The 18th Cohort of the Heschel Fellows Program launched on November 8, 2017. This year includes change-makers from a variety of disciplines: Engineering, Mass Communication, Social Sciences, Public Policy, Architecture, Business and more. The first gathering included introductions, words of inspiration and a lecture by former MK and journalist Nitzan Horowitz, a Heschel Alumnus. “This year we introduced another element to the program, which is taking the Fellows to a two-day retreat in a forest,” says Yoav Egozi, Director of the Fellowship Program. “The purpose is to take the Fellows out of their comfort zone, which we believe would assist them in opening up to new ideas,” he adds. The retreat was held this week in the Megido Forest. One of the guest lecturers in the retreat had been Dr. Daniel Naveh, an academic in the field of archeology, sociology, anthropology and environmental studies who lived for a year in India’s rainforests with one of the last “hunters and gatherers” tribes in the world. The focus of the lecture was his research of the tribe’s environmental understanding and their relations to nature, as a way to understand how ancient humanity treated animals and nature as a whole and what created the shift in this mindset. Needless to say, the lecture was eye-opening and served as an tool to discuss how we can address the challenges we face today.
Another new element to be introduced this year is the Fellows Hackathon, which will include the two Heschel Fellowships – the Heschel Fellows and the Galilee Fellows. The two programs will join forces and come together in the annual Hackathon which will serve as a mini-lab for innovative sustainability solutions. Both facilitator teams are excited to work together.