Meeting friends and colleagues

Today, Stefanie Avital of the German Desk at my school, the Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa, Israel, and I had the chance to meet Greta and Maja of the Netzwerk Israel, which - supported by the EVZ Foundation - gives me a scholarship to stay and work here in Berlin for over two weeks. As soon as I heard from Greta that I had received the scholarship, I contacted her to make an appointment. As with my colleagues from House of One, I wanted to meet Greta and Maja in person, so that future communication and cooperation would be easier and more effective. I wanted Stefanie, who lives in Berlin, to join me, because I thought it important for her to learn about the work of the Netzwerk and for them to know more about what we do at Leo Baeck. And all that is exactly what happened. It was a really good meeting, everybody learnt something, I think. For me and for my school, which invests lots of time, energy and (wo)man power in what is commonly known as shared existence projects and various social and international programs, meeting foreign colleagues and current and possible partners is very important. Much of what we do at Leo Baeck is far from obvious in Israel today, unfortunately, and personally (as a left-wing Zionist, who still believes in Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, through my work at school) in the last two, three years, I have often felt quite alone or sometimes even lost, as if I have to defend myself in every possible direction. It is really good to meet friends and colleagues abroad (especially in Germany, where I spend relatively much work hours, teaching and learning in Mannheim, Stuttgart, Leonberg, Ostfildern, Darmstadt, and learning and writing now in Berlin, colleagues and friends who give me the feeling that they have not given up on Israel (and on us) yet. Until 7.10.23 I never realized how much we need those friendships and that support.