The Center for
Torah and Democracy
about us
The ‘Yesodot’ organization was established in 1995 by a group of educators from the Zionist-religious community following the murder of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. They realized the need for stimulating conversation on the topic of democracy and its values within the Jewish and religious world.
In the last decade, the organization has focused on in-depth processes in religious education institutions, and works to deepen the conversation at the the societal, national and state levels.
‘Yesodot’ enjoys flexibility and independence while working in collaboration with Herzog College.
School Professional Development Courses
The Swords of Iron War began with a major crisis of trust with many systems failing on that bitter day. This led to a national need for restoring trust – in the army, the leadership, and the country. Such a crisis of trust is like feeling that the ground is slipping from under your feet. From here onward, begins an arduous journey to pick up the pieces, mend the tears and perhaps even grow from the crisis. The team at Pelech High School of Zichron Ya’akov embarked on a journey titled Restoring Trust:During the first meeting, we examined the fragments, allowing them space, without rushing to glue them back together.
The second meeting dealt with tools for initially dealing with such a crisis situation which helped to find the light peeking through the cracks.
In the third meeting, we dealt with bearing the fragments and turning them into a source of energy, akin to the whole Luchot boards being held with the broken Luchot in the Aron.
The last meeting in the series dealt with how to apply the insights we have gained into the school reality and educational activity.
Journeys
Chen BaMidbar Girls High School of Be’er Sheva embarked on a listening journey, this time on the topic of the ultra-Orthodox community. Netanel Zelikowitz gave a comprehensive lecture on the ultra-Orthodox sector including history, present-day, the vision and the challenges. Later, we sat down to talk with Dvori and Leah, two educators at a girls’ seminar, about the world of ultra-Orthodox education – how it is conducted, the ultra-Orthodox young woman, challenges and struggles.
Meetings
A collaboration between the Bnei Akiva Yeshivot and Ulpanot Center and Yesodot – an exciting initiative that connects educators in state schools and educators in religious state schools. The initiative was created with the goal of creating familiarity and connections between staff members in state schools and religious state schools, in order to emphasize the common denominators, especially in these turbulent times.
In meetings that will be held throughout the year, the teams will talk and deepen their acquaintance with each other, discuss various controversial issues and tools for resolving disputes, and build joint initiatives for the schools. The need for this project arose during our activities throughout the country. We saw that touching hearts is not enough- educational and professional tools are needed to lead a discourse that promotes and enables joint action stemming from a place of disagreement, and therefore we built the project that includes both getting to know the other and joint learning.
The Connecting Worlds Project, which began this month in Be’er Sheva with Chen BaMidbar Girls High School and Rabin High School in the city, is expected to soon expand to additional cities across the country.
Areas of Activity
Leadership development
Educator development
Content writing
Community Processes
Yesodot in the Religious Public School System
Activity Axes in the Religious Public School Sector
Staff Directors Coordinators & Educators Teachers
Center Periphery
Staff Directors Coordinators & Educators Teachers
Yesodot in the Community
Foundations in the Community
Tools & Skills Arguing together The Foundations of the Home
Leadership Development Leadership journeys and responsible listening
Community Foundations Youth movements Post high-school institutions Student
Articles
The Equitable Landlord
The attitude of the Jewish state towards its non-Jewish citizens The Dilemma The question of the relationship of the Jewish democratic state to its non-Jewish
The Equitable Landlord
The attitude of the Jewish state towards its non-Jewish citizens The Dilemma The question of the relationship of the Jewish democratic state to its non-Jewish
Return to the Ethos of Mamlakhtiyut
This week marks 45 years since the death of David Ben-Gurion, the leader of the Jewish Yishuv in Israel during the period of the British
