Givat Haviva Voice

May 27, 2018 Visit of Ministers of Education from German States : Dr. Stephanie Hubig of Rhineland-Pfalz Mr. Ulrich Commerçon of Saarland Mr. Udo Michallik, Secretary of the Federal Board of Education Mr. Tomas Kerstan, Education correspondent for Die Zeit The purpose of their visit Givat Haviva was to deepen their understanding of the impact of our work as an educational organization, especially within the formal education system. They were particularly interested in our work with the educators who in turn work with the children. Photos of the visit: https://www.facebook.com/GivatHaviva/posts/1021874694631148

In his words, “The Jewish people, dispersed over hundreds and thousands of years, always knew how to merge into the majority population. I expected that the Jewish people would become a model for the entire world, how to integrate the minority population in the best possible way. I am happy to learn about the center of Givat Haviva, whose activities and work strategy, has taken upon itself to serve as a model for the interaction of minorities in Israel.” More pictures here

Hewn from white Jerusalem stone, an impressive memorial to the children who perished in the Holocaust is situated just a few meters from the home of kibbutz born and raised sculptor and collector of Judaica, Aviram Paz. Having taken a particularly heart-wrenching feature from the late 1940’s created Shoah memorial - a desperate mother trying to protect her terrified child – Paz has sculpted from a large chunk of olive wood a very special, poignant Hanukiah for the approaching Festival of Lights celebrations. The eight hand forged chunky iron candle holders placed at the mother and child’s feet are representative of the fire and smoke emanating from the crematorium chimney stacks, emphasizing the connection between the celebration of the miracle of Hanukah and the devastation but also survival of European Jewry from Hitler, the Nazis and their henchmen. Completed in 1946, the memorial to the children who died in the Holocaust was created by Polish born Zeev Ben-Zvi who emigrat...

In cooperation with the JCRC of Greater Boston. The representatives met with Mohammad Darawshe, Director of the Center for Equality and Shared Society at Givat Haviva, from whom they heard about our vision and our day-to-day activity here at Givat Haviva, and discussed the opportunity to build a shared society in Israel.

A state visit marking 25 years of partnership between the state of Rhineland-Pfalz and Givat Haviva Photos:  https://goo.gl/qSUQGY  https://goo.gl/eGHdcN  

Givat Haviva, the Center for Shared Society in Israel, sharply condemns the attack in Jerusalem last Friday, in which Israeli policemen were killed by Israeli civilians. This is not our way! This is an act that has no place and justification in any context. It strikes a mortal blow to the holiness of the place and It undermines the Israeli democracy and undermines the efforts to build a shared and egalitarian society in the State of Israel. We welcome the condemnations of this act by the leadership of Arab society and call upon the government and the citizens of Israel not to be dragged after extremists on both sides who seek to harm the delicate fabric of society and to sow separation and fear among its members. Our condolences to the families of those killed. Yaniv Sagee Mohammad Darawshe Riad Kabha Samer Atamni Dudu Amitai

Photos & text: Lydia Aisenberg   Yuval Danieli is an Israeli artist with a particular penchant for researching the history of art in the kibbutz movement, not surprising when one learns that the kibbutz born Danieli is the Director of Images at the Yad Yaari Research and Documentation Center at Givat Haviva. “Yad Yaari was established to preserve and promote the intellectual assets of two key movements in Israel’s history, Hashomer Hatzair, the first Zionist youth movement founded in Eastern Europe in 1911, and Kibbutz Artzi, a federation of 85 kibbutzim that was founded in 1927,” explains Danieli, a member of the Hashomer Hatzair kibbutz of Hamapil, founded in 1945. Nowadays those kibbutzim, although still Hashomer Hatzair affiliated, are incorporated into the United Kibbutz Movement representing a total of some 270 communities throughout Israel. Danieli’s rather large office at the Givat Haviva campus is crammed with books, files and artifacts of over...