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Dr. Micha Balf is from Kibbutz Maagan Michael. He grew up in the US and graduated from Wesleyan University in 1977. While at Wesleyan, Micha majored in Government. He took a semester off to work as a boycott organizer for Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers union in LA and nearly missed his graduation after being jailed along with a group of Wes students following the occupation of the Seabrook nuclear power plant.
Micha was not brought up Jewishly as his mother is not Jewish though his father is. His exposure to Israel and Judaism began essentially at college. After having been in Israel from 1978 – 1980 Micha went through a conversion to Judaism and made aliyah in 1980.
An interesting note is that Micha’s great grandfather on his mother’s side was a full blooded Cherokee Indian.
He is married to Rachel (also Wes 1977) who is a social worker with an MSW. They have three children – Timna (24), Noa (22) and Alon (13 ) who are all doing great things...
Micha taught Zionist History, Civics and Arab-Israel conflict in high school in Israel for nearly two decades after several years of growing bananas on the kibbutz. He was an assistant principle and then principle of a large regional high school which received numerous awards for raising academic standards, innovative programs in teaching Bible and Zionist History and for social service projects. Micha was also the director of a large informal education program for children K-12.
Micha has an MA and a PhD in Holocaust Studies from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His doctoral thesis will be published as a book in the fall of 2007 by the Kibbutz HaMeuchad Publishing House. The book, in Hebrew, is a ground breaking study of the commemoration and collective memory of the Holocaust in the kibbutz movements. The book is entitled: Unsilenced Voices – Memory and Commemoration of the Holocaust in the Kibbutz Movements.
Micha also studied to be an organizational consultant. His experience in the field included a unique study of the educational challenges facing an Arab village within a predominantly Jewish regional council.
This is Micha’s second stint as a shaliach – the Hebrew term for an Israeli non-governmental representative.. He and his family were in Boston from 1989 – 1992 during which time he was the Reform movement shaliach for the Northeast.
Currently Micha is the educational community shaliach to the Greater Washington Jewish Federation with his primary responsibility being to enhance the prominence and relevance of Israel education within the formal and informal Jewish institutions of the DC region. The stint is for 2-3 years and upon completion Micha, Rachel and Alon will return to their kibbutz to begin new adventures.
