A Visit From the Principal of Jerusalem Hand in Hand

On Shabbat Nachamu, CBST was proud to have Efrat Meyer, the principal of Jerusalem Hand in Hand, address the congregation.

Rabbi Kleinbaum: “I’m delighted to invite somebody up to speak whose very presence in the world provides some consolation and comfort to me personally. Efrat Meyer is the principal of the Hand in Hand High School in Jerusalem. Almost every trip to Israel that we take we visit the school. It’s multicultural. Everything’s in Arabic and in Hebrew. It’s very deeply moving.”

Efrat Meyer on Israel and her school: “I’m worried. But I’m optimistic, because I’m an educator. And education is an optimistic act. … My school is a place of optimism every day, even in the hardest day of violence between Arabs and Jews in Israel, which is every day.

“We bring Jews and Arabs together, to the same classrooms, with two teachers with two languages, with many different cultures, within Judaism, and within Christianity and Islam. And the kids don’t see the other as enemies anymore.”

How Education Is Bridging the Divides Between Jews and Arabs 

On the podcast “Union Talk”, Randi Weingarten—the rebbetzin, and AFT president—recently sat down with Dani Elazar and Manar Hayadre to discuss the impact their multicultural Hand in Hand schools are having on Israeli society, and how empathy can be a good tool for combating decades-long strife. Listen to the episode.