Summary of Participant Responses to Project Atid The seventh year of Project Atid – Youth for Tikkun Olam has come to an auspicious close. This year about 180 young teenagers underwent the special educational, emotional and intellectual experience that is Project Atid. >From the response forms that we had the participants fill out, there emerges a general satisfaction with the program, together with different opinions in relation to its particular contents and the personal and group processes that the encounters in Atid bring about. The participants' responses relate to the three components of the project. The First Component: Jewish Identity: religious versus secular Jewish identity. According to the responses of the participants, the encounter in Atid did not weaken the identity that each group brought to the meeting. Rather, each identity experienced a strengthening as a result of the encounter with "the other." This conclusion may be seen, for example, in the following statements: • "My views are more solid, and it is easier for me to explain myself in relation to the subjects that we discussed during the course of the project." • "I learned not to be alarmed when someone says something decidedly negative about the society within which I live. To listen patiently and to respond with positive willingness." • "I did not undergo any religious change, but I do feel a greater appreciation, acceptance and understanding towards the religious world." • "A desire has been formed in me to examine my own path and to develop my thinking in ways that not only I will understand, but others will as well." • "I learned what it means to love – until now, I felt "love" for all the Jewish people, but now my position is stronger and has changed for the better: one needs to truly love." • "As a result of the encounter with secular peers, I have grown stronger from a religious perspective." From their responses, it is clear that the openness of the participants to the world and views of the other did not crack their own beliefs and views. One achievement of the project lies in the fact that each side succeeded in strengthening its own identity while sustaining a dialogue with the other side. The Second Component: The Development of an Active Civil Leadership The activity day that merited mention by a majority of the respondents as meaningful was the day of volunteering in the community of those learning in institutions for special education. This fact expresses a progress towards the willingness to undertake social initiatives and to get involved in the community. This conclusion arises from the following responses (given in response to the request, "Indicate the activity day that was especially memorable for you."): • "The activity of the project in the Rehabilitation Center aroused in me the desire to contribute and to help." • "I felt that we were really contributing. We were happy with the people in "Maish." We joined together – religious and secular alike – to something different. We succeeded in establishing something together." • "I went out with a feeling of great fulfillment." The Third Component: Religious-Secular Encounter For the participants in Atid, the experience of religious-secular encounter (which represents one of the three "legs" upon which Project Atid is based [Jewish identity, an active civil leadership, religious-secular encounter]) is grasped as especially significant at this stage in the evolution of Israeli society. We see in this an important basis for strengthening the other two "legs" of the "Youth for Tikkun Olam" program. The point that most of the responses had in common was an excitement about the encounter itself. This fact reflects, so it seems, the unfortunate scarcity of encounters between different population groups in Israel. The responses on this subject found expression mainly in the answers to two questions that were asked on the summary response forms. The first was, Why did I choose to join Project Atid? In response to this question, participants expressed a great curiosity to peek into a different world: • "I wanted to get to know 'the other side', and also to form social connections with people whose outlook on the world differs from that of mine." • "I wanted to get to know new, diverse people, and to learn about the way of life of a secular person, as opposed to a religious person. I came to give voice to my own opinions and to hear other opinions in discussion." • "It interested me to know what other people my age think (who live or do not live the same way of life as mine)." From this representative sample, the great curiosity and the yearning for acquaintance with other young people are expressed clearly, alongside of the desire of the students to present their own world to the second group. Did you change? The second question that brought the young people to think deeply about the importance and the meaning of the religious-secular encounter was, "If there was one thing in respect to which your position underwent a change, what was the change?" A selection of comments: • "I did not know that the other side was so open to my approach and that they understand me more than I thought." • "I thought that the secular don't really accept the religious, and I see now that this is not true." • "I discovered that there are secular people who understand religious people, and vice-versa, and this made me think that perhaps there is a chance to reduce the gaps between the difference streams." • "My world-view underwent a change. I thought that religious people are close-minded, and I discovered openness." In conclusion, the words of the participants quoted above, and other things that we heard them say, highlight one of the great achievements of Project Atid, namely, the possibility of creating fellowship and rapprochement, precisely in relation to an opposing reality. This achievement stands in contrast to Israeli society today, which threatens to undermine its own strength and unity. The words of the participants and the feeling of the staff that guided the program reinforce the human and the educational concept that acquaintance and knowledge bring people closer together and create fellowship, out of understanding and empathy for the other person, even without a complete acceptance of each other's positions. We feel that there is a power in this kind of closeness to contribute to the building of a strong social foundation that can help us face the challenges that are before us as citizens of the State of Israel.