Kolot

Kolot (Hebrew: קולות, meaning 'Voices') is an Israeli nonprofit organization (amuta) founded in 1997 by Mordechai (Moti) Bar Or. It describes its mission as creating a shared ethical infrastructure that promotes sustainable social change in Israel by cultivating key individuals and leaders in society. The organization invites leaders to its beit midrash (study hall) to learn from the Jewish bookshelf, to engage in disagreement with one another, and to share responsibility for society. Its learning is intended to create practical commitment to ethical-social change — study that leads to action. Kolot operates study groups for influential figures in Israeli society, provides personal accompaniment for senior officials, and mentors teams of organizations, communities, and projects. According to its Hebrew Wikipedia entry, approximately 2,700 people have participated in its study groups, including senior officials in local government, education, security, and culture. The organization is a member of the Jewish Renewal Union (איגוד ההתחדשות היהודית). It also produces a podcast called 'Kolot shel Ruach' (Voices of the Spirit), hosted by Lior Tal Sadeh, the organization's VP of Content. Kolot's flagship document, 'Amudei Kolot' (Pillars of Kolot), is a proposal for personal and social repair and change in several key areas where the organization believes Jewish sources offer significant added value for developing quality of life and creating meaningful ethical life in Israel. Among the pillars are a pillar dealing with the power of speech and its use, a pillar dealing with building a culture of disagreement — a culture that knows how to grow from disagreements rather than fall apart because of them — and a pillar dealing with relations to the other. The organization runs several groups of 'path leaders' and influential figures in Israeli public life who engage with society's challenges through beit midrash study and networking. Some groups travel for a week of meetings with peers and path leaders in the United States as part of their training and as part of becoming acquainted with deep processes in the Jewish people today. Admission to Kolot groups involves a multi-stage selection process. Among the groups studying at Kolot are a group of heads of local authorities and directors-general of authorities, and groups of social leaders in education and welfare, including directors-general of central nonprofits in the field and senior officials in the public sector. Kolot's 'incubator' (חממה) is a unique tool it developed to accompany individuals and work teams dealing with leadership challenges in Israeli society in a variety of fields. The working method developed in the incubator is based on a movement 'from action to study and back' and enables innovative coping with concrete challenges of practical life through Jewish sources by developing thinking, values, identity, and meaning. The incubator focuses its activity on areas significant to the resilience of the State of Israel and Israeli society, with emphasis on security-political resilience and social-economic resilience, and concentrates on accompanying senior officials in their fields and projects that generate change in Israeli society. Kolot's beit midrash for its facilitators and staff deals mainly with the possible contribution of Judaism to coping with central ethical and social challenges in Israeli society and the Jewish people today. Among other things, the beit midrash develops content and facilitation expertise used by the organization in its various programs and in the incubator, develops the Pillars of Kolot and ways to teach them, and itself serves as a channel for influencing society through publishing op-ed articles and preparing study materials for facilitators in Israel and around the world.

Kolot was founded in 1997 by Mordechai (Moti) Bar Or, who served as CEO and later as president of the organization. The founding impulse was a desire to connect influential people in Israel to a deep, pluralistic, and ethical Jewish discourse. Before founding Kolot, Bar Or had founded and directed the Elul Beit Midrash in partnership with Ruth Calderon, who later directed Alma – Home for Hebrew Culture and served as a member of Knesset. Bar Or retired from Kolot at the beginning of 2018. Since its founding, Kolot has operated study groups for influential figures in Israeli society, provided personal accompaniment for senior officials, and mentored teams of organizations, communities, and projects. According to its Hebrew Wikipedia entry, approximately 2,700 people have participated in its study groups, including senior officials in local government, education, security, and culture. The organization is a member of the Jewish Renewal Union. Over the years, Kolot developed several distinctive frameworks. Its beit midrash for facilitators and staff develops content and facilitation expertise, develops the Amudei Kolot document and ways to teach it, and serves as a channel for influencing society through op-ed articles and study materials for facilitators in Israel and worldwide. The beit midrash includes facilitators from a wide range of identities — Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform rabbis, people of Judaism as culture, academics, social activists, writers of thought, and people from the center and periphery — and is described as one of the only batei midrash in the country where representatives of the three main religious streams, as well as traditional and secular Judaism, study and create together. The beit midrash is headed by VP of Content Lior Tal, with Dr. Tomer Persico as academic director. Kolot also operates the 'incubator' (חממה), a unique tool it developed to accompany individuals and work teams dealing with leadership challenges in Israeli society. Its method is based on a movement 'from action to study and back,' enabling innovative coping with concrete challenges through Jewish sources by developing thinking, values, identity, and meaning. The incubator focuses on areas significant to Israel's resilience, with emphasis on security-political and social-economic resilience, and concentrates on accompanying senior officials and change-generating projects. Kolot runs several groups of 'path leaders' and influential figures in Israeli public life who engage with society's challenges through beit midrash study and networking. Some groups travel for a week of meetings with peers and path leaders in the United States as part of their training. Admission involves a multi-stage selection process. Among the groups studying at Kolot are a group of heads of local authorities and directors-general of authorities, and groups of social leaders in education and welfare, including directors-general of central nonprofits and senior officials in the public sector. Kolot also produces a podcast called 'Kolot shel Ruach' (Voices of the Spirit), hosted by Lior Tal Sadeh. Among the graduates of its study groups are former Shin Bet head Carmi Gillon, Minister Gideon Sa'ar, MK Nachman Shai, Mayor of Yehud-Monosson Yaela Maklis, head of Beit Aryeh council Avi Naim, head of Misgav council Ron Shani, Mayor of Mevasseret Zion Yoram Shimon, playwright Anat Gov, Major General (res.) Amos Yadlin, MK Roy Folkman, linguist and social activist Prof. Zvia Walden, actor Alon Aboutboul, and singer and actor Gidi Gov.

• 2018

  Mordechai (Moti) Bar Or retires from Kolot.

• 1997

  Kolot founded by Mordechai (Moti) Bar Or.

Pluralistic Jewish leadership development through beit midrash study for influential Israelis, aiming to create a shared ethical infrastructure for sustainable social change.

• Beit midrash study groups

  Study groups for influential figures in Israeli society, including senior officials in local government, education, security, and culture.

• Incubator (חממה)

  A unique tool developed by Kolot to accompany individuals and work teams dealing with leadership challenges, based on a movement 'from action to study and back.'

• Amudei Kolot (Pillars of Kolot)

  A document proposing personal and social repair and change in key areas, including the power of speech, a culture of disagreement, and relations to the other.

• Podcast 'Kolot shel Ruach'

  A podcast hosted by Lior Tal Sadeh, VP of Content of Kolot.

1. 1Official websitekolot.info
2. 2Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Hebrew Wikipediahe.wikipedia.org