Ma'ariv – 7/12/2011

"Shi'ur Moledet"-

A Homeland Lesson

It’s hard to believe that somewhere in one of Mitzpe Ramon’s neighbourhoods, next to the roaming wildlife, you can still find youth that get excited about ideas like pioneering and reviving the Negev.  They study in a boarding school for leadership and social action, and sound just like the generation of the founders of the State of Israel.  Ben Gurion would have been proud of them.

by Ori Binder/ Photo: Yehuda Lechiani

A large ibex with magnificent horns is walking slowly toward a gro  up of students gathered in the yard of a house in Mitzpe Ramon.  The students continue with their day-to-day discussion, almost indifferent to the member of the endangered species that decided to take a stroll in the heart of the neighbourhood in order to see what’s happening with the guys.  This group of students spends most days and nights in the house next door, which from the outside seems like a regular apartment building.  Actually, it is a boarding school for leadership and social action called “The Mitzpe Ramon Youth Society for Leadership” which constitutes a sort   of home for these students and their counselors  – members from Beer Sheva and Mitzpe Ramon of the young Educators’ kibbutz of the “Dror Israel

” movement who emphasize the lost Zionist idea of pioneering.

Together, surrounded by beautiful ibexes and other wild animals, they are presently working on caring for the neglected apartments in the building, as well as their surroundings and the results can be seen in the neighbourhood from one day to the next.  Inbal Ron, 35, principal of the boarding school, who in the past was principal of a boarding school for at-risk youth in Kibbutz Eshbal, does not at all regret the decision to move south.  “When I arrived,” she says, “the remains of a boarding school for the arts occupied the building that we received.”  We set for ourselves the mission of establishing a new society of youth that would shape the social action of our students through activities that include music, sports and education of the character.  It needs to be understood that youth in Israeli society exist today in a certain vacuum.  We are trying to bring them something new, making them take responsibility for their actions and care for themselves and their friends, instead of their parents taking care of them.

Connecting the Past to the Present

The new boarding school for leadership was established in Mitzpe Ramon in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Local Municipality.  One of the central considerations in its establishment, and in bringing in young students from all over the south, was the emphasis on youth in the town.  “The counselors arrived with a sense of mission and with a desire to dedicate every day to 30 students, between the ages of 15 and 18,” Rom says, and emphasizes that she does not adhere to a stance of formality, but relates to all of her students with warmth and love.

Mor Levi, 26, came from Rosh HaAyin in order to guide in the Mitzpe Ramon kibbutz, located in the heart of the town.  “I came to Mitzpe Ramon two years ago, and right away we saw a potential here for significant action in developing the Negev,” she explains.  “Students come to us because they are looking for something different in life.  Our youth aspire to lead and to volunteer in the community.  They search for meaning in their lives; they are tired of just sitting all day at home on the computer.”

This surprising affinity for pioneering attached itself to these young people under various circumstances.  With Carmel Levi (26 years old, originally from Kibbutz Ramat David, a member of the educators’ kibbutz in Be’er Sheva), for example, it happened during the journey to Poland in 11th grade.  “The trip really had an influence on me,” she says, “the connection of the past to the present especially interested me, and I understood that it needs to be done.  Simply done.   Therefore, after Poland I joined the “Hemshech” group and after the army I came here.  This year we opened the boarding school, so most of the week I’m here, and during part of the week I contribute to the Educators Kibbutz in Be’er Sheva, located in an apartment in the “Hey” neighbourhood.  This is really Zionism in my opinion.  After all, I came from the North in order to establish something new here.  A society is measured by its attitude toward the periphery and we want to establish a value-based center here that will illustrate the significance of life in the Negev.  I think that the mission of building the country is dependent upon the Negev.”

The guides take upon themselves the societal and pioneering missions of the boarding school with the utmost seriousness and within a short period of time they have managed to infect the students with this “disease” as well.  Gal Zifsler, 15 and-a-half years old, a tenth-grade student, came to the boarding school from Kibbutz Ruhama.  Her explanation for her joining triggers a d?j? vu to the founders’ generation of the country.  “I was looking for a different educational structure that can allow me to contribute to the community,” she says.  “One day my sister told me about the society of youth in Mitzpe Ramon so I came to the orientation and got excited.  I love freedom of expression, to be who I am, and here I have the opportunities to do what I love.  It would not have happened in other places.”

“I knew kids from Mitzpe Ramon that told me about the boarding school for leadership and social action,” explains Shahaf Gefla, 14 years old, from Rishon LeZion, a student in the ninth grade.  “It lit a spark within me and I said to myself that I have to come here.”  Likewise, Niv Sadeh, 16 years old, who came here from Ramat Gan, does not regret it for a moment.  “I looked for a structure that would allow me to express myself,” he says.  “In the past I studied in a democratic school and I was interested in a similar place.  I discovered this boarding school on the internet and a friend told me about the orientation day.  So I came, and that’s all, I’ve been here ever since.  I really connect to the independence here, to the responsibility and to the strong familial connection that exists between the students and the counselors.  It’s a special, unique experience.”

Gilad Sa’adi, 17, a student in the twelfth grade from Hod HaSharon, came to the boarding school directly from the youth movement.  “Friends in ‘HaNoar HaOved’ told me about the place and it immediately sounded really interesting.  I’m happy that I came here.  I fell in love with the desert, and it’s easy for me walk to it from the boarding school.  I live in a beautiful and special place, with a feeling of action, and I even learned how to do my own laundry here.”

“Over the course of two years I searched for a boarding school that would suit me,” adds Manor Akuvit, 16 years old, a student in the tenth grade that came here from Kibbutz Degania.  “Friends told me about this special boarding school and I got excited.  At first, my mom was opposed, but in the end she agreed to give me a three-day trial period.  When I returned home I managed to convince her to agree.  I love the school, the beauty of the place, and everything here, actually.”

A Challenge for the Town

There is no doubt that, at least for now, this is a type of Zionist success story that carries seeds of revolution in all that relates to education of Generation-Y in Israel.  Is this fascinating experiment in Mitzpe Ramon is a sign of a new state of mind in Israeli society?  Is there a chance that this will succeed in other distant places in Israel?  Is it possible to interest children and parents from the center of the country through this?  Time will tell.  In the meantime, Dana Feinik, the general secretary of “Dror Education Centers,” is very pleased by the speed with which the boarding school in Mitzpe Ramon kicked into high gear.  “The Youth Society in Mitzpe Ramon is an example of the ability of the educators from all of the projects in the network to allow every student’s voice to be heard and to succeed in realizing his or her own special creative abilities,” she says.  “I don’t aspire to teach the students to be professors.  I also want to educate toward democracy, social responsibility, and independence.  I would like for our students to choose to carry out social action in the community in which they live.”

 By the way, the boarding school students have already been absorbed into Mitzpe Ramon and have signed up for external activities such as rehabilitating the area’s riverbeds and the establishment of a jazz club.  The head of the city council in Mitzpe Ramon, Flora Shushan (the sister of former defence minister and Knesset member Amir Peretz), sees a special challenge for the southern town in the development of the boarding scho  ol.  According to her, all possible assistance will be provided in order for it to succeed.

“This boarding school is a respectable addition to the high school in terms of the level of resources and the level of integration with students from outside,” she says.  “Our high school is small and it requires a lot of resources in order to run the school in an intelligent manner.  The boarding school is of great importance in the community because in the past there were projects that ended, and slowly the number of students in high school diminished.  In the new project we created interest groups for young people, and in addition to art, the boarding school sets the subject of leadership as an important value in the community.  In light of its success, a greater number of students is expected next year.  We welcome the boarding school and invite students that want to deepen their understanding of subjects like leadership and art to come to us to receive enrichment, to create and to dream

Good Guys

The “Dror Israel” movement was established in 2006, and it is the umbrella movement of “Hanoar HaOved VeHalomed,” meant for youth; the graduate movement “Merhav,” meant for ages 19 to 30; and the “Community of Educators' Kibbutzim" meant for age 30 and above.  Today the movement has more than 100,000 youth members, 700 chapters in cities, moshavim, kibbutzim and towns.  In the movement, young people are encouraged to take part in a year of service in a communal living group in the post-high school preparatory program in national service during the year after High School.  The movement’s educational establishments include two boarding schools, five schools, and 32 educational clubs and after-school programs.  In addition, counselors in the movement lead educational processes for the Israeli Border Police and the Israeli Army, organize and lead journeys to Poland, lead values-based trips within Israel, and write hundreds of courses, lectures, and trainings on various subjects.