Facilitators and coordinators

Social projects are the main way for organizations or social activists to lead social change. Each project is built on an idea, belief and/or perception that the project leaders assume that if they are realized, change will occur. There are different ways to approach project implementation, some of which advocate careful planning of the project in advance and following its lead, some of which involve trial and error, some of which suggest trying to raise possible failures and try to solve them in advance, and some of which suggest starting to encounter the failures in the field and starting over. The way in which one chooses to approach a project may have a significant impact on its success and the effect it will produce. Setting goals and objectives for the project will allow one to choose an appropriate way to approach it.

The Jewish tradition places Torah study and Torah observance as its central values. Study and action are perceived as being in conflict with each other, and investing in one comes at the expense of investing in the other. This perception leads to the question of which is greater, Talmud or action? and pushes for a decision on this question. Deciding on this question may be expressed in investing greater time, energy, and resources, but it mainly affects the hierarchy that is created between Talmud and action. Creating a hierarchy between the two may also create a hierarchy between people who engage in study and those who engage in action, and exclude certain people from study and other people from action. Blurring the dichotomy between study and action and identifying learning processes that involve action and actions that involve Torah study makes it possible to expand the circles of study and action to different groups in the population and reduce social exclusion from one of these circles in order to continue their centrality in the Jewish tradition alongside each other.

Authenticity is an abstract and somewhat elusive concept that is based on a person's loyalty to their identity and culture despite external influences. In a society built on a hierarchy between cultures, languages, and identities, there is a constant attempt by individuals and communities at the bottom of the hierarchy to try to resemble the identities and cultures at the top. This attempt involves heavy prices paid by those who try to change their identity and culture and losses for the entire society, which loses the values and culture of an entire community within it. Identifying the processes that create a turn away from authenticity, and strengthening the original identity and culture, allows for a process of correction for individuals and communities that have given up their cultural identity treasures and want to return to them.