Bertha Pisterov: The Internet brings Jews around the world closer together (photo by Douglas Guthrie)

A hundred or so high school students in New Jersey and Delaware have gotten to know over a hundred Israeli teens in and around Arad-Tamar pretty well these past few months without ever having met. Both American and Israeli youngsters study in a dozen schools linked since last November through a Jewish Agency/Partnership 2000 Internet program, whose purposes are both social and educational.

"The idea is that our students communicate with one another and learn together both as individuals and as a group," says Israeli project coordinator Bertha Pisterov. "They began by introducing themselves across the internet, and then by looking at where their names and families come from. Now we're moving on to the next stage of the project, with each of the classes involved in selecting topics to investigate together."

This summer, Pisterov hopes that the American and Israeli homeroom and English teachers involved in the project will be able to meet and jointly plan a formal learning program.

June 1999