Educational Savings at Orot

Orot students can now receive up to a full year scholarship for their college studies in Elkana.

Among the many factors that a potential student must take into account when choosing a school, finances play an increasingly important role. Orot is pleased to share two new important developments which will lighten the financial burden of students studying at Orot.

Tuition Subsidy of up to a Year

This year, the Knesset passed a new law authorizing a scholarship through the Ministry of Defense for all veterans of the IDF and National Service, should they choose to study in preferred institutions of higher learning in the south, north and Judea and Samaria - including the Orot Israel College of Education in Elkana. Any student who served in Sherut L'eumi will now receive a scholarship for up to an entire year of study at no cost. To download the flyer, click here.

Psychometry Course Subsidy
In addition, many applicants have not yet taken the psychometry exam required for college admission. Orot recently entered into a partnership with "Hakima", offering Orot applicants a special price on their preparatory course, as well as a subsidy for a percentage of the course tuition for students who enroll at Orot. For more information about these developments, contact Rabbi Reuven Spolter.

The Pendulum Swings of Redemption

A Thought from the Hagaddah shel Pesach
by Rabbi Reuven Spolter

As we contemplate Pesach as the Chag Hageulah - the holiday of redemption, each year the same questions creep into my mind: If we're moving towards the coming of Moshiach and the State represents a critical step in that process, why do things seem so challenging? Why do some people seem to be moving not closer to, but farther away from religious Judaism? How long will the process take? What stage exactly are we in right now?
While these questions prove difficult to answer, Rav Yitzchak Dadon, in his newly released Hagaddah called "Ayelet Hashachar" uses a well-known theme of Rav Kook to both explain a passage in הא לחמא עניא and also give us a sense of where we are and where we're going.

Click here to download the dvar Torah in pdf format.

Dance Track Hosts Honored Guests

Dr. Talia Perlshtein,
Head of the Dance and Movement Track,
Orot Israel College, Elkana Campus

Orot Israel College proudly boasts that it houses the only college for advanced dance education under Orthodox auspices in the world. Over the past few years, Orot's dance program has been attracting attention across Israel for combining dance and movement education with firm adherence the values and principles of Torah.
Orot Israel College Elkana Campus recently hosted Prof. Janis Ross, the president of the History of Dance Research Association in the U.S., and head of the Dance Department at Stanford University. She was accompanied by Dr. Michal Golan, head of the Mofet Institute, and Prof. Rami Yogev, head of the Mofet Institute Intercollegiate Research Authority.

The guests met with Orot Israel College President, Harav Prof. Neriya Gutel, who reviewed the college's academic activities, the successful merger with the Moreshet Yaakov College in Rehovot, and the many "products" of the college – including its graduates, publications, academic conventions, etc.

Prof. Ross had come to the campus to learn about Orot College's Dance Track – the only Torah observant framework in Israel to provide a B.A. degree and Teacher's Certificate for preparing dance teachers for school children from kindergarten to twelfth grade; as well as the "Noga" Dance Company – a unique professional framework for Torah observant choreographers and dancers.

The tour began at the library where Mrs. Maggie Moran, pointed out the extensive databases and academic resources available at the college. Afterwards Prof. Ross met the Noga Dance Company's choreographers, Ziona Yehezkel, Efrat Nachman, and Avital Ben-Gad. Prof. Ross watched videos of the company's performances and discussed the works with the choreographers. Prof. Ross expressed that the original dance creations moved her deeply.

At noon College President Rabbi Prof. Neriya Gutel joined the guests for a special dance performance by the local Elkana elementary school students, which were taught by student teachers from the Dance Track as part of their training as dance teachers. The young girls demonstrated understanding and internalization of what they had learned, and danced with real joy and connection to creative movement. Later, the Dance Track students themselves presented selections from their classical ballet repertoire, and some original compositions as part of their choreography studies. The performance was warmly received by the visitors.

Professor Ross expressed her deep appreciation for the work of Talia Perlshtein, head of the Dance and Movement Track, noting how moved she was to see how the Dance Track is setting the new benchmark for the renaissance of Jewish-Israeli culture. She praised the program's openness in creating a connection to art in general and to modern dance in particular.

Dr. Golan and Professor Yogev concluded the day by meeting with Harav Prof. Gutel. Their attached letter speaks for itself.

Neighborhood Renewal in Rehovot

By Ofir Abikasis,
Director of the Torani Teachers Garin,
Orot Israel College Rehovot Campus

A few years ago, the Rehovot neighborhood of Oshiot was on a downward spiral. Residents were afraid to go out at night. No one wanted to come to the neighborhood and everyone there wanted to leave. But if you were to ask one of the residents now, you would hear that there's no longer any reason to leave – Oshiot is blossoming again! Police statistics show the crime in the neighborhood has dropped by 50% since 2005, the year the Torani Teachers Garin came to the neighborhood.

Since the Torani Teachers Garin began around ten years ago, it has succeeded in effecting social change in the targeted neighborhoods and populations in Rehovot. The Oshiot neighborhood, which was known for its high density of new immigrants from the FSU, Yemen and especially Ethiopia, has seen a renaissance due to the Torani Teachers Garin members who came to live in the neighborhood.

The garin started as a small group of students and graduates of Orot College's "Moreshet Yaakov" campus in Rehovot and the Yeshivat Hesder "Orot Yaakov", with almost no resources. However, they saw the need for social change in Israeli society as a national mission, and they set for themselves the goal to impact every needy household in the Oshiot neighborhood through a number of social initiatives.

One such program concentrated on Ethiopian olim, helping to close social gaps and advance their integration into mainstream Israeli society. The garin members received training to run leadership development seminars, pre-enlistment preparatory courses, cultural and social events for the Ethiopian youth at the local community center. Before that the local Ethiopian youth had no place to meet except the street. Now they flock to the center where they are occupied with positive activities.

Another garin project is the "Advocacy Initiative" in which each volunteer advocate from the garin agrees to adopt one or more families in distress and to become personally involved in securing solutions for their day-to-day, as well as long-term needs. Each advocate must have prior experience in social activism and community work and is supervised by social workers from the municipal Welfare Department. The advocates make a long-term commitment to the family, assisting them in seeking whatever support the family members need to overcome obstacles and give them the tools they need to realize their full potential and become productive members of Israeli society.

The garin members have earned the respect and gratitude of the Rehovot Municipality and the Oshiot neighborhood residents for their concern for the community, and for their activities promoting the integration of diverse groups into Israeli society. The presence of the garin has not only raised the quality of life in the area, but the property values too. The light of hope kindled by the garin in the Oshiot neighborhood continues to burn brightly today.

Orot at the Movies: Orot Proudly Releases a New Educational Film

"On Both Sides of the River" examines the challenges surrounding a young woman from a religious family who decides to marry a non-religious man.

Last year, Rav Reuven Kruger, director of a rabbinic training program called Likrat Shlichut, turned to Rav Professor Neria Gutel for his advice and assistance. Likrat Shlichut trains young rabbis looking to enter the professional rabbinate in Israel, and Rav Kruger had written a series of scenarios to challenge the young rabbis. Would Rav Gutel be willing to offer his thoughts on the scenarios?
Rav Gutel did more than that.
Instead of presenting dry ideas on paper, perhaps Rav Kruger would be willing to work with Orot to create a movie that would accomplish the same goal, but with the power, drama and effectiveness that modern films bring to the screen.
This past month, Orot's Department of Communication Studies proudly introduced the film that resulted from this partnership. The twenty-three minute feature film, "B'trei Avrei D'nahara" – "On Both Sides of the River," depicts the gut-wrenching decision of a young woman from a religious family to marry a non-religious man. This decision carries great weight not only spiritually and halachically, but also socially and personally. As her family grapples with her decision, the young woman's interactions with her parents, her community and her new husband raise a myriad of difficult questions that the modern rabbi – and every Jew – must confront.
The premiere of the film, which took place in early March, featured opening remarks from Rav Gutel, Rav Krieger, as well as Talya Fish, the film's director. A fascinating discussion followed the screening surrounding the halachic, educational and professional aspects of the film. Rav Yaakov Ariel, the chief rabbi of Ramat Gan, addressed halachic issues in the film, which ranged from whether one could accept flowers from a guest who visits on Shabbat, to the challenging issue of inviting guests for Shabbat at all. Rav Yona Goodman, Director of Spiritual Education at Orot addressed some of the educational and spiritual challenges raised by the film including some of the challenges "mixed" (religious and non-religious ) couples face, and some recommendations for how to address these types of situations, both within the family and in a community structure. Finally, Moli Kimmel, an instructor in Orot's Department of Communication Education, discussed the challenge of how religious people are depicted in the media in Israel today, and suggested that we must harness the power of the media to create the images we want to portray, and not wait for others to portray us as they see fit.
The film was recently featured on Israel's Educational Television, (in Hebrew). To watch the clip, click on this link. (The program ran on March 9th. Click on the link to March 9th and fast forward to 45 minutes into the program).

Halacha and the Media

By Rav Eliav Vizel
Lecturer, Elkana Campus

"The basis of Hassidut, and the root of worshiping Hashem with a pure heart, is so that it should become clear and confirmed to every man what his obligations are in His world." – So the Ramchal begins his seminal work "Mesilat Yesharim."

As part of the ongoing discourse in the framework of the "Halacha and the Media" course, a group of Communications Department students traveled to Ramat Gan before Chanukah to participate in a meeting of the minds between the city's chief rabbi, Rabbi Yaakov Ariel shlit"a, and the department's teaching staff. The course deals with the Halachic aspects of the communications professions, including print, electronic and broadcast media.

The nature of the course demands that the students examine a number of complex questions that require the Halachic insight of a recognized posek. To my delight as the course instructor, Rabbi Ariel shlit"a agreed to meet with the students in his home to discuss the difficulties that arise when dealing with the creative world of journalism, television and film making. The president of Orot Israel College, Rabbi Prof. Neriya Gutel, and Dr. Dvori Handler, the department's fieldwork coordinator, accompanied the students and myself on the visit.

Rabbi Ariel explained what needs to be the starting point from where the students, as future teachers in the communications field, should draw their orientation. He emphasized that as with anything innovative, one can choose whether to treat it with caution and disconnect from it, or whether to accept it and use it for positive purposes, imbuing it with worthy values.

Rabbi Ariel pointed to the problematic side of the electronic and broadcast media, which could be a factor in encouraging laziness, voyeurism, short-sightedness and lowering intellectual and cultural standards. On the other hand, one cannot ignore the hidden potential in these media, and the role that Torah-observant individuals can play in establishing alternative codes of ethics in these fields, which as of today do more harm than good.

The students asked the rabbi to comment on ethical dilemmas they already encounter as students in the field of communications, and particularly in the profession of film making. For example, should they set limits regarding the screening of films by mainstream film makers? Rabbi Ariel advised that while the halachot of viewing immodest materials are less stringent upon women than men, still, constant intensive and unlimited exposure to films of an immodest nature is not desirable because it can have a negative effect on the purity of the viewer's heart.

Rabbi Ariel appealed to the students to be aware of the heavy responsibility they are taking upon themselves. As future teachers of these important professions they will need to educate the next generation towards creative thinking, ethical values and critical analysis that are different from the norms in these professions. He wished the students much success in their studies and agreed to be available for consultation again in the future as needed. The students found the discussion most helpful in "charging their batteries" so that they can contend with the challenges they face in their chosen fields.

Jewish Life in the Age of Facebook

Rav Yonah Goodman

Director of Religious Education, Orot Israel College

Background
TIME magazine recently named Mark Zuckerberg, founder of the Facebook social networking site, as their “Person of the Year” for 2010. According to the magazine’s editors, Facebook is not just another successful website. Rather, it is a phenomenon which is changing the very face and nature of humanity. The editors explained that Facebook has half a billion subscribers (so far) – i.e. about a tenth of the world’s population – and that Zuckerberg earned the recognition for:
“Mapping the social relations among [Facebook users], for creating a new system of exchanging information and for changing how we live our lives.”
The article also stated that Facebook grows “at a rate of about 700,000 people a day” and referred to it as “a social entity almost twice as large as the U.S.” Moreover, TIME’s editors believe that we have now entered a new era – “the Facebook era” - and that it impacts our approach to life.

A personal note
Before we address TIME’s choice, I should note two things. First of all, our year is not based on the secular calendar, and what is referred to as “New Year’s Day” has no significance for us. Nevertheless, new phenomena - which affect our world and us – are significant, albeit without any connection to the specific timing of the discussion. Second, in our Jewish world, the most influential person is not necessarily the most famous. Perhaps he or she is one of the Lamed Vav Tzadikim (literally, the “36 Righteous Individuals”), whose covert actions change reality and bring us and the world closer to the Geulah (Final Redemption). However, even top experts agree that there are events which occur in unknown ways, and they are only able to investigate discernable and explicable processes. These investigations are important to us as well.

Why Facebook?
Perhaps the reader thinks that this is all nonsense. He is not a member of Facebook, and the notion that computer software can change the world seems ridiculous to him. But for half a billion people, it is not ridiculous at all. Furthermore, experience has shown that profound global trends eventually influence us as well. Their influences extend to our very doorsteps and present us with educational and spiritual challenges.

All this raises the question: Would we choose Facebook’s founder as Man of the Year? Is Facebook a brilliant innovation which we should actively embrace? Or is this the time for us to stand up for ourselves and demonstrate our independence, and to recognize that “being there” is not necessarily the same as actually experiencing and living?

The lessons of Facebook
Much can be written about Facebook, but for now, let us suffice with three items for consideration:

1. According to Zuckerberg, in the “old” Internet, people were afraid to reveal their identities – even though in real life, they trusted each other. Therefore, he started Facebook in order to enable them to live their real lives on the Internet – openly and with confidence.
Yet, is Facebook truly an accurate reflection of real life? After all, it mainly allows you to upload pictures, to update your status, etc. You collect “friends” at a wholesale rate, but you have little to do with most of them. On Facebook, you see your “friends’” faces instead of their personalities and midot (character traits). Instead of focusing on the fundamentals of yirat Shamayim (fear of Heaven) and avodat Hashem (serving Hashem), we have become enslaved to a time-sucking application which lets us look at countless photos and learn who is mad at whom and who is now friends with whom. Can we honestly say that the application inspires us to think? To contemplate? To be creative?

2. Chazal instructed us: “Acquire for yourself a friend.” (Pirkei Avot 1:6) But nothing could be further from the concept of friendship than that which takes place on a social networking site. It involves neither giving nor cooperating in real life. Note that the word chaver (friend) comes from chibur (connection). What kind of connection can one simultaneously maintain with hundreds of alleged “friends”? True friendship requires sharing a deep bond with a limited number of friends. It does not mean a superficial chat with ten acquaintances or posting personal status updates, which reach hundreds of people at the same time.
More profoundly, Facebook provides an ostensible solution to modern man’s loneliness (hence, its success). However, this solution is no more than a virtual illusion. Would it not be preferable - rather than spending hours amassing virtual “friends” – to build real relationships with real friends? After all, Facebook only allows “friends” to exchange information. But real life human interactions are not only based on information, and they cannot be reduced to a simple click on the “like” button. True friendship cannot be compared to so-called “social networks”, which entangle you in their webs but do not offer you actual friendship.

3. We are commanded to act modestly. In contrast, Facebook “teaches” you to post your personal pictures where anyone can see them and to record your innermost thoughts on a public “wall”. It exposes your intimate world, and as a result, you find yourself unintentionally revealing many of your private sentiments. In addition, the knowledge that hundreds may be reading your thoughts affects and shapes your inner world. The Facebook culture encourages extroversion in lieu of quiet contemplation and looking at other people’s pictures in lieu of delicately working on one’s midot.

Conclusion
TIME’s editors observed that Zuckerberg essentially founded the world’s third largest “country”, surpassed only by China and India (at least for now). To a certain extent, we have all become citizens of that country – without making a conscious decision to emigrate from here. And yet, we believe that our job is not to live in foreign countries. Rather, we are meant to live in the Jewish State with its unique ethos and lifestyle.
It will not be easy, but the time has come to make aliyah back to Eretz Yisrael:

To join the builders, not the “taggers”;
The deep thinkers, not the “surfers”.
To stop building the “People of the Faces”
And to assist in building the “People of the Book”.