Ethiopian Jews | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

“A Different Day in Jerusalem” – Painting the Town Tolerant on Jerusalem Day

Thank you Jerusalem. Thank you Jerusalemites. You helped us to re-claim Jerusalem Day via a variety of activities designed to promote tolerance, and we lit up the city!

Finally, a day that enables us, Jerusalemites, to respect one another and for us all to have a voice. Indeed, with all the sensitivities surrounding this day, Jerusalem Day is the most important time to emphasize the need for a more tolerant Jerusalem for all the various identities and groups living here. It was about Jews and Arabs, Jewish denominations, Christians and Muslims, transgenders, asylum seekers and refugees, Jewish Olim, etc.

“Tarbuth” tour on the Haredi-non-Haredi seamline

It was a tidal wave of tolerant events in Jerusalem. More than 50 projects, programs, initiatives, events, concerts, tours, activities, discussions, readings, yoga and more, all showing respect to other people in Jerusalem. Tens of thousands of people (probably even more, but who’s counting?) were exposed to and participated in lectures, tours, discussions and events; saw us and our signs and exhibits on the streets, heard us on the radio, debated with us, read about us in the newspapers and on Facebook.

Most important – it was not just us – it was a mass effort of vastly diverse people and initiatives. The many events were produced and organized by many groups of activists all around the city who responded to our call and made it happen. We helped, mentored, supported, integrated, solved issues, coordinated the combined internet site, Facebook event, flyer etc. We worked really hard…. but most of the energy was put out by the hundreds of activists who did the work. It is extremely important, since this makes it sustainable (people are already sure that it will become an annual tradition…) and also because it means that the success belongs not to us, but to all the residents of Jerusalem.

“Another Day in Jerusalem” Flyer

We started on Saturday afternoon, with a different tour of Katamon, as well as a tour on Jerusalem’s seam line between east and west.

A Different Katamon

Later on, we heard doctoral student Eran Tzidkiyahu and journalist Elhanan Miller at the Nocturno Cafe, discussing the national influences of local ideologies. Here’s a video of that event (in Hebrew):

After stopping for coffee we moved on to Zion Square, where Speaking in the Square held their famous debate. The debates were about the Temple Mount, Jerusalem Day parades in the Muslim Quarter, and dividing Jerusalem with walls. There were people representing the entire political and religious spectrum, and the energy was incredible! Throughout the night several hundred people passed by, stopped for a few minutes, and listened, spoke, discussed, debated. All in a very Jerusalemite way, respectfully.

Speaking in the Square

“It was fascinating to see people from very different political and religious views sit down and debate the issues in a constructive and respectful way,” said Daniel, an onlooker. “Wonderful to see great positive energy pushing back at the too often feelings of despair.”

The next morning we were on Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet drive time morning show, “Seder Yom with Keren Neubach,” together with representatives from the Yerushalmim Movement and Machon Shacharit, who also participated in A Different Day in Jerusalem. Here’s the link to the interview. It was also posted on Shacharit’s Facebook page (in Hebrew):

At 11, we went to a Ju Jitsu workshop entitled, “The Connection between Mediation, Ju Jitsu and Acceptance of the Other,” which was held together with Mosaica – The Center for Conflict Resolution by Agreement and the Jerusalem School of Traditional Ju Jitsu.

Between Ju Jitsu, Mediation and Acceptance of the Other

After a short break, activities started up again in the afternoon. At 2:30 pm, our own Merav Horowitz, Director of the Window on Mt. Zion project, led a tour of Mt. Zion entitled, “Status Quo and Tolerance.”

Learning about relations between the religions on Mt. Zion

Meanwhile, downtown, the Ruach Nachon Mechina Post Secondary Leadership Academy stationed themselves opposite Safra Square, a key location that many tourists and visitors passed by as they made their way toward the Old City. They greeted the throngs of passersby with music, inviting them to share their visions and wishes for Jerusalem. They also led tolerance activities on the Jerusalem light rail.

With music and blessings for Jerusalem

For those wishing to send messages of peace to Israel’s neighbors, Hamabul Collective’s “Jerusalem Says Hello” project enabled them to do so.

A little later, events gained momentum and were happening simultaneously. Downtown, members of Tag Meir distributed flowers to Palestinian residents of the Old City. And huge placards of poetry in Hebrew and Arabic, written by Jewish Israeli and Muslim poets, and translated into the ‘other’ language, could be seen along Jaffa Road. Anyone and everyone walking or marching down Jaffa Road that day, saw those signs.

Jewish and Muslim poets for all to see

At the same time, in the south of the city, the Yerushalemim Movement held its Jerusalem Day Family Parade along the Jerusalem Railway Park. A thousand men, women and children celebrated the day. There was also a workshop for children at the Reading Station on the Railway Park, as well as a story hour operated by the Talpiot Tolerance Team.

Jerusalem Day Family Parade

As evening descended, events continued – multicultural parties, salon meetings, musical performances and concerts, including a “Chafla” at the Tahrir Bar and a discussion on: The Temple Mount: An Opportunity for Inter-religious Tolerance, with (newly sworn in) Likud MK Yehuda Glick and Yariv Oppenheimer, General Director of the Peace Now movement, moderated by veteran journalist Peggy Cidor.

Inter-religious Chafla at the Tahrir

Rounding out the evening was the event by 0202 – A View from East Jerusalem – which interviewed journalists from different sectors about their individual sector’s news coverage of Jerusalem Day. We heard the point of view of the local Palestinian population, the local Ultra-Orthodox population, the religious population and others. It was fascinating.

And this was just a sampling of the 50 events and activities that took place throughout the city. Here is a selected list of main events in English, and here is a complete list in Hebrew.

Our dedicated web site, jerusalemtolerance.org, also helped people know about and navigate the different events.

We received a good deal of press coverage as well. Some can be seen in previous posts we had here:

Another example was in the Ha’aretz daily newspaper. You can read in in PDF format here.

Elhanan Miller Haaretz article

We also appeared on the home page of the Washington Times! Here’s the link to the article. You can read a .pdf of the article here.

Washington Times front page

And, of course, in the Jerusalem Post, after as well as before the event:

Pride not Prejudice, Jerusalem Post

Did you see our Michal Shilor on TV describing “A Different Day in Jerusalem”? Here it is, in case you missed (in Hebrew):

And this was just a sample of the press coverage…

Many, many thanks to our partners in this project: UJA-Federation of New York, the Jerusalem Foundation, This is Jerusalem, Jerusalem Center for Young Adults.

Naomi Roff2017-05-02T07:11:23+00:00June 6th, 2016|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Effective Activism, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

“Jerusalem as a Culturally Competent City” Conference

In what other setting could you find the Jewish Mayor of Jerusalem introduced in both Hebrew and Arabic, followed by the President of the Jerusalem Foundation, herself addressing the audience in English, Hebrew and Arabic, followed by a Muslim Canadian keynote speaker of Pakistani origin? Only at the “Jerusalem as a Culturally Competent City” conference, which we hosted, along with the Jerusalem Foundation, at the Jerusalem Cinematheque on Tuesday, May 17.

It was the culmination of 10 years of working to advance cultural competency, together with the Jerusalem Foundation. What began as focusing on health care, at the ALYN Rehabilitative Hospital, at Clalit primary care clinics and at the Hadassah Medical Center Mount Scopus has blossomed into a concept that encompasses all fields and all sectors, in Jerusalem and throughout Israel.

Opening the conference in Arabic and Hebrew

Throughout the day over 300 people participated, listening to over 70 speakers. They came from all walks of life, from all different fields. We had professionals from the municipality, senior officials in planning, education, welfare and community life. We had researchers and leaders from colleges, universities and think tanks. We had active community residents. We had professionals from a wide range of NGO’s. We had the Israel Police and the IDF. We had Christian and Muslim Arabs, some residents of East Jerusalem, some not. We had secular, traditional, religious and ultra-Orthodox Jews. The entire day was conducted with Arabic, Hebrew and English on equal footing. (You can see the tri-lingual program here.) We had it all. We had Jerusalem in all its wonderful diversity.

The tri-lingual invitation

Throughout the day, we discussed ways that service providers, in all fields, can make their services equally accessible to all of Jerusalem’s populations, making them culturally competent. And on the residents’ side, we discussed ways that they can work to improve their own access to these rights and services, many of which are guaranteed them by law. We discussed strategies and challenges, and the process in between. It was fascinating, exhilarating and downright riveting.

Ms. Uzma Shakir, Keynote Speaker

Mayor Nir Barkat opened the conference, saying: “The starting point for any activity that we do in Jerusalem is the city’s unique DNA, which is unlike any other city in the world.” When the city was founded, more than 3,000 years ago, “its gates were open to everyone, all tribes, Jewish and not…No one felt like they were a guest in Jerusalem…Everyone found their place,” he continued. It is this philosophy, where everyone finds their place, that informs us to this day.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat at conference

Yohanna Arbib-Perugia, President of the Jerusalem Foundation, was the next speaker. She emphasized the important role of cultural competence in a diverse and unique city as Jerusalem. Seeing the Jerusalem Intercultural Center as a strategic partner of the Foundation, she believes that the focus of the Foundation on cultural competence will deepen in the coming years.

Uzma Shakir, Director of the Office of Equity, Diversity and Human Rights, City of Toronto, was the keynote speaker. She described the processes taking place in Toronto and throughout Canada regarding multiculturalism and cultural competency, which include developing approaches appropriate to the vastly different population groups in Canada, from the native populations to the Francophone community of Quebec to recent immigrants from south Asia and elsewhere. She first defined the role of cultural competency:

Cultural competency can be viewed in two ways: it can either be seen as paternalistic and prescriptive – something you do for others who have either limited or unequal power to claim their rights; or transformative and critical – consciously producing spaces that address those power differentials in a meaningful manner and eventually lead to an equitable and just society. In other words, cultural competency can mean being nice to people while maintaining the status quo of inequality or it can mean empowering marginalized people to take control over their own destiny and to change the conditions in society to produce equitable and just outcomes for all. However, this requires an honest recognition of who is marginalized and then consciously co-creating the conditions for inclusion. In this sense, Toronto has its challenges just like Jerusalem and provides some compelling lessons.

She explained the desired outcome of culturally competent processes through this picture:

Three views of Equity

In the first approach, existing infrastructures render services equally for different people. However, since people’s needs are different, equal provision of services does not create proper equality. In the second approach, adjustments are made, often ad hoc, to be able to work within the existing infrastructure to provide services in a way that responds differently to the different needs. In the third approach, infrastructure is built from the start with the different needs of different people in mind, to enable each to meet his or her particular needs in the best way possible.

Here is Ms. Shakir’s full speech:

For the speech in written form, click here.

Discussing challenges to cultural competency

Following the opening session, four parallel sessions addressed different aspects of cultural competency. These included, “Setting & Implementing Cultural Competence Policy in An Organization,” “Cultural Competence in the Public Sphere,” “Coping with Social and Political Tensions in a Multicultural City,” and “Cultural Competence Activities of the Community.” Speakers included the directors of the Bloomfield Science Museum Jerusalem, Museum of Islamic Art, the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens, the ALYN Hospital Pediatric Rehabilitation Center, the Haredi College, community centers from around the city, senior officials in the Municipality, and many, many more.

Setting and implementing cultural competence in organizations

Setting and implementing cultural competence policy in organizations

Even lunch was an exercise in cultural competency. Different foods were labeled with no translation in a range of languages – from Amharic to Russian to Polish and more. Choosing food at the buffet became a funny challenge….

How do you say salmon in Amharic?

After lunch the plenary session discussed major organizations’ efforts to make their services culturally competent. Speakers ranged from the Director of Community Services Administration in the Jerusalem Municipality, the President of Hadassah Academic College, the Director of the Jerusalem Center for Mental Health, and the Commander of the David Precinct of the Israel Police (which includes the all resident quarters of the Old City (Christian Quarter, Muslim Quarter, Armenian Quarter, Jewish Quarter), plus sites such as the Western Wall, the Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif, Mount Zion and the David’s Tomb complex). The final parallel sessions discussed case studies in cultural competency in different fields – education, health care (This was considered ‘advanced cultural competency’ since indeed our work began in health care some 10 years ago.), arts and culture and community activism toward tolerance.

Our heartfelt thanks go to the Jerusalem Foundation for their partnership and support over these past 10 years. And many congratulations on their 50th anniversary celebrations, of which this conference was a part.

It was the first conference surveying cultural competency in Jerusalem. Will there be another? Stay tuned to find out.

Looking for more? Here’s the video of the entire opening session:

Naomi Roff2017-05-02T07:31:16+00:00June 1st, 2016|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Academic Institutions, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Santé Israël - French internet platform on the Israeli healthcare system, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Toward an Alternative Jerusalem Day – Call for Programs on Diversity

Jerusalem Day. This year it comes out on Sunday, June 5. What a better opportunity to discuss about the city we love? One day to reflect on its history, its peoples, its diversity. Well, not so easy….

As our own Michal Shilor recently said in the local Kol Ha’Ir newspaper, “Over the last few years we are witnessing more and more incidents of hate and violence on Jerusalem Day… I’m excited to be a part of making this city more tolerant …on this tension-filled day. Most of us are looking for a different way to mark Jerusalem Day, one that respects and marks Jerusalem’s political, social and cultural diversity.”

Jerusalem day is the most important time to emphasize the need for a more tolerant Jerusalem for all of the various identities and groups living here. This year, we will re-claim Jerusalem Day through a variety of activities designed to promote tolerance – “A Different Day in Jerusalem!“

Jerusalem Day 2016: A Different Day in Jerusalem

Together with a number of major partners in Jerusalem – This is Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Foundation, the UJA-Federation of New York, the Jerusalem Young Adults Center and more – we have lined up cross all sectors and groups – religious, secular, men, women, all languages and faiths, political right , left and center. The idea – to encourage a broad range of initiatives engaging a wide variety of populations and to flood the city with activities marking Jerusalem’s diversity.

Practicing effective dialogue in Zion Square

Thus far we have a long list (more than 40), and the list is growing. Events will be taking place all over the city, from Saturday evening, June 4 through to Sunday evening, June 5. See the map of all the events:

Map of events

To further these events and develop new initiatives, we held an Open Space Technology meeting on Sunday, May 15. Already-registered initiatives refined their programs, and new initiatives were presented.

Reporting vandalized sign to be fixed

In all, 10 initiatives were discussed. They included an inter-religious study session of religious texts, reporting defamed signs throughout the downtown Jerusalem area, educational activities in schools, an Effective Dialogue workshop at Zion Square, cleaning the roof of a multi-cultural art studio, panel discussions, and more. They were added to a growing list of events designed to highlight Jerusalem’s diversity. A full and updated list can be found on the event’s web page:

http://www.jerusalemtolerance.org

Different types of activities listed on the site

And here’s the Hebrew invite to the Open Space Technology Facebook event.

And here’s the Hebrew invite to the “A Different Day in Jerusalem” Facebook event.

Naomi Roff2016-06-12T11:33:18+00:00May 18th, 2016|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Effective Activism, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Creating a Different Jerusalem Day – “a Different Day in Jerusalem”

As our name states, we’re all about Jerusalem. Especially about Jerusalem and all its cultures, ethnicities, religions, nationalities. On this upcoming Jerusalem Day, we, together with a number of prominent Jerusalem-based partners seek to show this love for Jerusalem, in a way that is different than what has developed in recent years. We were recently featured in an article in the local Kol Ha’ir newspaper. Click on the picture for the PDF version:

The Hebrew article, from Friday, April 15

The Hebrew article, Friday, April 15

In the article, Michal Shilor, our coordinator for the Grassroots Campaign to Promote Tolerance in Jerusalem, said,

“Over the last few years we are witnessing more and more incidents of hate and violence on Jerusalem Day. Many of the events that take place in the city do not leave room for most of the city’s residents to mark that day in a tolerant manner, and I, like many residents of the city, hide away at home or leave the city on that day in order to get away from the blatant racism that is expressed in the streets on that day. This year, I’m excited to be a part of making this city more tolerant in general, and on this tension-filled day in particular. Most of us are looking for a different way to mark Jerusalem Day, one that respects and celebrates Jerusalem’s political, social and cultural diversity – and now we have a chance.”

This initiative, called, “a Different Day in Jerusalem“, is a collaboration between the Jerusalem Intercultural Center, This is Jerusalem, the Young Adults Center and the Jerusalem Foundation. It is supported by the UJA-Federation of New York .

There’s already a long list of projects and programs taking part in the day’s events. On Sunday, May 15 we’ll be holding an additional Open Space Technology meeting to garner even more.

Here’s the link to the Facebook event (Hebrew).

And this is the link to the internet site that features all the events of “a Different Day in Jerusalem“.

Mark your calendars for June 5. It’s going to be something special!

Naomi Roff2016-05-21T08:15:04+00:00April 19th, 2016|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Effective Activism, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, New Immigrants, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

New Neighborhood Tolerance Team in Talpiot!

How do you celebrate Shabbat? Tell us your Shabbat story…

Telling different Shabbat stories

This is what the newly-formed Talpiot Tolerance Team did in their opening event, which took place on Friday afternoon, April 1.

Event with Jerusalem’s diversity

Shabbat means different things to different people. For a short time on that Friday afternoon, Ultra-Orthodox (Chabad), Ethiopian, secular and traditional Jews all experienced together their own Kabbalat Shabbat, enjoying the traditions as well as their own interpretations.

Traditional taking of Challah before baking Challot

Advertisements to this event were prepared in Amharic as well as Hebrew, and there was a true Jerusalem mix of people at the event.

Amharic poster

The Talpiot Tolerance team is one of a growing network of Neighborhood Tolerance Teams that are being formed throughout Jerusalem. Each team is acting independently, and advancing tolerance in ways that the team members feel are most appropriate for them. There are currently teams in French Hill, Abu Tor / Al-Thuri, Katamonim, Katamon-German Colony, Baka’a, Rehavia, Nahlaot, and more are being formed each week.

Everyone’s hands knead the Challah

Many thanks to the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jerusalem Foundation for their support in promoting tolerance in Jerusalem.

Many forms of Challah

Here are some more pictures from the Facebook post on the event from the Hebrew-language Jerusalem Tolerance Facebook group:

Naomi Roff2016-04-15T11:16:48+00:00April 10th, 2016|Blog, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Fighting Racism and Xenophobia through Effective Dialogue

Last Thursday, Speaking in the Square activists, including our own Michal Shilor, led an Effective Dialogue workshop, as part of the 9Adar Project – the Jewish Week of Constructive Conflict, which is operated by the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies together with Mosaica: The Center for Conflict Resolution by Agreement.

Learning principles of effective dialogue

Here are some conclusions that were posted by the Gishurim program / Mosaica (in Hebrew):

Something good is happening in Jerusalem.
More specifically, something good is happening in Zion Square. 🙂
If you want to have dialogue with someone whose opinion contradicts yours, try to find a point of agreement between you.
When you speak with someone else, listen, really listen to him or her. Try and learn something new.
Sometimes we enter into a conversation and forget what we were originally arguing about, our goal in the conversation. It’s important to keep asking yourself what you want to achieve with what you’re saying.
Try to find positive points about the person with whom you do not agree / like. Sometimes it’s very difficult. But each discussion will look different if you try.
It’s very easy to let a lot of anger loose in a heated argument. Try to have a pleasant discussion, one that preserves everyone’s personal space and mutual respect.

Members of Speaking in the Square have been successfully developing the Effective Dialogue methodology since they began providing an alternative to racist activists from the Lehava organization in Zion Square in the summer of 2014. In recent months members have held a number of workshops that explain the principles of Effective Dialogue.

Flyers with principles of effective dialogue

Effective Dialogue assumes that a common denominator between two people can be found, even if differences at first seem gaping. Much of the conversation is concentrated on finding elements to agree upon. The goal is to show the other that not everything is black and white, that there are many shades of gray in each issue.

Practicing effective dialogue in Z ion Square

We had about 20 people at the theoretical training, and 5-6 joined the Speaking in the Square regulars in Zion Square to try out their new skills, including with Lehava members.

Speaking with everyone in Zion Square

Naomi Roff2016-02-26T18:38:03+00:00February 22nd, 2016|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Effective Activism, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem|

Residents of South Talpiot – Taking Charge of their Future

Deliberative democracy means enabling all residents, regardless of socio-economic or ethnic background, to take part in changing their future. Such processes can take place in rich neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods, and everywhere in between. Over the past few years we’ve indeed run the gamut of neighborhoods – from Baka’a to Arnona to Gilo, Romema and Kiryat Hayovel. Now we’re concentrating on South Talpiot.

Community Meeting in South Talpiot

South Talpiot has a very interesting mix of populations. There are many veteran immigrants from Middle Eastern countries. There is a large contingent from Ethiopia (the Municipality built a special community house for the Ethiopian community a few years ago). There are those who are a bit better off who have moved into recently-built hi-rise apartments, and more. There are those who are recognized by the local welfare office and are used to receiving services. Very few are used to having a say in determining what kind of services they will receive. Very few are used to being active and having a voice in the future of their neighborhood.

Discussing specific initiatives

We’re starting to change all that. On February 3, the Greater Baka’a Community Council, together with the local welfare municipality branch and with our assistance, held a first social entrepreneurship meeting in South Talpiot. We were nervous about how many people would come – in the end there were 80 of us! This included the entire spectrum of diversity of residents – the true meaning of what deep democracy processes are trying to accomplish. And just as often happens in Open Space Technology meetings, the issues addressed – all pertaining to everyday life in the neighborhood – also ran the gamut – from physical and environmental development of the area, neighborhood approach to urban renewal, finding solutions to parking issues, activities for children, and much more!

A total of 11 initiatives were discussed, and we’ll be following up with them, together with the community social worker and other professional staff from the Greater Baka’a Community Council. Congratulations to all involved on a fabulous jump-start!

Naomi Roff2016-02-13T14:14:44+00:00February 6th, 2016|Blog, Deliberative Democracy, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Larger Baka Community Council, New Immigrants|

Training the Trainers in Cultural Competency – Reaching the Peak of Project Development

We’ve been working in Cultural Competency for a long time – 8 years to be exact. Our work has run the gamut of both deep and broad – our work at the ALYN Rehabilitative Hospital in Jerusalem included not only training all personnel in the principles of cultural competency, but also ensuring that signs and forms were translated into a number of languages, as well as enabling medical interpretation in a number of languages. Our work with the Israel Ministry of Health led to the directive that required all health care institutions to become culturally competent. We worked in individual clinics and HMO’s on the national level. We’ve been developing, together with the Bar Ilan University Department of Interpreting and Translation, training films and a training guide to use with the films. The guide was recently completed, which led us to the next natural step – a training the trainers course.

Training the Trainers Class Picture

The course was a 5-session workshop – 40 academic hours – that ran from November 5 – December 3, 2015. It included 15 participants from all over Israel, including 5 Jerusalem representatives – from ALYN, the Jerusalem Center for Mental Health, Hadassah Mount Scopus, Hadassah Ein Kerem and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Participants came from a wide variety of fields within the health care system – social work, occupational therapy, nursing, admissions officers, instructors in nursing schools and more. Two participants had already been our students – in medical interpreting courses for professionals in mental health fields.

The course was based on the short movies and the instruction handbook that were produced over the last two years. The course included skills on how to facilitate training workshops, cultural competency workshops that are based on the movies or on case studies that the participants bring with them. The course was such a success that we are already planning the next one – hurry and sign up, before it is full!

Naomi Roff2016-01-01T14:32:24+00:00December 13th, 2015|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Academic Institutions, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Toward Culturally Competent Employment Training and Placement

Cultural competency affects us all, nearly everywhere – in the health care system, in the welfare system, in the education system, and more. Issues related to cultural competency also come into play in employment training and placement, and we are proud to be a part of change in the system.

Be-Atzmi workshop

On November 10 we held an all-day seminar for the Be-Atzmi organization, which assists thousands of unemployed and underprivileged men and women every year to integrate, on their own, into stable and appropriate workforce opportunities. Since Be-Atzmi often works with populations on the geographic and socio-economic periphery – including Israelis of Ethiopian descent, the Ultra-Orthodox, and Arab populations – a culturally competent approach to employment training and placement can be critically important for the program’s successes. Thus, this year the organization dedicated its annual professional development seminar to cultural competency.

More of the workshop

The seminar was held for all workers who come in contact with clients from throughout the country – some 150 people – and was held at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo. The day included teaching the different skills required to deal with different issues in a culturally competent manner. These included, for example, cultural objections to going out to work, refreshments during the Muslim month of Ramadan in mixed groups, integrating husbands into decisions, etc. The seminar dealt mainly with ‘personal cultural competence,’ which means how cultural competency affects individual people. For instance, a case worker suggested what seemed to be a perfect job for a Bedouin woman – working as a maid in a hotel. The pay was above minimum wage, the wages included full benefits, and the hotel provided transportation to and from work. The one problem – in Bedouin society, working as a hotel maid is not something ‘good girls’ do. It is considered to be ‘working in the bedroom,’ just one step up from prostitution (!) The solution – all the job seekers must be interviewed to see what kinds of jobs they’d be willing to take, and it must be made sure that cultural and religious norms are not infringed upon.

Participant in workshop

Other issues that were discussed were interviews, and the different ‘western codes’ of what is acceptable and not acceptable to say in an interview, being on time, involvement of the husband in decision-making – there is a gap between what the facilitators are used to and what the clients need.

As a result of the positive feedback received by organizers and participants, we will also begin to work with Be-Atzmi in developing their organizational cultural competence as well. This means ensuring that all forms and informative publications and signage be produced in a number of languages to fit the clients’ needs, that different culture’s holidays are respected, etc. In short, it means making sure that the broader picture that is the organization thinks in a culturally competent manner.

Naomi Roff2015-12-18T19:06:31+00:00November 17th, 2015|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Cultural Competency in Hadassah Academic College

The end of the Jewish High Holidays signal the beginning of the academic year for Israel’s colleges and universities. This year, Hadassah Academic College is beginning the year much more culturally competent than last, and it will continue the trend, into this upcoming school year.

Training at Hadassah College

We began working with the college in November of 2014, after a very difficult summer and fall in Jerusalem. During the year we began operating a series of seminars for administration and lecturers on the principles of cultural competency and how they applied to an academic setting. Read here for more information about the beginning of the process.

Practicing in big and small groups

The different types of course studies at the Hadassah College are are vastly different in nature from one another. There are those that are based on laboratory work, those that are based on frontal lectures, those that work with patients. Sometimes communication with the lecturers is direct and sometimes most of the students’ communication with the administration is done through counselors. So we adapted the different workshops to the different kinds of learning systems in place. In June and July, we held four full-day workshops for 80 faculty members from 7 different departments (laboratory sciences, environmental health, biotechnology, optometry and computer science), conducting workshops in groups according to learning style. Throughout the 2015 – 2016 school year we will continue to work with faculty from different departments. In the next stage, we will work with students who work with patients (such as speech therapy and optometry) during their training.

Naomi Roff2015-11-01T16:57:33+00:00October 25th, 2015|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Academic Institutions, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

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