PresenTense Institute

PICZ went on what we lovingly termed the anti-Hasbara Fellowship on Thursday--instead of beaches and historic sites, which seem to be the main content of many tours, we made our way straight into the, eh, garbage of Israel: the Dudaim Refuge plant to be specific. Nothing like meeting Israel's trashy problem face on to give the Fellows and our assorted guests from the Pardes Institute a good understanding of the challenges that face the Jewish People as we get used to sovereignty.

After Dudaim we were lucky enough to be hosted by two amazing projects, both started by, and run by, young Israeli social entrepreneurs: Or and Ayalim. It was like out of a dream--young communities developing a whole new world down there, under the broad desert sky. Romantic--and awesome.

Bambi Sheleg, the founder and editor-in-chief of Israel's leading magazine, Eretz Aheret, came to speak with PICZ fellows and members on Sunday--and it was a riviting experience.

Israel, according to Bambi, is at a crossroads. The Jewish People have been pulled in opposite and conflicting directions by extremist elements from all sides--leaving many Israelis feeling as if there is no common ground, no basis for the State.

But there is a common ground, she asserts--more than we think. Since the extremist groups are getting more and more extreme, the moderates in each camp end up having more in common with one another than their extremist brothers; a national-religious woman, and Haredi man and a Tel-Avivian secular Jew sometimes have more in common with each other than with the fictionalized, sensationalized versions of themselves they see on TV. This common ground is another Israel, an Eretz Aheret, one that Bambi works hard to portray by bringing together leading voices from across the ideological camps to write about issues from all sides of the spectrum.

We filmed the talk--here is the first chapter, and the rest is online on our Creative Zionism Channel on YouTube.

Enjoy

Uriel Heilman writes about the Summer Institute for Creative Zionism in the JTA:

Horwitz, of the Creative Zionism Institute, said Israel should be the creative platform for the Jewish people. As the co-editor of BlogsofZion.org, he also was one of the ROI fellows."Israel is a hub for the Diaspora. In Israel we have the spirit, wisdom, knowledge and social capital to take the next step forward in Jewish collective life," he said.

Beyond all the argot and hype, it appeared as if something indeed was being accomplished at 3 HaRan St., where the Creative Zionism Institute is housed in an apartment turned dormitory with a broadband Internet connection.

Wires crisscrossed the floor where one fellow sat tapping out computer code for an easy-to-use Web-based publishing system, while another, Matt Barr, worked on Bible-inspired rap music (http://mattbar.com/music-43.html).
Horwitz said the institute is modeled on high-tech incubators, where people with promising ideas are given the resources they need to succeed and make money for their investors.

In this case, he and Beery said, the dividend is new and improved Jewish life.
"We're trying to create 360-degree solutions for Jewish problems," Beery said, speaking rapidly and peppering his monologue with the latest buzzwords.

"The Jewish world is at a crossroads right now, with the information age affecting entire humanity, but specifically the Jews, who are spread around the world," he said. "We're trying to unify the Jewish world and create new ways for the Jewish world to think, act, work and program."

Nice.

PICZ Fellows come from all over the religious spectrum; Creative Zionism holds that the Jewish collective should not be segmented according to style of worship or relationship to God. In that regards, we are one of the few pluralistic programs that are actually pluralistic: from secular to Haredi, our fellows span the spectrum.

Meet here Eliezer Israel, a PICZ Fellow, who is also the Executive Director of the Bat Ayin Yeshiva. And here are his words of wisdom, a short dvar torah for shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom!

This is the first vlog keeping track of Matt Bar's Jewish Bible Rap Album that is to be used as a platform for Jewish education.  As he comes up with the jams he will be sharing them and loving any feedback. Here is an introduction to the project and then a version of Cain and Abel. If you want to hear more or read lyrics press here.

They're here! These past two weeks, the PresenTense Institute for Creative Zionism rocked and rolled--and now we're getting to rock some more: five interns have arrived at the Institute from the Yavneh Olami summer internship program. These Interns will be working on a variety of projects, and encouraged to help out Fellows get the data they need in order to carry out successful projects. Here's our intro video--enjoy.

Shavuah tov! The PresenTense Institute for Creative Zionism is not just an Institute--it's an incubator that blends hi-tech, social action and the arts...and here we are, rockin' out.

Shabbat Shalom from the PICZ Boys here in Jerusalem.

Nir Kouris, who was on the first team of the successful Israeli start-up WeFi, came into the Institute on Wednesday June 27th to share with us his experiences in being with WeFi from the beginning and his vision for developing a technologically-focused summer camp for Jewish youth from around the world called E-magination Israel. Here is Nir's introduction (the Hebrew announcement is followed by an English one):

Nir is also a Member of PICZ, and an inspiration to us all: his hard work, unbelievable success and social entrepreneurial vision drives us all to new heights as we explore the connection between informal Jewish education and technology.

Check out the rest of the videos here.

On Monday the PresenTense Institute for Creative Zionism community's paradigms were busted, as Tsvi Bisk, noted Futurist, lectured on themes in his soon to be released book, the Optimistic Jew.

One of Tsvi's most controversial statements--and the one that rang the most true--was that Israel shouldn't just live to survive, it should live to economically thrive. That is, Israel should strive to have the highest Median income in the world--thereby ensuring that as many Israelis as possible have the economic power of the Middle Class. Check out more here:

See the rest of the talk on our YouTube account. Enjoy.