From 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza to legendary Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, from the religious life of a Hasidic grandfather to that of Israel’s youngest kes (Ethiopian Jewish religious leader), 200 Israeli high school students were introduced to the idea of Jewish peoplehood, and were asked to grapple with the concept in a daylong “hackathon” on Wednesday specifically focused on creating connections between high school students in Israel and Jewish peers in Spanish-speaking countries.

The event was organized by Enter: The Jewish Peoplehood Alliance, with support from the Israeli Education Ministry, and was held at Anu: Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv.

Building off an existing program run by Enter that connects Israeli teenagers with Jewish peers for online conversations to both build relationships and for the former to improve their English, “Building Bridges” aims to bring Israeli students studying top-level Spanish together with Jewish students from Mexico, Panama and Spain to explore and connect through their shared Jewishness as well as practice their Spanish. The “Building Bridges” also builds off another Enter program, “Peoplehood Infused Schools,” which brings concepts of Jewish peoplehood and Israel-Diaspora relations into Israeli schools.

Seven Israeli schools are taking part in the project together with one Jewish day school in each of the Spanish-speaking countries whose students are taking part in a parallel process in their schools.

“The idea of a hackathon is to solve big problems, to come up with ideas for big issues,” Alon Friedman, executive director of Enter, told eJewishPhilanthropy. “What we’re… discussing today is how to bring more Israel-Diaspora relations issues into the Israeli public school system. They’re going to be sitting today and through creative ways will be presented with big questions about Israel-Diaspora relations, the importance of mutual responsibility between Jews around the world, Jews as one family, one people. And they’re going to be coming up with ideas of how to disseminate more peoplehood concepts into their schools here in Israel.”

Following the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, with the outpouring of support from the international Jewish community, it became clear that there was a shared responsibility for the well-being of Jews around the world as one people, said Tziona Levi, director of the Ministry of Education’s department of languages.

“You have to work on it to make it happen because if you don’t know people, you feel disconnected so the language is a means of doing that,” Levi said, noting that while there are numerous English-language projects this is the first one in Spanish.

Some of the students’ ideas presented at the end of the day included launching a joint podcast with a Spanish-speaking Jewish community to discuss their day-to-day reality, traditions and culture; creating a “Jewish communities” exhibition area in a popular school location; and holding a Jewish peoplehood day at school with different activities together with a Spanish-speaking Jewish school.

All the ideas will be shared on the Padlet online creative board platform, allowing teens to comment on the ideas and explore potential partnerships. Enter and the Ministry of Education will choose the winning idea by June.

The day began with the screening of a short video prepared by the Jewish day school students and then a tour of the Anu museum in small groups. Museum guide Aaron Policar told one group how, as a Jew in Mexico, he had to make a conscious choice every day to be Jewish. He encouraged them to look at an exhibit about Jewish families and consider what makes a Jew a Jew — eating kosher food, speaking Hebrew? What is the distinction of the Jewish concept of tikkun olam when there are also other people trying to do good in the world?

“I think it is important that young Israelis begin to feel this connection with Jews as well, who may not be exactly like them and who may have other ideas and thoughts,” said Policar. “There is nothing as important as relating Diaspora Jews as Jews to Israel Jews, to see that there is a two-sided relationship of both the Diaspora Jew to Israel and the Israeli Jew to the Diaspora, so that the people can grow by learning from each other. That is the best thing that the two can have.”

“I never thought about it before,” admitted Daniel Shalev, 18, a student from the Ort Yad Leibovitch High School in Netanya. Shalev said that learning about Jews in different countries and hearing Policar speak about his own personal experience gave her a different perspective. “I never sat and thought about it, but he said things that made me think. Everything is connected to everything if you look at it in [more] detail,” she said.

Having lived in Germany for three years, Itay Papo, 18, also from Ort Yad Leibovitch, said he had given the idea of Jewish peoplehood some thought, realizing that although Jews have a shared struggle and history, he still nevertheless feels more connected to Israeli Jews.

“I guess the country you live in determines [your] culture as well. Jews here are a bit different… we’re maybe louder. Meanwhile Jews in Europe, or America, are more assimilated into the local cultures,” he said. “But I think it’s important for Jews abroad to be connected to Jews in Israel and witness a connection, and I feel it’s important for Jews here in Israel to know there are Jews in many different countries, including Latin America.”

Friedman, of Enter, noted that often Israelis lack the concept of another half of the Jewish people who don’t live at “home.” The aim of “Building Bridges” is to instill in participants  the notion of a family, with half living at home and others living outside the home but still sharing the same traditions and history, he said.

“It is an extended family. Just like you want to take care of your family no matter where they are, that’s how you want to take care of Jews who live in Israel, Jews who live abroad,” he said. “If you have a Jewish identity abroad and Israel is not a part of it, you’re missing a big chunk of what it means to be a Jew abroad. If you’re living in Israel and you suffice with your Israeli identity with no idea or caring about the fact that there’s another half of the family who doesn’t live in Israel, you’re missing a lot of your Jewish identity. So it’s totally mutual, it’s totally symmetric.”