רחוקים אך קרובים – So Far and Yet so Near

This year we proudly note the 14th year of the special joint partnership between The Magen School in Maoz-Aviv in Tel-Aviv and The Pressman Academy in Los-Angeles. In the framework of this partnership program (Tel-Aviv  L.A.) whose aim is to build a relationship and a bond between the schools in Tel-Aviv and Los Angeles, between the educators, families and individuals, to strengthen the relations between the people in Israel and the Diaspora, and a deepening of feelings of belonging for the younger generation to the Jewish people, its heritage and its homeland.

As a result of this partnership, a unique bond has developed over the years not only on the personal level for those individuals who took part in the delegations but also between the schools and the two communities.

This bond signifies a kind of microcosm of the special relationship which exists between The State of Israel and the Jewish communities in America. In the heart of this microcosm is the mutual fate that binds the two communities together.

The Jewish communities in America played an important role in the efforts to help the Jews who were caught up in the devastating storm of the Holocaust during The Second World War, and had a huge impact on the American decision to support the creation of a Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael.

Very often, as dramatic events occur in the world, questions concerning the roles of the two communities in the collective Jewish consciousness arise and each time the world realizes the extent of the mutual guaranty and responsibility the two communities hold towards each other. It becomes obvious how they care for each other despite ideological or political differences that may arise from time to time.

Our mutual history and our shared Jewish culture, which has overcome many obstacles and has survived over thousands of years, and our unified fate – these are treasures and values which bridge the gap of any differences which may arise.

Jews in the Diaspora feel an age old bond to the homeland and are forever supportive of The State of Israel.

Israel, on its part, views the Jews in the Diaspora as a historic home front, as a family, on which it can lean on for support. This partnership, this bond, is irreplaceable and priceless.

A few weeks ago I returned from a visit to the Pressman Academy with the Magen delegation of parents, teachers and students.

The primary feeling as we landed was that of arriving at a warm family home. We felt at home despite the thousands of kilometers separating it from our actual homes in Israel.

During our visit we were hosted by a warm Jewish community which expresses its Jewish identity by abiding by the laws of the Jewish faith and tradition and by active participation in Jewish events and holidays. We learned to respect and appreciate this profound expression of the Jewish way of life.

We were acquainted with this wonderful place in which

the Jewish tradition is strictly but lovingly observed. A community with a true desire to become acquainted with the secular Israeli culture as it expressed in our way of life.

The moving experience we shared with our hosts took place within the high level educational institution of The Pressman Academy headed by Rabbi Mitchell (Mitch) Malcos who is very highly regarded by his community.

We, of course, came from a distant place – from a neighborhood called Maoz-Aviv located in the north of Tel-Aviv.

The Maoz-Aviv neighborhood – where the Magen School is located – was originally built for "army people" – people who signed on in the army and went on to become commanders and officers.

This neighborhood is unique in its strong communal identity, where the Magen School much like The Pressman Academy in Los Angeles, serves as an anchor in the community.

Maoz-Aviv's special characteristics along with its many grass lawns , gardens and "low rise" apartment buildings and homes, has come to be known in Tel-Aviv as "the kibbutz within the city". Our school population also consists of students from the nearby neighborhoods of Neot-Afeka, Tel-Baruch, Hadar-Yosef,

Ramot and Tzahala.

The Magen School is over fifty years old. Over the years it has reared many generations of successful graduates. Many of our graduates now hold important posts in a variety of distinguished institutes in the fields of finances, industry, national security, the judiciary system, in the world of arts and in sports.

Our students graduate not only with tools to help them cope with life's challenges but also graduate with values.

Some of the more important values with which we enrich and educate our students generate from the Partnership Program.

This partnership program with Pressman is a very important program in Magen. It constitutes the essence of the shared fate existing between our people on both sides of the world. It helps to dissipate any barriers and builds layers upon layers of multi-generational bonds that should not be severed.

Shosh Keiper
Pressman and Magen.
Two communities.
So Far and Yet so Near!