Featuring Gesher Alum. Dr. Hila David
Dr. Hila David is the director of Cultural Affairs for the Rishon LeTzion municipality. She is responsible for the arts education of the entire Rishon LeTzion municipal educational system. She creates programming for kindergarten through 12th grade students who attend government, religious, and special education schools.
Inspired by the ideals of Jewish unity and dialogue espoused by the Gesher Leadership Institute course in 2014, Hila decided to use the arts as a means to create shared cultural experiences, dialogue, and positive interactions among school age kids from across the religious spectrum. She galvanized the principals, teachers, and program directors of approximately 70 religious and secular schools in the Rishon LeTzion municipality to bring their students to joint programming. For three years now, Hila has planned and executed a variety of cultural and artistic events that have reached over 30,000 students per year! One of these programs include a pre-Yom Kippur song and poem event that 3,000 students attended. These kinds of joint programs help kids understand that, despite their differences, they share a fundamental national bond. If it were not for Hila, these students would be consuming cultural events separately, with no exposure to other types of Jews. Kol Hakavod, Hila!
