8 Bustenai St.
Jerusalem
Israel
- Democracy and community development
- Gender
- Heritage
- Human rights
- International/Cultural relations
- Religion
- Youth and education
Elul, the Center for Culture and Jewish Renaissance, strives to strengthen democracy based on Jewish culture and thought; shifting the public awareness to the positive aspects of a Jewish culture that accepts the 'other', that embraces the differences and finds a way to live together.
Elul challenges the widespread feeling among secular Israelis that Jewish traditional texts "belong" to the religious camp only, and have nothing new or relevant to say to the modern secular Israeli. Many secular Israelis who come to Elul have chosen this pluralistic framework because they realize that Elul does not pursue a "missionary" agenda to convert them to an alternative way of life and worldview.
On the other hand, for religious Israelis, Elul opens up a refreshing new world with its open approach to textual study as a means of finding and defining one’s own voice within many approaches and opinions. The “Beit Midrash” methodology developed by Elul has been used to influence a number of issues in Israeli society including the relationship of Israelis to the environment and social justices regarding populations that feel marginalized due to their origin or geographic location.
Elul for the past 22 years has served as a model of a tolerant Judaism that assumes an egalitarian and respectful approach to every person by virtue of his or her humanness, in the spirit of “these and those are the words of the living God” (Eruvin, Babylonian Talmud).
Thousands of Elul graduates, from educators to directors of NGOs, artists, writers, journalists, actors and social activists spread throughout Israel are enriching Israeli society with a greater awareness of the need to bridge the differences between us, in order to strengthen the similarities and what unites us as human beings. In 2011 Elul was awarded the prestigious Ministry of Education Agrest Prize for Jewish Culture and in 2000 the Speaker of the Knesset Award for Dialogue between Secular and Religious Citizens.
• Central Beit Midrash has been in operation for over 20 years and is still renewing views and ideas regarding Jewish text and day-to-day matters. 40 participants came this year from all over Israel for a full-day learning program over 10 months.
• 15 Learning Communities around the country reaching 300 adults and students a year. Our 22 years of activity have yielded 40 groups across Israel. Throughout the year, Elul groups in the periphery hold open events for the public-at-large.
• Joint Haredim and Secular learning groups with the Open University students council.
• Talmudic Storytellers' Beit Midrash is in its fourth year of activity, and now includes a number of training programs. Participants in the program come with a background in theater, tour guiding and other disciplines, a population that in the past never frequented the Beit Midrash or participated in other venues in the realm of Jewish renewal. Our graduates are already performing in Rishon Lezion, Beit Shean, Jerusalem and the Jezreel Valley, appearing in approximately 40 shows a year, reaching a wide range of audiences.
• Leading the Jerusalem-based Israeli Jewish Renewal Organizations Forum
Elul’s newest initiative is a coalition of over 20 Jerusalem-based Jewish renewal organizations that represent a wide spectrum of secular and religious organizations and streams. The goal of the collaboration is to advocate for the expansion of tolerant Jewish cultural and learning activities in Jerusalem. To this end, the forum started meeting on a regular basis with the Mayor of Jerusalem and a series of other joint activities is being conceived.
• MekoRock Jerusalem - a groundbreaking community musical project (“mekorot”= traditional sources + “rock n’ roll”). Members of Jerusalem bands, ages 15-18, religious and secular, bridge their differences through active dialogue mediated by Jewish-Israeli culture in songwriting workshops mentored by leading artists, and Beit Midrash study with Elul facilitators. Participants also meet with peers in pan-Israel musical and discussion workshops. The original Jewish-content-inspired pieces will be recorded professionally and uploaded on the Internet. MekoRock will culminate in the Annual MekoRock Festival in December 2012. Applicants will be recruited by audition through religious and secular high schools, music programs and others.
Developing new initiatives for young adults
Elul is happy to host people from other organizations in the network, and by that to change the narrative in Israel from one that is often employed to kindle racism and discrimination to one that supports tolerance and inclusion. Jewish Israelis, whether they are secular or religious, women or men show great respect for Jewish sources whether they be from ancient texts or more recent writings as well as to the rabbis and their statements. In order to reclaim the narrative, it is vital to equip as many people as possible who are involved in teaching youth and in swaying public opinion with the ability to show that Judaism does not tolerate racism or discrimination. This program will expose thousands of Israelis, women and men, to a Jewish language that accepts and respects human rights regardless of race, gender or nationality.
Elul wishes to join the ALF Network so we can promote and operate activities that promote human rights and the fight against xenophobia, racism and discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs. As racism and discrimination in Israel receive direct support from Rabbis who support their views by quoting from Jewish sources, Elul believes that it is important to create a compendium of texts, rabbinical decisions, quotes, personal stories, etc. that elucidate of the strong textual heritage that demonstrates just the opposite: that Jewish traditional texts profoundly support respect and care for minorities, for women, and for those different from ourselves.