The Center For Humanistic Education [in the Ghetto Fighters House]
The Center for Humanist education (CHE) was founded by Raya Kalisman in 1995 and operates as part of the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum. CHE has broken new ground in its approach to Holocaust education and in its unique education activities, teaching Holocaust as a historical crisis that invites us to explore social and human dilemmas of a truly universal nature. CHE’s premise is that studying the Holocaust this way helps us understand the importance of humanistic and democratic values, combats indifference to the suffering of others and to infringement of human rights, and provides tools for moral judgment and civic responsibility.
CHE’s team is comprised of Jewish and Arab educators and the center works with a diverse population of teachers and students – Jews, Muslims, Christians and Druze, from villages, kibbutzim, towns and cities in the North of Israel.
CHE’s educational process is guided by several principles:
- The process is geared towards the needs of the participants’ community.
- Participation is by personal choice.
- The process is gradual – from homogeneous groups to a multicultural framework.
- The process is continuous – workshops, seminars and graduate groups follow one another.
CHE’s goal are:
- To convey to diverse audiences the knowledge and understanding of the events of the Holocaust, its backdrop and its universal and current significance.
- To develop human sensitivity and moral judgment regarding the persecution of any minority of the violation of human and civil rights.
- To promote democratic values and social involvement and to work towards a more tolerant and equal society in Israel.