Worlds Contrasted

Gaps between Israeli's and Anglos are nothing new. Students in Israel learning for the year eat out in restaurants more than their Israeli counterparts, they dress differently than their Israeli counterparts and they travel (return to the US or wherever for Pesach, parents coming here, etc.) more than their Israeli counterparts.

In the high school where I am now, the gap seems to be even wider. I spoke to a native Israeli boy last week in the 9th grade who is flying to Eilat with his father for a conference. This is the first time in his life that he is both a) going to Eilat and b) flying on an airplane. Today I spoke to an Ethiopian boy who came to Israel only 5 years ago. In Ethiopia he was a shepherd. Full time. At the end of every day, he had bring water back for his family so they could cook and wash. His decision every day was whether he should buy water from the well (healthy and convenient but expensive) or to take for the lake (free but less convenient with uncertain health concerns). He never saw indoor plumbing or a cell phone (and he never spoke on any phone) until he came to Israel. When his teacher taught about the 39 Melachot of Shabbat, he spoke at length about baking bread - from cutting the wheat all the way to baking bread in a communal oven.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have a boy whose bar-mitzvah was at the King David Hotel and another boy who travels to America for every chag and for the summer.

Teaching kids from such different backgrounds is both exhilarating and incredibly difficult at the same time.