Laomek
WHY LAOMEK?
"LaOmek", or in English,"In Depth", as the name itself suggests, is a project during the Machon through which you'll have the opportunity to deepen and become a specialist in an area of your interest, and at the same time develop a critical and autonomous view on the different themes that are part of daily life in Israel.
In addition, through this project you'll have the opportunity to create new educational materials for the future. In short, it is a combination of learning, experiencing, and creating.
LaOmek aims to bring you closer to Israeli society, enabling you have a meaningful and enriching experience in Israel. It is the opportunity to be able to relate the texts and culture throughout Jewish history to the Judaism and Zionism of today.
We believe that leaders and educators in general need a consistent reevaluating of their educational methodology in terms of knowledge, skills, experiences, reflections, and a permanent creative and active stance towards the world. In LaOmek you will have the opportunity to build and develop these methodologies.
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We hope you enjoy the challenge!
How does it work?
Each of you will choose two Mokdim (subject specializations), one for each half of the semester. Each of the Mokdim will have a Tutor, a specialist in the subject who will be the educational coordinator and the reference for that Moked. Laomek takes place every Wednesday.
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You have until Thursday 03/13 10AM to make your decision and fill the forms document.
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*The syllabus reflects our plan as of 03/09/2025 and is subject to change based on security permits which are updated on an ongoing basis
The conflict and Israeli security
Purpose and goals:
To understand the conflict and Israeli policy
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This Laomek is for those who:
Want to understand the conflict and Israeli policy
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About the tutor:
Joshua Koonin is a Middle East expert and the owner of Pizazz Israel Tours which provides geopolitical tours for world leaders and senior journalists, as well as ordinary people interested in the conflict.
Laomek development
Day 1 - Israel, hezbollah and syria
Places/activities:
Visit the alma center and be briefed by an Israeli intelligence officer and expert on Hezbollah. View the Lebanese border at Kfar Vradim. Meet an expert on Syria who commanded Operation Good Neighbor, the IDF operation to treat Syrian war wounded
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Central question/issue of the day:
The challenges in Israel's north
Day 2 - The Israeli palestinian seam zone
Places/activities:
Visit alphei menashe, a settlement overlooking Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion airport, and learn about the geostrategic significance of the West Bank. Visit kochav yair where residents fear an October 7 style west bank attack. Visit bartaa, an Arab city, half of whose residents are Palestinians and half of whom are Israeli Arabs. Talk to ordinary Palestinians. Meet an Arab Israeli political analyst
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Central question/issue of the day:
How Israel protects the seam zone, and how Arab Israelis view the situation
Day 3 - Israel, Jordan, and the Jordan valley and East Jerusalem
Places/activities:
View the Jordan valley from Mitzpe Yericho and learn about its role in Israeli security calculations. Visit the border with Jordan at Qasr El Yahud and learn about Israeli Jordanian security cooperation. Visit Gilo and understand what is meant by the term East a Jerusalem. Visit Gush Etzion and hear from a Palestinian peace activist
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Central question/issue of the day:
Understanding security in and around Jerusalem
Exploring Judaism in Israel
diversity and depth
Purpose and goals:
Hear firsthand from Haredi, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Secular (Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Edot Hamizrach) and people who have moved among various streams: what do they believe about authorship of the Torah, the power of mitzvot, and the way of life that they lead? What do they like most about it, and what is most challenging?
See different settings for Torah learning: yeshiva, academic, liberal and secular.
Encounter some mitzvot/ practices you may not have encountered yet: agricultural mitzvot connected specifically to Israel, mikveh, communal support institutions and more.
Ask all the questions you have been saving up to people who are authentic representatives of their groups and also open to frank and respectful conversation.
Crystallize your own Jewish identity and areas you want to learn more about etc.
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This Laomek is for those who:
Are curious, enjoy learning, and are open to being challenged. Want to understand why people here are so passionate about their views, how they can hold such different views, and how they all claim to be expressing authentic Jewish values... wish to hear many approaches to Judaism so they can figure out their own path. Want to understand how Jewish expression in Israel is different from and similar to in other countries. Hope to identify all the different clothes, head coverings and styles, why people wear them and what they might be trying to express.
About the tutor:
Rabbi Miriam Berkowitz (nee Carey Knight) was born and raised in Montreal. She earned a BA magna cum laude in International Relations from Harvard University in 1993 and an MA and Rabbinic Ordination from the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem in 1998. She served as Assistant Rabbi at Park Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan for three years and spent seven years in Florida as an adult educator before returning to Israel in 2008.
Rabbi Berkowitz lives in Jerusalem. One of Israel’s first accredited hospital chaplains/ spiritual caregivers, Miriam founded Kashouvot: Advancing Pastoral Care in Israel in 2010 to place spiritual caregivers in healthcare settings, educate the general public about the role of chaplaincy, and advance the professionalization and recognition of the field. Miriam provided pastoral care at the St. Louis French Hospital for five years in English, Hebrew, French and Russian.
She has taught academic courses at several colleges and Seminaries (GTU, AJR, HUC, HC and IDC), appeared on Israeli tv, and taught in a myriad of scholar in residence and informal education settings. She was a member of the Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards for ten years.
She currently performs lifecycle events (mostly bnei and bnot mitzvah and weddings) and tour guiding for Israelis and visitors from all over the world.
Miriam serves as a scholar in residence in Israel and abroad, training bikur holim teams and para-chaplains as well as teaching on Jewish Art, Women in Judaism, Mikveh, Liberal Judaism in Israel and other themes.
Miriam is the author of the book Taking the Plunge: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to the Mikveh and various other articles and publications including pieces in the Women’s Torah Commentary, Jewish Lights Spirituality Handbook, Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine and Journal of Pastoral Care. She is currently working on a book about Jewish sources on peace.
She is the mother of three cool kids and finds her spiritual center in music, nature and pottery.
Laomek development
Day 1 - Streams in Judaism
Places/activities:
1. Reform- Kol HaNeshama. Talk w. Rabbi Oded Mazor. What is in the sanctuary and what does it represent? What do we keep and what do we change? Reform in Israel vs abroad.
2. Conservative- Conservative Yeshiva or Schechter Institute. Difference between Academic and yeshiva learning. Haredi life-Talk and Q & A in or near Meadows Shearim/ Geula with Davide Lustigman: The big questions: gender roles, Torah study, money, army, dress code, isolation vs outreach. Visit a gemach (g-mi-lut hasadim depot for supporting the needy).
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Central question/issue of the day:
Streams of Judaism. Approach to Torah, prayer, mitzvot. Tradition vs change. Sticking with your group vs. interacting with others. How is your stream different in Israel and abroad? Jewish institution: גמ״ח
Day 2 - Judaism and the Land
Places/activities:
1. Secular yeshiva - their approach to learning, Jewish values and social justice/environment.
2. Yemenite culture
3. Mitzpeh Yericho - meeting with head of local council Aliza Pilichowski. Haredi-dati-leumi. Connection of Judaism to the Land of Israel. Panoramic view toward the Jordan Valley, discussion of "settlement," why people choose to live there, and Aliza's vision for building a diverse, welcoming, multigenerational, progressive community "קהילה למופת"
Possible visit to mikveh.
4.Conclusion in Jerusalem (Baka) possibly with Moti Kaplan, a speaker from Netivot Shalom/ Oz Ve'Shalom, left wing religious group. Why is Judaism usually associated with right wing politics and why this group chooses to stress shared society, relationships with Arab Israelis and Palestinian residents over the "sanctity of the land." Moti is also one of Israel's top national planners (forests, cities, rivers, open spaces etc.) and can tie the day together with Jewish sources on the environment and the value of Genesis 2:25 "to work in the Garden (of Eden) and take care of it.
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Central question/issue of the day:
How does the Land of Israel fit into Judaism? Caring for the land, creating quality of life for its inhabitants, inhabiting the land, increasing its holiness, continuing the Biblical promise of inheriting the land, and views that integrate different aspects of these sometimes conflicting but all authentically Jewish values.
Day 3 - More voices and streams: magical places in Jerusalem and what happens inside
Places/activities:
Yemin Moshe Sephardic synagogue
Nachlaot- tiny synagogues Persian, Moroccan, Syrian and more...
Lunch in the shuk.
Complete the day with some humor- Comedian Yisrael Campbell who was born Catholic and went through Reform, Conservative and Orthodox conversions. Why he dresses in a long black coat, wears payes, and goes to the Pride parade and other paradoxes.
Jewish institution: conversion, what it means, who accepts it, why, why not etc.
OR talk with a female rabbinic advocate about marriage and divorce, agunot (chained women whose husband will not grant them a divorce), prenuptial agreements and how the rabbinate could easily solve the problem of agunot.
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Central question/issue of the day:
Marginalization of non Ashkenazi cultures and the revival today. Is there a "right" path or does it add to the culture's richness to have many options? Why is it so difficult to become Jewish? Options for creativity and change within orthodoxy.
Experiencing Israeli art through live tours and workshops
Purpose and goals:
Viewing current Israeli art can provide a deeper understanding of how Israelis' are enduring and responding to the complex situation they are living in. In this course we will explore Israeli art with a series of gallery, and studio tours in and around Tel Aviv. We will also create together inspired by the incredible work we see. Students will also learn many fun techniques to take their own expression to the next level.
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This course is for those who:
This is a course for students who would like to view the political climate in Tel Aviv through an alternative/creative lens, for those who are curious about art (no experience or skills required) and for those who create art.
About the tutor:
Diana Gilon is an artist and art instructor. She splits her time between two passions, painting abstract work in her Tel Aviv studio and initiating community art projects aimed at facilitating personal and social change. She has created murals with students across America and the Middle East including esteemed colleges such as Harvard, Brown, Tufts and Haifa Universities
Laomek development
Day 1 - Understanding "Rebellion" through Tel Aviv street art
Places/activities:
We will start the day in south Tel Aviv at Park Hatachana. There we will meet the legendary street artist Liza Mamali ( altelier_mamali ) and view some of her awesome fiber-art murals.
We will then create with Liza and learn about her experience as an Olah artist and Russian immigrant has transformed her artistic practice and mission.
We will then continue our day in Park Hamisila. We will learn some fun graffiti techniques with artist Diana Gilon and learn to make our own signature graffiti tags.​​
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Central question/issue of the day:
We will discuss how and why graffiti and street art are rebellious in nature. We will question how street art differs from commercial art and debate its relevance in the Israeli art scene.
Day 2 - Visiting Tel Aviv's artist quarter
Places/activities:
We will take a tour of Kiryat Hamelecha, (Tel Aviv's artist quarter) with art curator and tour guide Reut Barnea. Kiryat Hamelecha is a very special place as it houses not only Tel Aviv’s premier art galleries, but numerous artists studios, industrial factories and bars. It also has the best street art in the country and we will explore the area inside and out.​
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Central question/issue of the day:
We will discuss how Israeli art reflects the current political and emotional climate. We will also question the feelings of the Israelies who create in response to these turbulent times.
Day 3 - Visiting “ Ronen Zien: Walking Into “ at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Places/activities:
We will visit the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and view the exhibition of Ronen Zien titles “walking into”. We will participate in a guided tour of his work and learn about his life and unique artistic practice.
We will then travel to Dubnov Park and do a sketching workshop with artist Diana Gilon inspired by the art we have just witnessed.​
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Central question/issue of the day:
The central issue of the day is memory. How do we process memory and how do the photographic images we see affect it. These are the questions and issues that Ronen addresses in his work and hopefully his exhibition will inspire us to do the same.