Australian #BialikCollege Year 10 students have found that the best way to learn Jewish History is by actually retracing the steps of their forefathers. For six weeks of their summer vacation the students attend the #AlexanderMussHighSchoolinIsrael program, touring all the sites that are historically significant. Yesterday Ambassador Dave Sharma came to the school and was interviewed by two of the students Jonah Wise and Elana Forbes, who displayed an in depth knowledge of the Ambassador’s life. Their hard hitting questions included exploring what the role of an ambassador is, whether Sharma had always wanted to be a diplomat, his work on President Barack Obama’s visit to Australia, as well as why he wanted to be assigned to Israel and what he hopes to achieve during his time here. Quoting from Sharma’s Twitter account, the interviewers related to social media impact and the siege in Sydney asking how Australia differs from the rest of the world in its response to terrorism. Introducing the Ambassador, who spoke to the 64 Bialik students, was his PA, Esti Sherbelis, who had been a teacher at Bialik and still retains a warm relationship with her former students, 17 years on. Sharma spoke frankly about the horrific hostage situation the previous day and the impact on Australia and on the Jewish community. Many of the teenagers were interested in hearing about Australia-Israel relations as well as the Ambassador’s thoughts on the upcoming elections in Israel. Sharma jokingly told the students that one year in Israel felt like ten in Australia, such was the pace and intensity of events. People had told him before he arrived in Israel that he would probably witness three things during his time – an election campaign, a conflict and a peace process. 18 months into the job and he was already certain of seeing all three. And although life in Israel has been hectic, Sharma says he loves it here and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 12:54:46 +0000
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