Mazkeret Batya

The Keshet School at Mazkeret Batya was established by a strong local community which is composed of families who hold different beliefs regarding their Jewish identities – from embracing Judaism with a full commitment to Halacha, to connecting with it as a Humanistic Culture.

The Community established its own association which offers various activities to the families.

The community came together in 1995 and has been growing constantly since then. It now has 250 families who chose their motto to be “Live and Educate Together”, which is reflected in two main areas:

1) Parents are actively involved in developing the educational system of the community, which combines pre-school, kindergartens, an after school program and an elementary school. All of the programs bring religious and secular children together.

2) The community is devoted to creating cultural and social circles for all its members. A large number of activities are tied to the Jewish calendar. These events are created with a pluralistic approach, where religious and secular feel equally comfortable, and they attract hundreds of community members.

The community offers ongoing study sessions of Jewish texts by its largest definition, which encompasses the Orthodox perception side by side with the Humanistic perception. Every week the community publishes a local newspaper that focuses on Parashat Hashavua, written by community members. There is a high awareness for volunteer opportunities, yielding a vast number of volunteers who contribute their time and skills to the school community and beyond, and who support one another in times of need. The Mazkeret Batya Keshet community is well-organized, with about 15 teams of volunteers who deal with every aspect of life. A volunteer Nonprofit Organization monitors and oversees all activities. Only the Executive Director of the NPO is a paid employee.

The community aspires to further develop in two major fields:

To create a Middle School and a High School, to be able to offer a Keshet education from Kindergarten through12th grade.

To develop and spread this successful model of communal life and learning in other places in Israel, in response to the growing interest.