May I Have a Word With You?

As the director of Galilee Dreamers, I try to communicate with the principals, teachers and students at our eight participating schools on a regular basis. Recently I had the privilege of visiting three of those schools with my friend and Oranim colleague, Lori Abramson. It was obvious that the students,

whose participation in the program during Covid has been primarily via Zoom, are more than ready to meet with their Jewish and Arab friends face to face. In this, my first column on our new GD website, I would like to introduce you to two of our Jewish students at the Ort Psagot high school in Carmiel .

I asked Mayan and Yaara to tell us about their friendship, and what motivates them to continue in the GD program into the 11th grade. This is their letter.

Hi Rachel,

We’ve known each other since the 7th grade, and to be honest, we don’t really remember how our friendship started, because it feels like we’ve known each other for ages. When we heard about the program, we immediately knew that this is the perfect place for us-we get to meet new people, go on new adventures, see new points of view, and most importantly, make our friendship stronger.

We are so thankful that we are part of the - חולמי הגליל Galilee Dreamers. Together, we have traveled to special places, and the experiences were so wonderful that we kept talking about them over and over, laughing together, and excited for the next event. The time we spent together here helped us not just to dream, but to dream together. Our friendship keeps growing, and we will definitely share memories from this beautiful project when we grow older.

Thank you, Rachel, for reading/listening to our story, and we hope that you relate to what we have said. If you do, take a moment and hug your best friends and appreciate them, because sometimes we forget how lucky we are to have them in our life.

Maayan and Yaara

Thank you, girls. May you continue to grow מחיל לחיל -from strength to strength! Rachel Ravid Director, Galilee Dreamers of Oranim International School.