Daniel Lubetzky

Earlier tonight at a reception by the Skoll Foundation on the occasion of the CGI conference, I had an interesting conversation with Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America.  One of her insights is that the key to improving our education system is not in undermining teachers, who are far stronger than the stereotypical condemnations would lead one to believe. The key is to empower students with the vision that they are worthy and deserving of a higher education and a brighter future – to increase their self-worth through visualization about the possibilities before them.

What I found interesting is that, like OneVoice’s 2018 insight about visualization of a two-state solution as key to get there, here in education an ability to visualize a better future is again central to getting there.

Like Thoreau wrote, "If you have built clouds on the sky your work need not be lost.  That is where they should be. Now build the foundations under them." (I paraphrase from memory so don’t quote me)

I have always thought that the keys to improving our education and giving young people an "edge" is to teach kids about IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY, about how to be INTROSPECTIVE AND SELF-CRITICAL, about how to do CRITICAL THINKING and evaluation of issues before them – questioning all assumptions, and to be RESILIENT/PERSISTENT, and GOAL-ORIENTED.  Wendy agreed all of these are very important aspects of growth in education.

But a prerequisite seems to be the ATTITUDE.  And that attitude can emanate from a positive view of ourselves and our future.

I worry whether my children will grow up in a culture so sterilized and digitized that they will miss out on true human bonds. Maureen Dowd just added to my worries with acute observations about the increasing superficiality of romantic comedies. People no longer fall in love or learn to love as they did in earlier movies. Read the column to join me in my worries.

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A lot of Israeli and Jewish friends often ask me about Palestinian textbooks and whether they teach about peace and co-existence.  During the early part of the Abbas-Olmert administrations, I recall that Prime Minister Olmert mentioned to me that the Abbas Administration had done a remarkable job on this front, in contrast to many prior Palestinian Ministries of Education.  It was also around this time that OneVoice did an incredible job working in partnership with both the Israeli and Palestinian Ministries of Education to launch the Imagine 2018 essay contest for kids ages 13-17, to ask them to visualize what would their lives look like in 2018 if their countries entered into a peace agreement and implemented it in the coming years. 

Alas, Palestinians have regressed and apparently so have Israelis.  An interesting article in Ha’aretz points out that the Israeli Ministry of Education under Prime Minister Netanyahu is objecting to inclusion of the Oslo negotiations and peace treaty in its texts, even though it does mention more recent events, like the peace agreement with Jordan.

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In a prior blog entry here, I shared an insight from Linda Gallanter, that your goal when raising children should be to give them purpose, rather than for them to be "happy." If they find purpose, they will find happiness.  If you obsess with their immediate happiness as a goal, they may just end up spoiled or feeling self-entitled.

But in reading an excellent article from Andrea Elliot, The Jihadist Next Door, and in remembering some concepts from a novel (OD&H) I started trying to write a decade ago but never finished, one should remember that "purpose" is a double-edged sword.  A lot of the most dangerous people find purpose alright – to destroy or vanquish or eliminate. 

So the caveat should be that Purpose needs to be Positive.  And since Positive is a normative word whose definition may be in the eye of the beholder (ie, for Omar Hammami, killing infidels in Somalia is a Positive act), I would define Positive as rooted in TOLERANCE AND RESPECT TOWARDS OTHER HUMAN BEINGS – or the golden rule of doing onto others as you would want to be done on to you.

Elliot’s article also highlights that the same attributes of leaders in society – being smart, curious, introspective, analytical, charismatic, determined – can be dangerous if not rooted in tolerance.

Ironically, Omar Hammami was brought up by a Muslim Dad and Christian Mom.  So you would think that environment can foster diversity and respect (as it has in countless of PeaceWorks and OneVoice team members I have met over the years whose parents come from different backgrounds.  Alas, in this case, the teachings that Hammami got from Islam and from Christianity were exclusionary and rooted in intolerance.  He would be warned by his Mom’s family and church in Alabama that he would go to hell unless he accepted Christianity.  And he would be warned by his Father’s family in Syria that he would be cursed if he didn’t accept Islam.  Repressive religious upbringings can boomerang and catch up with your offspring.

Elliot’s article also points how "a constant in Hammami’s life [is] his striving for another place and purpose."

The zeal to transcend one’s life in this world – the search for purpose and posterity – can be the greatest inspiration for good or evil.

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I just re-read an essay I wrote (as therapy, I guess) back on September 11, 2001 and a couple days after, trying to capture the thoughts and feelings of New Yorkers after the World Trade Center terrorist attack.

It is worth remembering what the city and its people went through.

It is worth honoring the heroes and the fallen.

And it is worth reflecting on how we can deny a victory to the terrorists, back then and today, not just by apprehending them, but also by the lives we lead and how we lead them.

The original essay, Etiquette and Resilience in the Face of Calamity, is in the PeaceWorks Foods archives.  A copy is pasted below.

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Modern technology and education may not encourage creativity and imagination in children as much as the past.  Reading books makes you imagine your own characters, and blocks of wood – or pieces of nature – can prompt a child to imagine its toys. But tvs, xboxes, video games and pdas are less likely to stimulate the unknown, as they guide you through a pre-created and pre-imagined world.

Here is an article from babycenter (an informative and valuable website for parents) that shares ideas on how to tap your child’s natural curiosity.

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This video by a friend of my sister’s really touched me and intensified my appreciation of the need and beauty of loving and remembering my parents with every breath. 

A troubling portrayal in the New York Review of Books by Peter Beinart of American Jewish leadership and Israeli society is a must reading.

The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment

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At KIND, PeaceWorks, and OneVoice, almost by definition, I think our team members are motivated by the desire to make the world a better place, and the empowerment and joy comes with the journey.

And yet I found myself really intrigued to follow this video that breaks down these implicit assumptions and helps us all understand – what drives us, and how can we "manage" in the most motivating and empowering way?