli educators.
“It’s very important for us to participate in the conference in order to strengthen our connection to Israel,” said Bernie Kovacs from Hungary, Principal of the Scheiber School in Budapest. “The teachers participating in this educational journey will be able to give over what they experienced here to their students.”
“I have visited Israel a number of times in the past, but it’s an entirely different feeling to come as an educator rather than as a tourist,” said Rebeca Camhi, a teacher of Jewish heritage from the Tarbut School in Guatemala. “It’s interesting to learn new things about Israel that I’ll be able to transmit to my students.”
KKL-JNF Museum: A Historical Contribution
The first day began with a visit to the historical KKL-JNF House in Tel Aviv, the place from which KKL-JNF administered the purchase of lands in the historical land of Israel. The site served as the focus of activities of the National Committee, the entity that served as the liaison between the Jewish population and the British mandate.
Leading up to the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel, the first provisional government convened at this site. Museum Director Dr. Arye Ben guided the conference participants during their visit. He told them that the Declaration of Independence was supposed to have taken place at KKL-JNF House, but after it was leaked to the press, many people wanted to participate in the event, and the House was too small to host everyone.
Today, part of the building serves as a museum of KKL-JNF history, where historical artifacts, pictures, maps and documents are on display. On the second floor, the debate room was restored, including the original chairs and tables that Ben Gurion and the other representatives sat on. There is also an exhibition of Blue Boxes from around the world, a stamp exhibition and an audio-visual show.
“The Education Conference is an opportunity to connect with teachers and educators from around the world, and of course to strengthen our connection to Israel,” said Violetta Varga, an English and Sports teacher from Hungary. “We want to learn more and more about Israel, and to share our knowledge and experiences with our students.”
The Hall of Independence: The Establishment of the State
From here, the group continued to the Hall of Independence, which is located on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv and is the site where Ben Gurion announced the establishment of the Jewish state. This was one of Tel Aviv’s first houses, and it has an ongoing exhibition featuring the declaration of the state, the Scroll of Independence and the history of the Jewish people in its land.
The objects on display in the hall reconstruct the historical moment of the ceremony of the declaration of the state: the stage with the names of the distinguished personages, an image of Herzl from above and the flags of the state from the sides. At the time, the building also served as an art gallery, and reproductions of the original works presently decorate the walls.
“The Jewish people is like one family, and education is the most efficient way of transmitting this message to the next generation,” said Natalia Bakulina, Director of the Center for Jewish Education in Kiev. “We need to all work together, because we all understand that Israel can’t exist without the Diaspora, and the Diaspora can’t exist without Israel.”
At the same time that the groups were visiting KKL-JNF House and the Hall of Independence, the educators from France visited Ariel Sharon Park, and saw how a garbage dump had been transformed into a park, a green lung and a focus of learning about loving nature.
The educators from the USA visited the Alexander Muss American High School in Hod HaSharon, and heard from the students and teachers about the unique program for students from all over the world, who come for a half a year to learn about their roots, to have a taste of Israeli life and to strengthen their Jewish identity.
“The visit to the school was very inspiring, no less. This is exactly the type of teaching I would like to be involved in,” said Sam Rosenberg, a Hebrew, Bible and Jewish History teacher from Austin, Texas. “Israel calls me to come back to her again and again. This visit is an opportunity to learn together with a wonderful group of educators.”
Joy Schandler from the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education in Miami, Florida, expressed her deep love for Israel and added: “I came to the conference in order to understand how we can bring our love for Israel into the classroom and into Jewish life in general, because we all need the connection to Israel.”
Ilanot Forest: Nature and Technology
The opening ceremony of the conference was held during the day at Ilanot Forest, with the participation of all the members of the delegations and KKL-JNF representatives. A kleizmer band received the guests with traditional Jewish music, and everyone started dancing spontaneously.
“We are holding this conference with the goal of empowering educators as an element that influences the character of the next generation. The visit to Israel expands horizons and deepens knowledge,” said KKL-JNF Overseas Department Director Hani Desa. “We will continue to work together in order to strengthen our bond and in order to create stronger Jewish identity.”
KKL-JNF Education Division Director Simon Elbaz said that “the World Conference on Education marks Israel’s 70th anniversary and 117 years since KKL-JNF’s inception. The KKL-JNF leadership is committed to strengthening ties with the Diaspora through educational activities in Israel and abroad, among others. As educators, you are the key to strengthening these ties,”
Ilanot Forest was planted soon after the state was founded with the purpose of examining the possibility of acclimating various species of trees from around the world. Over the years, the forest became neglected and abandoned, until KKL-JNF began to care for it. Two years ago, the site was declared a botanical garden. The forest has been made accessible to people with physical limitations thanks to the support of friends of JNF USA, and it includes paths that are wheelchair friendly and guidance posts with recordings suitable for the visually impaired and those who are hard of hearing.
The new visitors center, which was built thanks to from the support of friends of KKL Denmark, takes the visitor through the experience of visiting the forest by advanced technological means, including a virtual reality bicycle that rides between the tree-tops, a globe that shows the different types of forest around the world, an interactive display for placing suitable species of trees on appropriate places on a map, learning about the different parts of trees on tablets, a movie theatre and an interactive trivia quiz.
After the experiencing the forest virtually, conference participants went for a walk through the real thing, enjoying its vistas and learning about its fascinating variety of trees from around the world.
Natalie Elbaz, a nursery school teacher, immigrated to Israel together with her husband and their two children two years ago from Morocco. They now live in Netanya. “Since from a very young age I always wanted to live in Israel,” she said. “I am happy to meet teachers from various countries at the conference and to hear how they deal with the challenge of Jewish education.”
KKL-JNF House: Excellence and Leadership
The conference participants continued northwards for a visit to the KKL-House for Excellence in Upper Nazareth. The house offers tutoring and educational enrichment activities for youth, with the goal of nurturing excellence and young leadership. The building was designed in a young and innovative style and includes classrooms, a computer lab, an auditorium and an open space for social activities. This is the first center out of ten that KKL-JNF plans to build in Israel’s outlying regions in the Galilee and the Negev.
Learning takes place in small classrooms with professional teachers and personal tutors. The house also promotes informal education and holds social activities and enrichment lectures that reinforce the value of love of the land and increase community involvement. About 200 young people have already participated in activities since the house was opened about a half a year ago. “We are looking for serious youth who are interested in investing in their studies,” said Omer Harpaz, Director of the Upper Nazareth house. “The message that we are sending to the young people is that the state of Israel is internationally acclaimed for its outstanding technology and values, and now it’s your time to become a part of this success.”
The teachers participated in an educational activity on inventions and learned about Israel’s unique contributions to the world – from cherry tomatoes and drip irrigation to USB storage and Waze. Whoever answered the questions correctly received a large letter. At the conclusion of the activity, everyone created a sentence from the letters: ISRAEL START-UP NATION. The tools and content developed for this activity by the KKL-JNF Youth and Education Division will be used by the teachers in their classrooms throughout the world and will help connect children to the success stories of modern Israel.
The first day of the conference ended at Kibbutz Lavi, with everyone joining an activity called “Dancing Israel”. The colorful and multicultural journey depicted, by means of dance, music and costume, the story of the state, the ingathering of the exiles and Israeli society from the time of the country’s inception until today. The picture of dozens of educators dancing enthusiastically to a multitude of dance styles was a joy to behold.