Hello, nice to meet you all, here is a small introduction of myself (it is based on a paragraph I wrote and a friend helped editing the English :) about 2 months ago for a course I am doing in the USA, and I will use some of it as it explains a bit about me) My name is Bat-Sheva, 32, single, living in Jerusalem (but spending a lot of time in Tel Aviv) I was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and I was raised between two countries - Netherlands and Israel. At the age of fifteen, I moved back to Israel and enrolled for an Ulpan in order to learn skills in reading and writing in Hebrew. Four months later, I went to an Israeli high school, followed by my military service, where I served in the Adjutant Corps as an officer, ranked first lieutenant. After serving two and a half years in the Israeli Defense Forces, I started studying towards a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Theatre studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Upon completion of my undergraduate studies, I began pursuing a Master’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology at the same institution. My Masters thesis, supervised by Prof. Tamar Elor, was entitled “The Moslimas: Pushing the Limits of Dutchness and Processing the Religious Experience of Muslim Women in the Netherlands: Amsterdam in the Early 21st Century”. This work focused on a current issue in the academic world and outside specifically, the growing interest in Muslim populations in Europe, and the lives of Muslims in a non-Muslim world. This work is a case study focused on one European country, the Netherlands, and the lives of its Muslim women. The Netherlands has specific accuracies affected by the historical memory of the country as one of tolerance regarding divisions between different religious groups and historical events related to society and immigration. Currently I am in my second Master’s degree program in the school of Social Work at the Hebrew University, in the Schwartz program for Non Profit Management and Leadership. My fields of interests lie in religious experiences, faith based organizations that provide social services, social care, and the lives of immigrants, as I see myself as a double immigrant (An immigrant/Olah Hadasha in Israel, and an immigrant in the Netherlands). Currently I am a part time research assistant in the school of Social Work on research about Filipino migrant workers in Israel and their communal services, including churches and congregations. I work full time at the American Joint Distribution Committee (in short JDC), at the research institute Myers- JDC- Brookdale. The JDC is Israel’s leading center for applied research on social policy and services, serving Israel, the Jewish world, and the international community. I live in Jerusalem since 1996 (I was 15 at that time), although I was born and raised in The Netherlands, I always felt very connected to my Israeli roots (Israeli mother and Dutch father) When my mother wanted to return home, it was for me more than natural to come along and to start a new life here. It wasnt always easy, I struggled in High School with the Hebrew, I felt the mentality was a bit different, but I learned to love it here. I passed all the challenges with the Hebrew, challenges in the army (I wanted to be an officer and at first I didnt get accepted because my Hebrew wasnt good enough. I didnt give up, eventually the HR unit of the IDF gave me another chance to improve my Hebrew exam and I got accepted to the officers course) and now I am working in Hebrew and doing my third degree (mostly in Hebrew). Although I dont feel 100% Israeli (maybe 90%), I do feel 100% belong and I wouldnt leave now. I tried to go back to the Netherlands in 2007, but I missed Israel and my family and friends too much, so after one and a half year I returned to Jerusalem In my free time I dance (mostly Flamenco, but other styles as well)I paint and I love to read and write. I love going to the cinema, museums, art galleries, cafés, spending time with my friends or just out for a walk in my city If you have any more questions about me and my life, feel free to ask :)
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 08:52:32 +0000