Uriel council (The way of Council) training center

Uriel Center – training center for Council Facilitators ,and council based workshops has been working to change the culture of listening and social discourse in Israel since 2001. The center is the located in Alone Abba  In the hills of the Galilee in northern Israel

Council method (MAAGAL HAKSHAVA) teaches new communication patterns that create closeness and understanding in our relationships with family, coworkers, colleagues and communities.

Sitting in the Circle creates an atmosphere of warmth and relaxed confidence for participants; everyone has a place and time to bring their truth to the center of the Circle, thus gathering collective wisdom and group intelligence. Listening from the heart, without judgment or criticism, is a bridge between individuals and creates a safe and respectful space.

Nuria and Eran Halevi, internationally trained and certified council trainers by ojai foundation \  center for Council

are among the founders of "Maagal hakshava" NGO in israel and have extensive experience in directing workshops in different sectors.

• Community and Social sector
• Kibbutzim
• Multicultural communities (religious \ secular, Muslim \ Druze \ Christian)
• NGOs and social organizations
• Education sector
• Workshops and Training for Educators
• Companies and business organizations

  Trainings: 

Certified council facilitators  – The "Listening Heart" program
Facilitators Training tailored to the needs of the organization \ community   
we were trained by "elders" from ojai foundation  – jack zimmerman, leon berg, ronit rinat (wich founded MH ngo) , gigi coil and marlow hochkis – both in israel, u.s.a and europe.

our council workshop can be led in arabic, english or hebrew.

History and organizations in the United States and Europe:

(text from european council network  website – Prepared by The Ojai Foundation Elder Council, edited for the ECN by the Spiral of Five).

Sitting in close, intimate circles, gathered around a warm fire, telling stories and sharing what’s on one’s mind or in one’s heart has been a core practice of human culture since the dawn of time.

In 1979 in the Upper Ojai Valley in Southern California, Dr. Joan Halifax, anthropologist and protégé of mythologist Joseph Campbell, was invited to lead a non-profit organization that she renamed The Ojai Foundation (TOF). The TOF vision was to explore living spiritual traditions and to study the interface between science and spirituality. Joan convened an extraordinary and varied faculty of native elders, cutting-edge scientists, spiritual teachers, and cultural activists beneath a 600 year-old Oak tree, appropriately named the "Learning Tree.”. From a synthesis of these teachings and meetings, the "Way of Council” emerged. The Foundation has since evolved into a sanctuary for council, the name that historically has embraced a broad peacemaking intention.

Jack Zimmerman and Gigi Coyle, educators and community visionaries, collaborated with Joan in these early years to champion council as an essential way of governance at TOF, as well as further developing the practice for sharing in a variety of settings—rites of passage ceremonies, relationship intensives, primary, secondary and university education, and organizations. In 1996 Jack and Gigi’s work led to the writing of their book, The Way of Council (2nd Edition 2009). Council was also introduced and the practice developed in collaboration with communities in the Middle East, Europe, Canada, Australia and Africa.

To support this new growth and with many council leaders contributing, the "Center for Council Training” (CCT) was established in 1998, with the specific focus of training trainers to carry the work into schools and out into the cultural mainstream. With increasing demand for programs in a variety of arenas, most significantly for schools, CCT divided into two primary initiatives— the Council in Schools Program and the Center for Council Practice. Since then, new initiatives continue to be developed as TOF/CCT spin-offssuch as the "Center for Council (CC),” under the aegis of Community Partners in Los Angeles, California. CC is currently focused primarily on social and restorative justice programs as well as coordinating regular workshops and trainings in the Way of Council for individuals, communities and organizations.The Ojai Foundation remains a home of council in its history, land, people and program while  other initiatives emerge as part of awakening global community.

With deep gratitude and respect for those who came before and for those enduring traditional cultures that today continue  sitting together in circles for all of us and for the Earth. We look forward to the practice of speaking and listening from the heart, ever widening circles in myriad forms, continuing to emerge in contemporary culture.