Oz Veshalom - Netivot Shalom
Netivot Shalom Activities 1998

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Home meetings

In the framework of our efforts to expand the activities of Netivot Shalom to other regions of Israel, we have recently renewed our efforts to have to hold meetings in the homes of members, friends, and other interested individuals. The goal is to hold this sort of meeting in as many places in Israel as is possible. So far, we have held preparatory meetings in Ra`anana (at the homes of the Keidar and Man families) and in Petah Tiqva (at the home of the Or-Hen family). In both places, local action committees were established, whose job is to initiate and run activities of Netivot Shalom, with the constant aim of expanding the circle of members and those interested in the movement's ideas.

In Ra’anana, there is already a program for the upcoming half-year, which will include home meetings, standing at intersections, and more. The activities of the local committee are organized by Dr. Moti Keidar; more detailed information will appear on the weekly Parshat haShavua sheets. In Petah Tiqva, this committee is supposed to gather and establish a similar sort of program.

The focus of these meetings will be the Bet Midrash for Peace, a project we run every year during the Nine Days. This year, there will also be a Bet Midrash in the Central Region. Look for more details on an upcoming Parshat haShavua sheet.

We again call on members to initiate and organize this sort of meeting and to approach us so that we can help make them happen. Home meetings appear to be a convenient and effective way of publicizing our ideas and of reaching new audiences. The responsiveness we have found in this sphere is greater than we have experienced in the past.

Communication Network

In the framework of efforts to expand activity in the public sphere we have started organizing a national communication network, which will include not only a data base of members but also their division according to the areas in which each member is willing and able to contribute as well as the sorts of Netivot Shalom activities which he/she would like to participate in or be informed about. Questionnaires and telephone calls will reach you in the upcoming days/weeks.

Shabbat Seminar and Shavuot Night Tikun

The Shabbat Seminar and Shavuot night Tikun which we had in the Ma’aleh haHamisha Hotel were very successful. The participants expressed great satisfaction with the pleasant atmosphere during those two days, with the rich content of the program, and, most of all, with the excellent lecturers, each of whom contributed to these feelings in his/her own field of expertise. We thank them for their contributions.

The "famous" lecture of Ghazi Abut Ji'ab, which made headlines long in advance of its actual occurrence, also aroused much interest. The participants were very impressed by his sincerity and by his very acute and painful analysis of the Palestinian problem. We hope that we can continue to introduce Ghazi and others like him to additional audiences.

Students

1 . Professor Uriel Simon addressed our Hebrew University students (on May 5) on the topic, "Netivot Shalom: Its Basis in the Torah."
2 . On Yom Yerushalayim, our students participated in a night tour organized by the Meimad student group at Bar Ilan University. The tour started at the Shai Agnon House in Talpiyot and ended in the morning with shaharit at the Kotel.
3 . An additional inter-religious meeting is supposed to take place before the end of the academic year. For further details, contact Ranit, the organizer of the student group.

Demonstration

Two years after Binyamin Netanyahu's election, several dozen members of Netivot Shalom participated in a demonstration near his house (on May 29). The reactions of passersby expressed a yearning which seems to reflect the opinion of much of the Israeli public, for a moderate religious influence struggling for peace and seeing an urgent need for resolving the conflict with the Palestinians.

At the organizational level, it again became apparent that there is a gap between the desire which members express to participate in demonstrations when they are first called on to do so, and their actual arrival at such demonstrations. We call on members not to hesitate but to come when needed. The more kipa-wearers come to such demonstrations and the more obvious they are relative to others, the greater will be the influence of the entire camp supporting the continuation of the political process.

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