Colorful prefab huts for school

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Last week these prefabs were trucked into Meitar through streets that were blocked off to traffic.
Slowly slowly a crane set them down in their designated places.
About seven in all. 

The school yard is a mess, meanwhile.
Let's hope the builders get everything in order before the first day of school, September1.

Meitarim is the town of Meitar's middle school.
I guess they need more space and the colorful huts are the (temporary?) solution.
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See more about this school in these three posts.
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(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)
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Recess on a sunny warm day

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Recess time at Meitarim Middle School today.
Click the photo a few times to see the different activities going on.

I just happened to be on top of the "mountain" in the middle of Meitar, checking out the diverse cactus plants.
Come back tomorrow to see their growth spurts.
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Culture war on schoolbags

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Big displays of schoolbags and pencil cases in the malls remind us that Israeli kids will soon be heading back to school.
Not that they had a real summer vacation this year, what with the war and all.
Will the fighting, which started up again last night,  be over by September 1?
If not, parents will not be willing to send their kids back  to the many unfortified school buildings here in the South.

If you enlarge the photo you can find Hello Kitty and superheros and other foreign themes.
(Oh, and also find the arrow pointing to the mall's protected area.)
I read here that one supermarket chain started promoting book bags featuring characters from beloved old Israeli children's literature instead.
The article calls it Culture War.
Who will win, you reckon? 

Photo from Israel21c

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UPDATE Aug. 21:   http://www.timesofisrael.com/despite-rockets-schools-to-open-september-1-ministry-says/
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Happy Family Day

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On Friday Israel celebrated Family Day (which some years ago replaced Mother's Day).

The lower grades from grandson Eyal's school  danced and sang the good old songs.
Bless those kids and their teachers, they were all heart!
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Two brothers now in one school

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A big day in our wide-spread family!
My grandson Eyal started kindergarten! 

Here he is, full of smiles,  with his big brother, Dean, on the right side making funny faces. 
How well I remember accompanying Dean to HIS first day there at Bondi Public School (in Sydney, Australia).
How the years fly by. 

Congratulations, Eyal.  May you enjoy school, learn a lot and teach a lot.
God bless you, dear grandson. 
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Shalom Kitah aleph

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Google had a special logo today for the first day of school in Israel.
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For the first time ever, school started in August instead of on September 1.
Also a first, a victory of last year's social justice movement--little kids aged 3 and 4 can now attend pre-kindergarten tuition-free.
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Over two million K-12 pupils headed back to school today.

May all our kids learn a lot and enjoy being together.
And may they stay safe in this coming year of uncertainty.
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Giftedness and genius, guidance and growth

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You can tell from the title that today is G-Day at ABC Wednesday.

"Gee, what a nice campus for 9th to 12th grade kids," I thought while waiting for a bus just outside the school's fence and seeing it more or less up close for the first time.
The sign said ISRAEL ARTS AND SCIENCE ACADEMY.
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Here's what I now learn from Googling:

"IASA is the most integrated high school in Israel.
Its 200 students and over 1000 graduates come from more than 100 communities across Israel.
They are religious and secular Jews; Israeli Arabs (Druze, Christian, Bedouin and Muslim); new immigrants and native-born Israelis.
They come from development towns and major cities, kibbutzim and moshavim.
They represent the full mosaic of Israeli society."

--from the Academy's website

Overlooking the southern Jerusalem Hills, the 19-acre Schusterman Campus is home to the students for three years. A real residential high school.
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IASA was founded in 1990 by the Society for Excellence through Education.
The carefully selected gifted students may major in either natural sciences , music, visual arts, or humanities.
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Listen to what Wikipedia says! --
"The studies in the Art Department consist of painting, sculpting, photography, and video art classes.
Students also study the history of modern art and classic art.
In their second year, students write their own academic paper about any art topic they choose. In their third year, students work on their final practical exhibit."
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Lucky kids, eh?
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More about Israel's various programs for the "gifted, talented, and very able" is here.
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Pioneering Protestants in Jerusalem

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For today's That's My World let's look at a disappearing world.
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The Israeli army guard would not let me in the gate to photograph back in November 2008.
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Written in stone on the building are the Arabic and the German for "Syrian Orphanage."
The place is popularly known as the Schneller School or Schneller Compound.
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I could only get pictures through the perimeter fence and the barbed wire.
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Some of the buildings are roofless.
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Some are gone.

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The army, which had used the compound since 1948, moved out two years ago.

The plan is to build 600 apartments for the neighboring haredim (ultra-orthodox Jews).

The Jerusalem municipality talks of preserving some of the beautiful old European-style buildings and using them as public buildings or a museum.

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By chance, a wooden crate was recently found inside the old church.

In it was the original stone altar from 1860!

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Last night, at the symposium I showed in yesterday's post, the altar was brought to the Church of the Ascension on Mount of Olives to be installed and rededicated there, at Augusta Victoria.

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You can get an idea of the history and the great meaning of the Schneller School(s) for the German Protestants (and also see old photos of the orphanage and Johann Schneller and the kids) by looking at the PDF program of the international symposium, "Schneller--a living heritage in the Middle East."

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The history in brief:

Schneller was sent to Jerusalem as a missionary from a Swiss village in 1854.

From the Arabs of Lifta he bought plots of land and started building.

He and his wife and 4 apprentices became the first Europeans to live outside the protective Old City walls.

They rescued orphans following the 1860 Druze and Muslim massacre of 30,000 Maronite Christians in Lebanon.

The children (up to 180 orphans at its peak) found a new home and a fine school in Schneller's Syrian Orphanage.

Schneller's son and then his grandson carried on his work.

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In World War II all Germans and Austrians were deported from Palestine; many were sent to Australia.

The British Army took over the compound.

When the British Mandate ended in 1948, they handed the compound to the IDF.

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To read the whole fascinating story, please see this good Jerusalem Post article.

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Today the Schneller tradition of holistic education for peace and for future leaders continues at their two schools, in Lebanon and in Jordan.

And they still teach German.

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UPDATE Oct. 2020:  https://www.israel21c.org/landmark-building-to-house-new-museum-celebrating-jewish-heritage/

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Stairs, stones, and schools

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ABC Wednesday is already on letter S.
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So many times I have entered the Old City at Jaffa Gate and walked right past the old Petra Hostel.
A few days ago I gathered courage and entered this dilapidated old building, refuge of backpackers and other penniless types.
Slowly, so as not to slip on the well-worn stairs, I climbed to the 3rd floor and then up onto the flat roof.
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SPECTACULAR view!!
New west Jerusalem and old east Jerusalem!
The Old City and Temple Mount and beyond, to the Mount of Olives and the desert!
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But my favorite photo from the roof was not off into the distance but rather straight down.
Enlarge it, please.
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The Arab girl was bending over, opening a grate, cleaning it as the final step in her big work of hosing down the courtyard and scrubbing the stones.
Shining stones, still wet!
Aren't they beautiful?
It's like in archaeology when we pour water over an ancient mosaic and all its colors come to life!
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I wish the young lady could see her work from above and be proud.
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Not sure, but I think, judging from a basketball hoop, that the enclosed area is part of St. Dimitri's School.
It is a private school sponsored by the Patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church.
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I see in a 2008 news item that St. Dimitri's was then celebrating the renovation and revitalization of its building.
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Apparently the EU has a Comprehensive School Upgrading Program for a few selected Palestinian schools in east Jerusalem which "revamps the schools and upgrades the electricity networks, sanitation facilities, sewage systems, carpentry and mechanical works and general classroom conditions (paint, floors, and ceilings). It also funds new school equipment like computers, fax, and copy machines, as well as school management software."
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Along with two partner organizations, the EU provides "extensive teacher training around teaching methods, interfaith education, inclusion and appropriate methods of maintaining discipline and openness in the classroom."
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The need is great and I wish them success.
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Safsal halimudim

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I always hear of the David Yellin Teachers College (founded in 1913), but I had never seen it.

I found it, back in the winding streets of the Beit Hakerem neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Entering and exploring, I was seized by an urge to register for classes.

The Bench on Friday bloggers who gather every Friday at Visual Norway would like this campus.

Outside the student cafeteria, picnic tables with benches on all four sides.

Two benches peeking through the little aquatic garden.

In the winter, rain is collected from the roof, stored in these containers, and fed into the circuit of the little waterfall and pool-garden to make up for water lost to evaporation.

The benches at the adjacent school's playground were the typical sturdy metal type, meant for wear and tear.

I really enjoyed my first visit to David Yellin teachers seminary. Lots of learning going on!

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Talitha Kumi

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This busy intersection is on King George Street in central Jerusalem.

But when Talitha Kumi was built in 1867 it was in the middle of nowhere.
It was one of the first buildings to be built outside the Old City's protective wall.

It was founded as a home for orphaned Arab girls, later developing into a girls’ boarding school.

These are some of the Deaconess Sisters who cared for and taught the girls.

The photo is from the website of the modern, and now co-ed, Talitha Kumi School run by the Evangelical Lutherans.
In 1961 the School moved to Beit Jala, a Christian village outside Bethlehem, in the West Bank.

Enlarge this photo above to see the peace dove with olive branch, the symbol of the Deaconesses.

These windows, the chimney, and part of the facade were saved when Old Talitha Kumi was demolished in 1980.
The three elements were erected here, 50 meters from the original site.
That we may remember.

The plaque explains that German architect (and explorer) Conrad Schick (who designed so much of 19th century Jerusalem) incorporated European academic style with Eastern motifs for this unique building.

I was surprised to learn from this vintage photograph that the arch with the clock was actually on the upper level.
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If you open your New Testament to Mark 5:41, no matter what language your Bible is in, you will probably see the Aramaic words talitha, kumi.
 It means "Little girl, arise."

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Dr. Georg Dürr, principal of the school, writes this in his welcome to the nice website:

The name of the institution has been linked with the story of the resurrection of that little girl from the dead, the Evangelist Mark writes: "And Jesus took the damsel by the hand and said to her "Talitha Kumi" which means "Little Girl I say unto thee arise." 
The name itself has turned into a commitment for us. It's a word that calls for life. A word that fills someone's heart with courage and make him look at the future with hope and optimism. We prepare our students to face life with courage and self-confidence. . . .

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Conflict transformation

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For full impact click on the photo and read the writing on the wall.

It's a good thing that the inscription on this building is safely hidden behind a tall stone wall, a sliding metal gate, and a security guard. An ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood is just a block away.

What the historical building plaque posted outside the wall says is rather tame and lackluster in comparison, pointedly.

The English Mission Hospital was completed in 1897 and the doctors served all the different peoples of Jerusalem. The rabbis were dead-set against any Jew entering the doors of a Christian hospital.

But since the early 1960s the Anglican International School Jerusalem is housed here.

The school cat who came right over for a cuddle shows just how friendly the atmosphere is.

The place is old and beautiful. For their 100th anniversary the stones were cleaned with sandblasting.

The school has grades K-12, all taught in English. The student body is made up of 20-25% Palestinians, a handful of Jews, and the rest from the consular corps.

Speaking of foreign diplomatic families . . . this is especially for blog-buddy Catherine Mark-Beasant who writes about her years at the Anglican School decades ago in this interesting and touching post.
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The sundial quotes the Song of Songs in the Bible: "Until the day break and the shadows flee away."

And some shadows did flee away during the ten weeks I participated in a weekly Slim Peace group in this classroom behind the arch. All women. A few Arabs, a few Jews, a nun, a nutritionist, a facilitator, and a film-maker. Ostensibly coming together to discuss better nutrition and healthier living, but much more than that.

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What's your world like? You too can share it every Monday night with the bloggers at That's My World , or just come for a visit. Shalom!

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Funny-color sky over Jerusalem

The sky was such a strange and ominous color at 4:30 the other day. A few tiny drops tried to fall and then stopped. A good thing, too, because I was on a guided walking tour of 19th century Jerusalem and wanted the camera to stay dry.
This building from 1904 was once home to Lemel Elementary School.
Click on the photo to better see the clock's Hebrew letters used as numbers.

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