News of the Museum
Summer 1997
"Together We Shall Weave a Thread for Peace" Meeting of Jewish and Arab Families
The crowning achievement of this month was the meeting of Jewish and Arab families which took place in and around the Museum in the late afternoon of June 12th. Such projects are undertaken by the Museum because in addition to being a Hall for Archaeological Exhibits it sees itself as a cultural and communal centre, serving the inhabitants of the whole area and providing a meeting-place between neighbours. The Meeting revolved around the theme of Wool and its Preparation and was called "Together We Shall Weave a Thread for Peace". The programme included:
- Shearing Wool from the Sheep
- Working at various processes and creative activity with wool, in workshops run by young youth leaders, Arab and Jewish
- Visiting the Archaeological Museum
- Viewing a Video Film on the Jewish and Arab children who studied Archaeology together at the Museum once a month throughout the year
- Drinking a cup of strong Arab coffee in a large black Bedouin tent and eating various refreshments at other stalls scattered over the whole White Square area
- Visiting Exhibits of Art work in Wool by professional Israeli weavers, Jewish and Arab
<--- One of the Workshops - Making Dolls from WoolAt the end of some two hours of non-stop activity there were greetings from the various neighbourhood communities and an excellent performance by the "Yafiya Debka Dance Group" who then succeeded in getting the audience on their feet and dancing the Debka.
There were over 1,400 participants at this gathering, from all the settlements, Arab and Jewish, in the area, as well as people who came from afar having heard of the event.
The Gathering was held under the auspices of the Publicity Department of Haifa and the North of Israel, the Cultural Department of the Jezreel Valley District Council, the District Council of Nof HaGalil and the Village of Shibli, and the Archaeological Museum of Kibbutz Ein Dor.
We believe that there is a great need to continue to hold meetings of this kind. However our financial support has been greatly weakened. We would greatly appreciate advice and ideas from you, our visitors to this site, and if you can suggest Funds or Organizations which would be prepared to give us financial support.
Studying the Past as a Bridge to the Present
During the month of June End-of-Year Parties were held for three groups of parallel classes who had been working on the project " Studying the Past as a Bridge to the Present". Parents, teachers and children took part in these concluding parties. The parents brought the refreshments, the Jewish mothers brought brownies and cream puffs, the Arab mothers brought delicious pitta and baclowa pastries. The children and their parents also worked together in the Museum Courtyard on handicrafts connected with wheat. The children had prepared presents each for the other class and small performances of song and dance and speeches and every child received a certificate of participation.
Arab and Jewish Children Preparing Pitta Bread During the Meeting --->
Part of the Program was financed by the generosity of Stanley Weithorn from the Abraham Fund.
In the summing-up speeches parents, teachers and children all expressed their hope that this project be continued next year.
Museum Activity: "From Wheat to Bread"
During the months of May and June about 1000 pupils from kindergarten and gradeschool classes took part in the activity "From Wheat to Bread". Some of the kindergarten children were accompanied by their parents and they worked together in carrying out the whole process.The activity consisted of reaping the wheat in the field with the aid of sickles, threshing in several different ways, including using a threshing sledge, working with a winnowing fork to separate the wheat from the chaff, and sifting in a sieve to obtain the clean grain.
In the Museum Courtyard the children worked with ancient grinding stones and ground the grains of wheat into flour. This they mixed with water and made dough which they baked into bread using a small stove. Each child and each adult who took part in this process ate the bread which had been prepared with his or her own hands.
The activity took about three hours and was a practical lesson in the field, an experience which complemented the regular classroom lessons on the theme.
Contributions
By means of these pages we take the opportunity to thank the relatives and friends of the late member of our kibbutz, Yak Lam, for their contribution to our Museum.