| Yerushalmit Movement P.O. Box 10499 Jerusalem 91104 ISRAEL 011-972-2-650-2306 info@yerushalmit.org.il www.yerushalmit.org.il |
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Yerushalmit Movement
Building a Community of Communities – Uniting Communities for Our Common Good
Our Vision
The Yerushalmit Movement seeks to establish the City of Jerusalem as a Community of Communities.
We believe that the Torah that comes out of Zion can and must be one of tolerance, cooperation, and social and cultural engagement between Jerusalem’s diverse communities.
We strive to build a Jerusalem worthy of its lofty standing as the capital of the State of Israel, the Jewish People and a center for three monotheistic religions; a city that promises a high quality of life and economic, social and cultural prosperity to all of its residents.
Who Are We
For the past six years the Yerushalmit Movement has successfully worked to strengthen the pluralist communities and neighborhoods of West Jerusalem. Through initiatives and community events that empowered residents to make positive social change in their neighborhoods by improving education, infrastructure and culture. With this success we are now implementing our next phase of development, unifying different communities to work together for the greater common good – to build a Community of Communities.
Jerusalem is made up of numerous groups, populations, and neighborhoods – secular, religious, ultra-Orthodox, Arab, Armenian and so on – that are committed to living and raising our children here. It is imperative that we find ways to cooperate and join forces for the benefit of us all. We must put national politics aside and work together from the grassroots to enable all of us to live, and thrive, together, each in his or her own community, united in diversity and mutual respect as a Community of Communities. Together, we are identifying those common areas – education, health and infrastructure – important to us all, and developing grassroots programs and plans of action to generate positive social change.
Our Focus
Strengthen social fabric of neighborhoods
Cultivate Women’s Leadership
Empower residents in grassroots social action
Facilitate cross-community collaboration
Improve education, infrastructure, health and culture
Improve quality of life for young families
Develop common language between diverse groups
Reclaim the public sphere as tolerant and pluralistic
Our Programs
The vision of Jerusalem as a “Community of Communities” is currently being actualized through three flagship initiatives:
Community Activism: Beralle
Public gatherings for young families that create strong, warm ties between neighborhood residents through a variety of educational, therapeutic and fun activities.
Beralle began six years ago as Shabbat morning recreational gatherings for families and has grown into a well-known event in high demand. During the 2015 terror wave, the Beralle Emergency Initiative served thousands of young families and children suffering under the weight of fear and distress. The nearly daily events spanning ten different neighborhoods brought frightened residents out of their homes and into a safe community space where we could come together in mutual support and reconnect to our collective strength and hope.
After hundreds of successful events serving tens of thousands of residents, we are expanding our activity to include ultra-Orthodox and East Jerusalem communities and neighborhoods. We are now working with the Jerusalem Municipality to bring Beralle to East Jerusalem community centers. It’s truly exciting and inspiring to be actualizing visions for real change in Jerusalem.
Women Changing Jerusalem
Women’s leadership development program based in conflict neighborhoods that brings together women across the spectrum from ultra-Orthodox to Secular to work on joint neighborhood projects furthering the social good.
We believe in women’s power to effect positive change in conflict areas. Our Women Changing Jerusalem leadership development program brings together women from different sectors of Israeli society living in the same neighborhood, to create a shared space and a common language through which they can address shared needs and further the common good. Together each group produces Building Jerusalem Together, a neighborhood event that enables them to impact both their own community and the public sphere. They go on to develop various campaigns to address common challenges. These groups are an outstanding model of intersectoral cooperation and shared living in Jerusalem. We have established successful programs in Kiryat HaYovel and Nachlaot and are currently preparing to announce the opening of new groups in Ramot and Gilo, with more in the works!
Meeting Place: Encounters in Zion Square:
Discussion circles and cultural experiences in Zion Square that engage individuals and groups in intersectoral dialogue and facilitate face to face encounters which break down barriers of fear that perpetuate conflict.
Face-to-face encounters are uniquely powerful in allowing us to bypass cultural, political and economic divisions and see each other in our common humanity. Following the hate crimes of the summer of 2015, we immediately responded with a grassroots initiative in Zion Square, one of the most diverse and populated places in Jerusalem, to counteract the growing fear and polarization of Israeli society. Through professionally facilitated dialogue circles and various activities designed to bring different people together, we are transforming tension and conflict into mutual respect and dialogue, opening us to new possibilities for finding common ground and working together for the common good. A diverse community of dedicated activists and participants is growing around this initiative and we are devotedly invested in its success. We are currently in the next phase of development to expand and diversify our activities, and invite you to become a strategic partner in revitalizing Jerusalem’s city center and reclaiming the public sphere for reconciliation and peace-building.
Project Outcomes:
Strengthen the LGBTQ community of Jerusalem and pluralistic community in general
Transform Zion Square into a pluralistic arts and cultural center
Revitalize the City Center of Jerusalem
Unify diverse Jerusalem communities and nurture intersectional collaboration
Re-brand Jerusalem not as a center of conflict, but as a center of dialogue and peace
Project Fact: From August to April 2016, we held 32 events in Zion Square serving nearly 10,000 people in collaboration with tens of local organizations, groups and professionals.
Please click here for more information about “Meeting Place”.
Join us on the path to realizing our vision and transform Jerusalem into a “Community of Communities” – a community made up of all different communities that live in Jerusalem.