By PEGGY CIDORLiebhaber Prize recipients Ehud Banai (left) and Dr. Micah Goodman.(photo credit: AVI HAYOUN)Graduating with tolerance The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies last Tuesday held its graduation ceremony alongside the 17th-annual awarding of the Liebhaber Prize for the Promotion of Religious Tolerance in Israel. Prize recipients this year were singer Ehud Banai and Dr.Micah Goodman of the Hebrew University and the Ein Prat Beit Midrash.The ceremony awarded master’s degrees for specializations in family and community studies, Jewish arts, and gender and Jewish studies, as well as a new specialization in spiritual accompaniment according to Jewish thought, led by Einat Ramon.Asked about the specific lines of study, Dean Doron Bar explained that besides being an academic institution, Schechter emphasizes a “family atmosphere,” enabling people who already have a professional career to fulfill their desire to continue their studies.The programs facilitate studying once or twice a week – allowing students to continue to work – and open up new horizons with high academic standards. Students come from all over the country, including Eilat and the Golan Heights, and represent all parts of society – religious, traditional and secular alike.“In a total departure from the norm at universities, here we see a profound interest in humanities and Jewish studies that only grows each year,” noted Bar.Asked how the Liebhaber Prize, which was launched at the institute following the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, influences society to become more tolerant, recipient Goodman said it was more the “buzz” created by the award that could help.“The prize and the press reports on it... initiate a discourse that people hear about. It makes a slow but important difference that broadens, each year, the attention to the issue – which is the best way to promote it.”New project in GiloThe city council’s local planning committee has approved construction on a Gilo building designated for a Jerusalem mechina (pre-army academy). Until now, it has been operating from an old building in Kiryat Hayovel, housing about 26 young adults – from across the country and locals – who spend one year in study and community tasks before IDF service.The center has been a source of attraction to the capital for many of the youth, who return here after their army service to study in one of the academic campuses and eventually settle in the city on a permanent basis.The academy will be located in an existing building in the neighborhood, to which four stories will be added, and will include classrooms, a synagogue and a commercial area, using the services of architect Ze’ev Arad. Running the academy is Beit Israel, an urban kibbutz that has existed in Gilo for about 15 years, which gathers religious and secular men and women to work on community projects, mostly in education.No bus, no beachLast week, the initiative to launch private round-trip bus service from Jerusalem to a Tel Aviv beach on Shabbat was canceled at the last moment. Officially, the cancellation was the result of the lack of permit from the Transportation Ministry. The local Meretz party attempted to help the organizers obtain the required permit, but it was not clear as of Monday if the buses will indeed take local residents to the beach by the end of this week.Hot Shabbat The Shabbat wars are back – at least on two new fronts. One has been going on for the last four weeks at the junction between Agrippas and Eliash Streets, in front of a small grocery that is open on Shabbat. Growing groups of haredim arrive there in the afternoon to protest, while activists – mostly from Meretz – come to lend support to the owner. After the unexplained absence of the haredim two weeks ago, which led the secular activists to believe the battle was won, protesters returned last week.And now, haredi members of the coalition are opposing the new summer initiative at the First Station – as the man-made beach with umbrellas and benches for tanning has raised concerns. Members of the United Torah Judaism list, led by Deputy Mayor Yossi Deitsch, are adamant about the need to close the beach before it is officially opened to the public.Not an easy task, considering that the First Station is a private enterprise that is not supported or backed by the municipality. Stay tuned.Digital revolution As of the coming school year, 12 city high schools will put aside their schoolbooks and move on to tablet computers. The project, launched by the municipality’s education administration, will cost parents NIS 850 per year over a period of three years.The first to enjoy the new era will be grades 7-10 in the selected schools, with all other Jerusalem schools gradually added within a three-year period. Not all of the principals are happy with this tremendous change – as not only will books vanish, but so will notebooks and pens. This has caused some anguish among teachers who are not well-acquainted with these devices.But according to a source in one of the pilot schools, there is no way to stop technological progress – not to mention that most of the students are already familiar with the use of tablets.Muddy waters Having difficulty understanding why your water bills are so high lately? The answer might be found in an inquiry led by city police into the Water Authority.Last week, an investigation into what is suspected to be a breach of faith and perhaps an even larger corruption affair at the authority led police to arrest some high-ranking officials and confiscate some company computers. It is still not clear what the police found, but the investigation it just in the beginning stages and sources inside the company say more arrests are expected.The Water Authority has revenues of hundreds of millions of shekels, with 200 employees in various tasks.Lander academic campusIn a dramatic move by the District Court earlier this week, the decision to shut down the Lander Institute following its financial incapacity was postponed. The ruling, based on Mayor Nir Barkat’s relentless efforts to seek a solution avoiding the closure of the educational institution, extended the time given to the trustees to find a new sponsor.Justice Ya’acov Mintz said, “All efforts should be aimed at finding a just solution that will enable the Lander campus to return to full activity.” The new deadline was extended to Wednesday, June 18 (at press time, we are still unsure of the outcome).The Lander academic campus has 1,200 students and employs about 100 staff members in various disciplines. Barkat has made it clear that the closure of the institution, which serves a large group of haredi students, would be a blow to the city.Only in Jerusalem A satisfying victory for the capital and Barkat was realized with the decision of the Israel Broadcasting Authority board and the Communications Ministry and its head, Gilad Erdan, that the planned new IBA offices will remain in the city.With the eventual decision to reopen the IBA, offices would have been installed close to the city but outside its jurisdiction – causing a massive loss in property taxes and commercial income, and later, the departure of many of the IBA’s employees from Jerusalem.The law specifies the IBA should operate from the Jerusalem district, but doesn’t specify whether it has to be inside the city or in its surroundings. For now, the principle is that once the process is finished, all offices should be inside the capital.Good cause The Israel Cancer Association’s annual fund-raising event will take place on Tuesday, June 24, at the Jerusalem International Convention Center in the presence of Mayor Barkat – with all proceeds going toward the benefit of cancer patients and their families. The evening will consists of a Greek music and Ladino songs program, presented by radio anchorman Yaron Enosh and featuring Israeli and Greek musicians and singers. Reception starts at 8 p.m.; program at 9.For tickets and more information: (02) 523-3293.
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