Israeli Jews and Arabs Will Come to Louisville for Triwizard Event

Israeli Jews and Arabs Will Come to Louisville for Triwizard Event

http://www.jewishlouisville.org/page.html?ArticleID=142793

If you are a fan of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, when you hear the word “triwizard,” it immediately conjures up images of the dangerous and demanding competition that brought students from schools in three countries together for a year-long competition among school champions.

The wizarding tournament in the book was conceived as a way to bring youngsters from different communities together to get to know each other, to learn about each other’s culture and language and to foster understanding and cooperation.

Well, on March 18-21, there will be a Triwizard event in Louisville. Instead of young wizards, however, 10 Israeli teens – five Jewish and five Arab – and their teachers will be coming to Louisville to engage in a three-way discussion with their American counterparts at local high schools and at meetings with Jewish youth groups.

Although all 10 teens live in Akko, in the Western Galilee (Louisville’s Partnership with Israel region), the Jews attend Ort Darsky High School and Arabs attend Ort Chilmi Shafee High School. They would not have had much opportunity to interact in the normal course of their lives.

It was a special Holocaust study program through the Ghetto Fighters Museum that changed their paths. Through their participation in a joint learning activity related to tolerance and mutual understanding, all the teens learned about the danger of stereotypes and prejudice and came to understand the importance of co-existence.

They started their discussions in Israel, and now they are traveling together, talking together, and sharing their concerns, their hopes and their dreams with each other and with some of the American communities in the Partnership.

The Triwizard project was originated with the Canton Jewish community, and is now coming to other communities in the consortium.

Partnership with Israel (originally Partnership 2000) is a JAFI program that matches communities in Israel with communities in the United States. Louisville has been part of a Midwest consortium of communities partnered with the Western Galilee since the program’s inception in 1998.

The program offers many opportunities for people on both sides of the ocean to work together in the fields of medicine, arts, education, culture and business. Additional opportunities can be developed for you, tailored to your individual interests, talents and skills.

For more information about the Triwizard event or Partnership, contact Shlicha Alexandra Shklar, 451-8840 or alexandras@jcfl.com.