Creating Common Cause

The Shaharit Institute is a think-and-do tank dedicated to the common good of all of the diverse communities of Israeli society. We combine the conceptual infrastructure, diverse leadership reserve, and training for community organizers and social entrepreneurs. We are fostering a new social partnership between all communities in Israeli society, to build a shared future. We believe this future begins with building relationships across the divides, based on empathy, trust, and a genuine desire to listen and collaborate.

Ideas

Our intellectual department seeks to integrate all of Israel’s diverse communities and their worldviews into one complete mosaic. We are building the conceptual groundwork for a new shared space that contains Israeli society’s unabashed diversity, differences, and complexity, and which at the same time is a space where everyone feels “at home.” In meetings, gatherings, programs, and publications, we confront the disagreements, the various interests, and societal power relations. Out of these discussions come new ideas to advance the common good.

Our flagship program KiTov—a program that seeks to identify trailblazers who know how to combine thought and action, and who understand that internal polarization is the central and most concrete threat that Israel faces. The participants are a diverse group, proportionally representative of Israeli society in terms of their identities and positions on the core issues.

DAYBREAK

Articles

“If we have displayed solidarity in war, we need to learn to create solidarity in less tense times, in a shared democratic framework. It’s impossible to defend democracy only through legislation or building fortifications around institutions.”

“No Utopian Visions, No Absolute Ideologies”

Leadership Development

Since 2012, Shaharit has created platforms that enable a space for action for many communities and work groups. These groups represent the diversity of Israeli society and discuss the critical issues in building common cause between distinct groups in society.

Shaharit’s work circles operate in various fields related to the public agenda in Israeli society. They greatly expand our work space and help create social capital that promotes our purpose. These circles led to the formation of social movements, conferences, documents, and position papers, which we use to advance our research and learning. Alumni of the various programs and working groups become ambassadors of the common good in their communities, and help us continue to expand our circle of partners.