Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Tikkun Olam Stories!

We added a new entry to our Alumni Testimonials page on our website -- this one from Social Action Track alumna Melissa Cohen, who just finished the 5-month program this past June.  

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Tikkun Olam and Educational Equality

Recently, Tikva Levy, the director of the Hila for Equality in Education organization, passed away.  One of Tikkun Olam's volunteering places, Hila seeks to empower weaker populations and encourage educational equality through grassroots advocacy.

Rachel Smith, who recently completed the 10-month Tikkun Olam Coexistence Track program, posted this to her blog in memory of Tikva: http://werdtothewise.tumblr.com/post/28873887525/tikva-levi-remembered

A few months back, Rachel also wrote a story for Ynet (Israel's biggest news website) about the Hila organization: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4175666,00.html

Tikkun Olam participants encourage educational equality from inside the classroom and beyond.  Click here to apply now and join them!


Monday, August 6, 2012

A Tel Aviv Winter

With the hot Tel Aviv summer dragging on into August, here's a refreshingly-titled piece by Tikkun Olam alumna Melissa Cohen that appeared in the Daniel Centers' summer newsletter about her experience this past Spring on Tikkun Olam.

And don't forget -- you still have time to register to join us this September 4 for 5 or 10 months.  Get started on your application now, or contact us if you have any questions.



Thursday, August 2, 2012

Tisha B'av in South Tel Aviv

Recent Tikkun Olam alum Tyler Fishbone was quoted extensively in this excellent piece from the Times of Israel, which tells about an event with Jews and African aslyum-seekers in south Tel Aviv for Tisha B'av. It also gives a good summary of the tensions surrounding the assylum-seeker issue in the neighborhood:



Tisha B'av is a traditional day of mourning commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples and other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people in the past.

To date, an estimated 60,000 African assylum-seekers have crossed into Israel from the border with Egypt, mostly coming on foot from Eritrea and Sudan.  The majority of them live in south Tel Aviv, an underprivileged area that is struggling to cope with this influx.  The Israeli government has left the asylum-seekers in a kind of legal limbo: The government will not allow them to work legally, but international law prohibits their deportation.  The situation has created tension between the asylum-seekers, neighborhood residents, and refugee aid organizations.

Tikkun Olam participants volunteer with both veteran residents of the neighborhoods, and with asylum-seekers.  As part of the program, they learn about the complexity of this situation, that is harmful to both sides.