Teens experiencing Israel
ALL of Bialik College's year 10 students will set off this week for the school's inaugural Israel Experience Program.
ALL of Bialik College’s year 10 students will set off this week for the school’s inaugural Israel Experience Program.
The five-week trip, subsidised by a number of donors including the Pratt Foundation, will see the 70 students study, travel and experience the Jewish State.
To be known as Chavaya, the program was officially launched last week by Israeli Ambassador to Australia Yuval Rotem, who said he hoped other schools would take up the model.‚ÄàHe predicted the trip would be a life-changing experience for students.
The group will be based at the Alexander Muss High School Institute, just outside Tel Aviv, where they will study Jewish history and meet Israeli high school students. They will also take trips around Israel.
Meanwhile, the first contingent of Mount Scopus Memorial College’s annual Ulpan program jetted off last week.
This year, the school has offered two itineraries for the first time, attracting more than half the year level.
Twenty students have taken up the longer, 11-week program, which includes a three-day visit to Prague and an extended Israel component.
They will visit many sites in the Jewish quarter and old Prague, as well as the Terezin concentration camp, before spending an intensive 10 weeks in Israel.
This group will then be joined by an additional 48 year 10 students, who will leave Australia in early December.
They will join their peers on a five-week journey, which will see them partake in the usual busy schedule of classes, tours and volunteer work.
Leibler Yavneh College will also be sending a group of seven year 10 students on a 10-week program, departing this week.
Organised by Zionist youth movement Bnei Akiva, in conjunction with Yavneh, the program is open to students from Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
The participating students will be immersed in a religious-Zionist environment to further their learning in areas such as Talmud, Chumash and Hebrew. The boys will be based in Jerusalem and the girls in Elkana.
“This is a unique opportunity for our students to dedicate a concentrated period of time to Jewish learning in Israel, with the aim of furthering their knowledge and strengthening their bond with Israel,” Yavneh’s deputy principal and head of Jewish studies, Adam Segal, said.
DALIA SABLE
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