An Invitation into a Shared Space

It so happened that earlier this week I spoke with a friend who told me she had to be in Jerusalem after a long time away. As she was walking through the “united” city, she felt a deep sense of alienation. “It didn’t feel like an invitation into a shared space,” she said. That phrase – “an invitation into a shared space” – stayed with me throughout the day, and has continued to accompany me throughout the week. As you can see, here it is.

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An Invitation into a Shared Space

Ayala Shalev

One of the great successes of the Netanyahu regime has been division and fragmentation — classic foundations of control and domination by those who hold power, since time immemorial. Take, for example, the story of the Tower of Babel. The people are described as “one people with one language,” and that unity is presented as dangerous: as long as they understand one another and act together, “nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” And what is the response? Confusion of language and the dismantling of communication. Once the shared language disappears, so does the ability to act collectively, and that’s enough. The project collapses on its own. Those who practice divide and rule know this well: you don’t need to break the people themselves, only the fabric that connects them; you don’t need to suppress by force if you can dismantle from within.

Why am I dwelling on this? Because this act of dismantling solidarity is the exact opposite of an invitation into a shared space. And as it happens, about three months ago I stepped into a role that places me right at the threshold of a place that extends such an invitation, by definition.

So here’s a full disclosure: I currently work as a community organizer at the Alif–Bet School of “Hand in Hand”, located at Beit Berl.

Here are a few words from the Hand in Hand website:“Our aspiration is that graduates of Hand in Hand’s educational framework will be broad-minded individuals, deeply committed to justice, socially aware and engaged. At the heart of Hand in Hand’s pedagogy is bilingual, humanistic education, which seeks to establish an educational and value-based foundation for a democratic society shared by Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. Education in two languages fosters dialogical discourse based on cultural difference. Bilingual education teaches each side in the dialogue the language of the other and encourages mutual connection between Arabs and Jews. This connection enriches both personal and social discourse, and prepares students for a form of citizenship that embraces diversity and expands what is shared.”

Within the reality of our lives, after long years of division, and two additional years of extreme, systematic incitement, it has become almost impossible for an ordinary individual to hold this vision on their own. We are all under threat, and today it takes a well-developed political imagination to envision a calm, shared, inclusive everyday life that benefits more than just one group of citizens. The fragmented reality we all inhabit leads us, at its core, to identify with “our” group – Mizrahim, Ashkenazim, Jews, Arabs, religious, secular, and so on, in ever-narrowing categories – through opposition to the other groups. Most of us have internalized this reality almost without noticing, over many years, and we forget that it is not a “truth,” but only a constructed perception. In practice, an inclusive reality, one that sees as many people as possible and seeks their well-being, is more pleasant, more enabling, more curious, more interesting – and entirely possible.

How do I know it’s possible? Because I see it with my own eyes, day after day, over these past months.

It’s a joy to come to our school. When I walk through the yard, I see children, not “Jewish children” and “Arab children.” I hear Hebrew and Arabic woven together in the intensity of play, in bursts of laughter, in classrooms. I see Jews and Arabs celebrating Hanukkah together, and taking a joint day off for Al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj – The Night Journey and Ascension – (which was yesterday). I witness a process that unfolds naturally within an environment that simply allows it: one in which each child’s identity is strengthened alongside the other, not through exclusion or negation, but through curiosity and a genuine embrace of both. In my own political imagination, I can already glimpse how the vision being cultivated here can grow, multiply, and fill the land with humanism, solidarity, and partnership. Change is education, and it begins here, expressed in every detail of school life.

The education here is grounded in humanistic values. Classes are small, with two homeroom teachers in each, one Arab and one Jewish. The school follows Ministry of Education requirements while also offering a broader range of elective classes. A significant portion of learning is project-based (PBL). The entire staff knows all the students. It’s deeply moving to see children arrive in the morning and run to hug their teachers. The Beit Berl campus is large, green, and welcoming, and the staff makes wonderful use of the lawns for outdoor learning. In short, the care, creative thinking, communication, and openness to turning every moment into an educational opportunity are present everywhere, and it is moving, every single day.

Alongside the children’s world, there is also the world of parents, who are, quite literally, creating a shared space. By virtue of not being separated into distant, parallel systems, but rather participating in a single shared framework, they come to know one another more deeply, with all that entails. Through shared activities, levels of interest, cooperation, care, and mutual responsibility grow. Ultimately, this becomes a living embodiment of Gandhi’s words: be the change you wish to see in the world. And it is simply beautiful.

These days, registration for kindergartens and schools for the coming year are open, and we would be delighted to welcome new families to our school – from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. At this link, you can register for our open days on January 21 or February 3, come see the place for yourselves, meet the principal and educational staff, speak with parents who are already part of the school community, observe a bilingual class, explore the colorful yard, the music room, and more. In short, come visit and consider joining us.

For those seeking humanistic education, for those looking for a shared community, for those who wish to move away from a vision of life by the sword toward a vision of an enabling future – this is the place. Consider this an invitation into a shared space.

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Ayala Shalev is the editor of That's About Us.