KIVUNIM

KIVUNIM believes that the future leadership of the Jewish people must become better informed and more comfortable with the broader world in which we live. At the same time, we must become more knowledgeable about our own international roots and come to a deeper appreciation of the cultures and traditions that have actually created the Jewish people of today.  

 

The Jewish people is an “international people” par excellence.  But the insights and perspectives that could come from such experience and provide aid and wisdom to many of our contemporary problems cannot be applied if we do not know our own history.  As but one simple example, most Ashkenazi Jews (and many of Sepharadi origin as well) refer to all North African Jews as Sepharadim (Spanish Jews descending from the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand). But estimates of as many as half of Morocco’s Jews claim descent from those who arrived in Morocco as far back as Second Temple times, easily 1500 years before the Spanish exile!  There were Jews in Morocco before Mohammed!  Or as the King of Morocco says: “The Jews are more Moroccan than the Moroccans!”

 

Of more significance of course is the remarkable integration into Jewish life of native language, costume, architecture, music, art, cuisine, worldview, and even skin color.  Expanding the horizon of what is “Jewish” can only assist in building greater inter-group understanding and ultimately increase the possibilities of peace and justice in more and more of the world.

 

KIVUNIM often begins it’s travel program in Greece at the Parthenon working our way up through Chalkida, the capital of the island of Euboea, the historic Oracle at Delphi, the massive monolithes of Meteora, the charming old Jewish quarter of Veria and finally the magnificent port city of Saloniki in northern Greece... and then on to Skopje, Macedonia and finally Sofia and Plovdiv, Bulgaria.  While exploring the cultures, politics and histories of these countries, KIVUNIM begins a year-long examination of majority/minority, God and gods, language and longevity, nation and nationalism and a massive dose of art, culture and “big ideas.” 

 

Other trips will take students to Morocco including Casablanca, Fes, Marrakesh, Taroudant, Arazane, Quarzazat, Erfoud, Errashadiya, Telouet and Merzouga for the Great Sahara (and points in-between).  Students will also assist in the reconstruction of a 500 year old adobe synagogue during their stay.  Later in the year they will journey to Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Sevilla and Cordoba in Spain and then on to Istanbul and Izmir in Turkey; to Berlin, Prague and Budapest in Central Europe and end the year in India visiting Jaipur, Agra, Delhi, Varanasi, Mumbai, Alibaug, and either Cochin or Dharamshala.  

 

Each trip is intensive, with a program on-the-ground prepared by experienced historians and travelers and geared to maximizing our 12-14 days periods to the maximum.  In addition to obvious and normal tourist sites, KIVUNIM has arranged for unique and special experiences with fascinating artists, journalists, academics, poets, and the like in each country that we visit.  It is through the human encounter that we learn the most about ourselves and the "other".