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Studying At The Source

Post-high school study in Israel is increasingly
popular in the Orthodox community.

JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER

djusting to college this fall
should be easy for 18
year-old Estee Eisenberg.
As a freshman at the
University of Michigan, she'll be
only a 40-minute drive away
from home. That's nothing com-
pared to last year, when coming
home required more than 11
hours on an airplane.
Like many Orthodox teens,
Ms. Eisenberg— a 1996 gradu-
ate of Akiva Hebrew Day School
— spent last year in Israel
studying Judaism.
Enrolled at Midreshet Lin-
denbaum, a liberal Orthodox
yeshiva for girls, Ms. Eisenberg
studied Talmud through a com-
bination of lectures and "hevru-
ta" (partnered) study. "The
learning was very intensive," she
said, adding that she grew from
the experience.
According to the Jerusalem
Report magazine, between 4,000
and 5,000 teenagers studied in
Israeli seminaries and yeshivas
last year. With 50 Israeli insti-

A

tutions serving North American
Orthodox youth — one-third of
which have opened within the
last five years — the pre-college
year in Israel is clearly a popu-
lar phenomenon.
Rabbi Karmi Gross, principal
of Akiva, said, "The year in Is-
rael is crucial. It cements every-
thing. The intensity of learning
brings everything to life, makes
it real. It's a year to concentrate
on what Judaism's all about ...
Kids come back from these pro-
grams saying it all makes sense
now."
Recent Akiva grad Rachel
Wolkinson will be following in
Estee Eisenberg's footsteps at
Midreshet Lindenbaum this fall.
"I picked it because it's a liberal
Orthodox education," she ex-
plained. "Girls are not restrict-
ed as to what [texts] they can
learn."
Yeshivas and seminaries vary
according to politics, subject
matter covered, academic rigor,
reputation and other factors. For

Rachel Wolkinson: Focus on learning, not grades.

example, while Midreshet Lin-
denbaum offers a curriculum
similar to what is offered in
many boys' yeshivas, more tra-

Starts July 10th!

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ditional girls' seminaries often
focus less on Talmud study and
more on Bible.
Naomi Weisberg, a 1996 grad-

uate of Sally Allan Alexander
Beth Jacob School for Girls,

STUDYING page 10

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