MI DOR LE DOR EUROPE PROGRAM (MDLDE) OVERVIEW

The Taube Center for Jewish Life & Learning Foundation is pleased to introduce our flagship educational program, Mi Dor Le Dor Europe (heb.: From generation to generation). The Taube Center developed Mi Dor Le Dor in 2012 to train and support young professionals, rising academics, educators, Jewish community workers, and guides who served as Jewish heritage educators and cultural mediators in Poland. 

In 2024, with financial support from the European Union, we have adapted and scaled up the program to address the challenges of transmitting local and trans-European Jewish heritage to diverse audiences in a time of rising antisemitism. The program is currently being implemented in Spain, Italy, Greece, Poland (Warsaw and Lublin), and the Upper Rhine Valley (France and Germany). Presently, there are more than 200 participants representing the six cohorts.

What is MDLDE?

The Mi Dor Le Dor Program uses the concepts and tools of heritage education as its base, opening a dynamic forum for 21st-century educators and cultural mediators, including professionals in the Jewish community. The methodology is predicated on the understanding that heritage is dynamic rather than static and that its transmission must be engaging and challenging. The educational method is modeled on an interdisciplinary approach rooted in adult learning principles.

MDLDE is a program contributing to the European Union’s Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life by providing:       

• a framework for in-depth encounters between the Jewish past and the present;
• a foundation for expanding Jewish literacy and deepening knowledge about historical and contemporary  Jewish life;
• a forum for interdisciplinary, immersive education; 
• a resource to strengthen national and European Jewish identity and a nexus for expressions of individual and communal identity; 
• an opportunity to encounter Jewish heritage in the local, national, and pan-European arena, to explore the history of relations between Jews and non-Jews, citizenship and belonging, contributions to the broader society, and shared values;   
• a driving force for dialogue, educational transformation, and engagement for Jewish and non-Jewish audiences; 
• and a space for learning about the Holocaust and its aftermath, assessing and contributing to remembrance initiatives, and creating proactive educational programs.

The two-year program is coordinated with our partner AEPJ (The European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage), an international non-governmental organization based in Luxembourg with offices in Girona and Barcelona.

The Taube Center is responsible for the content, training, and educational  methodology with support from our European partners:

• AEPJ (The European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage, or Association Européenne pour la Préservation et la Valorisation de la Culture et du Patrimoine Juifs), Luxembourg,

• Centropa Zentrum für Jüdische Geschichte des 20 Jahrhunderts EV, (Centropa), Hamburg, Germany
• Stichting Jewish Heritage Network (JHN), Amsterdam, Netherlands,
• Route du Judaisme Rhenan (RJR), Strasbourg, France,
• Fondazione per i Beni Culturali Ebraici in Italia (FBCEI), Rome, Italy, 
• Ośrodek Brama Grodzka – Teatr NN w Lublinie (TNN), Lublin, Poland,
• The Athens Jewish Community (JCA), Athens, Greece,
• Centro Sefarad-Israel Consorcio (CSI), Madrid, Spain.

A History of the MDLDE Program

Originally a ten-month professional development program, MDLD had five successful editions in Poland from 2012 through 2016. The profound impact of the Polish editions stirred interest in the program’s approach, and it was first adapted as a one-year-long pilot edition in Italy in 2021-22 in partnership with UCEI.

The program’s success in Italy inspired us to consider a pan-European edition. MDLDE was launched in May 2024. The first phase consisted of three week-long training sessions (in Barcelona, Warsaw, and Berlin respectively), preparing representatives from each community to implement the MDLD approach to Jewish heritage education and transmission in their community. In the second phase, the trainers coached twenty-five local teachers, guides, and heritage stakeholders in the MDLD methodologies and practices based on the community’s resources, expertise , and sites. The program’s final phase, which begins in late March of this year, requires each of the participants to create a project that meets a need that they have defined for use in their classrooms or museums, as guides, and in managing Jewish cultural events.

The project is funded by the “Citizens, Equality, Rights, and Values – Remembrance” Program (CERV-2023-CITIZENS-REM), which aims to strengthen the remembrance of the Holocaust, genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity to reinforce democracy in the EU and to protect and promote rights and values as enshrined in the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. In particular, it seeks to support and further develop open, rights-based, democratic, equal, and inclusive societies based on the rule of law by supporting civil society organizations and other stakeholders active at local, regional, national, and transnational levels.

A Forum for Local, National, and Transnational Networking

The Mi Dor Le Dor Europe program is directed mainly at Jewish heritage education practitioners, experts, and professionals with experience in the field. A platform for sharing experiences and perspectives will be created as a result of the group learning and working together. It will constitute a safe space for reflecting, discussing, engaging in challenging narratives, and creating innovative and creative educational and cultural activities. 

As program participants gain knowledge, new perspectives, and skills, they can use the forum to test their new approaches and theories, preparing to better respond to contemporary challenges in the Jewish community and beyond.

What is the focus of the MDLDE approach?

The program’s focus is developing and transmitting a narrative shaped by the encounter with a site or object, the knowledge gained, and the participants’ personal values, understanding, and insights. The narrative development process, in turn, impacts the participants’ identity and engagement in Jewish communal life and/or dialogue.

Throughout the program, we take a closer look at educational approaches that correspond well with the concept of heritage education. We examine the history and culture of European Jews by considering relevant historical, social, religious, cultural, political, and even personal processes. We experiment and create engaging projects that respond to current challenges. In the following stage, we focus on implementing projects in participants’ institutions and/or related events and organizations.

Simultaneously to the Warsaw edition, other MDLDE programs are taking place across Europe. As a result of these training sessions, participants will propose their project ideas that incorporate the contents and methodologies introduced during the MDLDE meetings. At a later date, an online session for representatives of all the European editions will take place to discuss the results and share project ideas. 

MDLDE 2024-26 Events Update

Training sessions in 2024:

• May 27-29 at AEPJ’s offices located in Casa Adret, Barcelona, and at the Museum of Jewish History in Girona, Spain;
• July 8-12 at the headquarters of the Taube Center Foundation in Warsaw, Poland;
• September 9-12, under the auspices of Centropa in Berlin, Germany.

The intensive training included interactive workshops, study tours, and educational and narrative building sessions. Participants offered short workshops, thus sharing ideas and learning from group feedback. Methodology and skills were presented and practiced, as well as issues related to their application, particularly in the context of forthcoming local iterations and heritage routes. Sessions on educational theory and methodology focused on object-based learning, visual thinking strategies, andragogy, and experiential learning. These were given by Marta Eichelberger-Jankowska, Taube Center’s Head of Education; Helise Lieberman, Taube Center’s Director; and Avy Leghziel, experienced educator and consultant.

Throughout the tours of Barcelona, Girona, Warsaw, and Berlin, participants visited key places for Jewish history and heritage. The focus was on understanding the rich and diverse European Jewish history and culture as well as the awareness of the significant loss that resulted from the Holocaust and its aftermath, including memorialization, education, and the revival of decimated Jewish communities. In addition, participants interacted with members of the present Jewish community in Warsaw during several sessions.

All of the above highlighted the importance of focusing on common key values in European societies to build a more inclusive Europe and raising awareness of the Jewish heritage mediation sector’s role in contributing to the EU Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and Fostering Jewish Life.

At present, the MDLDE is in its second phase, i.e.: implementation of local editions, which are already underway:

• October 24, 2024, in Warsaw, Poland
• October 24, 2024, in Lublin, Poland
• October 24, 2024, at Blaues Haus in Breisach, Germany
• November 21, 2024, in Madrid, Spain
• December 1, 2024, in Rome, Italy
• January 19, 2025, in Athens, Greece. 

Updates on further developments, achievements, and results of the program will be posted here in the coming months. 

More information on MDLDE and its local editions can be found here:

https://jewisheritage.org/kick-off-meeting-of-the-mi-dor-le-dor-europe-project-begins-in-barcelona

https://jewisheritage.org/mi-dor-le-dor-rhenish-judaism-route

Disclaimer:

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.