Arabic as a Cultural Bridge with TBE Online

Join us for The Abraham Initiatives’ upcoming three-part series Arabic as a Cultural Bridge with May Arow, The Abraham Initiatives’ Director of Language Programs to experience the power of language instruction to open a door to Arab culture and society in Israel. During each one hour and 15 minutes session, May will give us a taste of the introductory Arabic courses she runs for Israeli newsrooms, mayors and city council members, academic staff on Israeli campuses, and other key Israeli institutions.

In Israel, Jewish and Arab citizens mostly attend separate schools, live in separate communities, and consume separate media. The absence of shared experience breeds prejudice, intolerance, and structural inequality. As we work to protect Israeli democracy, it is essential to find ways to bridge the gap between Jewish and Arab citizens.

Participants will learn enough Arabic vocabulary to break the ice at the shuk and gain a new perspective on Arab society in Israel.

Instructor Bio:

May Arow is the Director of The Abraham Initiatives’ Language as a Cultural Bridge program. She develops and implements Arabic language courses as an entry point to Arab culture and society for influential groups of Israelis including Hebrew language media outlets, Israeli corporations institutions, higher education staff, and city council members. May also played a key role in the development of The Abraham Initiatives’ Ya Salam Initiative, which trains and places Arab educators to teach spoken Arabic in Jewish schools and was adopted by the Ministry of Education in 2017. Outside of The Abraham Initiatives, May is a published children’s book author, and has translated several others from English and Hebrew to Arabic. She also writes for Haaretz and regularly contributes op-eds that engage the Jewish public with Arab culture.

This event will take place through a video conference call. Pre-registration is required. Please click the registration button above to pre-register. Once you have registered, your unique access link will be emailed to you. For classes that meet for multiple sessions, you only need to register once. You will be able to use the same Zoom link to access each session of the class. If you’re new to Zoom, watch a tutorial or read written instructions on how to join a Zoom video call.

Cost should not be a barrier for participation. Should you have any concerns, please contact Rabbi Sherman or Lynn Burke.