November
23,
2005
OU/Israel
Center to Launch Innovative One-Year Post High
School Program for American Girls, Beginning
Next School Year
The Seymour J.
Abrams OU Jerusalem World Center will launch an innovative one-year,
post-high school program for girls in Israel beginning in September
2006, which will provide a combination of Torah learning, traditional
values and practices, and Jewish leadership development. Machon Maayan
will be established in partnership with Touro College in New York; the
Jewish Agency’s Education Department; and MASA, the official Israel
Government/Jewish Agency supervising authority for education.
According to OU President Stephen J. Savitsky, the program is directed
at girls who want to spend a year in Israel but are not ready to go to a
typical seminary high school there.
“We are very excited about this program, as it will be the means for the
Orthodox Union to continue its educational programs with a year in
Israel,” declared Mr. Savitsky.
Rabbi Dovid Cohen, Director-General of OU Israel, explained, “The focus
of Machon Maayan is that learning is a process which takes place in and
out of the classroom. Seventy percent of the educational experience will
be in class, while the rest will be divided between mentored internships
and trips. The unique nature of the Torah learning is that Machon Maayan
will enable students to bring their own perspectives, thoughts and ideas
to the table to analyze text, and will provide the opportunity for them
to express themselves and to internalize what they learn.”
“They will explore and familiarize themselves with classical and
contemporary commentaries in order to concretize the ideas, while being
anchored in textual sources,” Rabbi Cohen added. “The goals of the
learning are to promote skills development, enable independent learning,
and connect the topics learned to the students’ everyday lives.”
According to Rabbi Cohen, “The internships and trips will be outgrowths
of what is learned in class so that the girls can apply what they learn
there. In this way, they will benefit from first-hand Israel experience,
while developing community skills they can utilize on their return
home.”
“The program is the fulfillment of a dream of many years for the OU to
provide a specially designed year-in-Israel program for graduates of
NCSY (the National Conference of Synagogue Youth, the OU’s national
youth movement) to grow in their commitment to Torah and Eretz Yisrael,”
Mr. Savitsky, the OU President said.
“Machon Maayan offers a truly unique opportunity for women graduating
from high school to develop their learning and leadership skills. Jewish
communities around the world are in need of women with the abilities to
lead and take an active role in ensuring a strong Jewish future,” said
Rabbi Steven Burg, NCSY National Director.
For further details, see the Machon Maayan website:
www.machonmaayan.org, or contact Rabbi Gershon Steinberg at
718-377-0339, or at
myfuture@machonmaayan.org.
Machon Maayan is situated in the city of Beit Shemesh,
only a half-hour’s journey to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.
* * *
The Orthodox Union, now in its
second century of service to the Jewish community of North America and
beyond, is a world leader in community and synagogue services, adult
education, youth work through NCSY, political action through the IPA,
and advocacy for persons with disabilities through Yachad and Our Way.
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