Orot Israel College Students Submit Award-Winning Research Papers

Rav Dr. Moshe Rachimi 
Dean of Students (Elkana Campus) and Head of Orot Israel College’s Graduate School 

During their second year, students at Orot Israel College write research papers on Judaic studies topics. The process begins with learning how to write an academic paper and ends with a proper, high-caliber thesis.
Orot, which places great emphasis on academic excellence (as well as Judaic, educational, and pedagogical excellence), encourages and promotes student research – including for undergraduate students. To this end, every year, the top three papers – as determined by three stages of judging - receive awards for excellence. The results of this process are twofold. First, students are motivated to work even harder, and second, the resulting papers are extremely impressive.
This year, the faculty advisors recommended that twelve different papers be submitted to the judges, who eventually selected the three best theses:
• First place: Oriah (Dahan) Reshef - “Children in Monasteries During the Holocaust” - Rav Ari Shvat, Advisor
• Second place: Atara Shlomovitz – “His Eyes Shed Tears: R’ Elazar ben Hurkanus” – Dr. Uriel Twito, Advisor
• Third place: Mazal (Ingeda) Cohen – “The Laws of Kashrut According To Beita Yisrael In Comparison To the Laws of Kashrut According To the Shulchan Aruch” - Rav Ari Shvat, Advisor

Orot Israel College’s administration and faculty congratulate all the submissions and especially the prize winners. We are thrilled and proud of their achievements and encourage them to continue along the path of academia and research.


Orot Israel College Student Receives Prestigious Award

At a moving ceremony held recently at the Begin Heritage Center, Yifat Hajbi, an Orot Israel College student and a high school cinema teacher, was awarded the prestigious “Morei HaMei’ah” (literally, “Teachers of the Century”) Exemplary Educators Prize by the Education Ministry’s Religious Education Department. Yifat received the prize in recognition of her work establishing an innovative alumni project at the ulpanah (girls’ religious high school) where she teaches.

Yifat is a third-year student at Orot, where she studies communication and Oral Law, and has been teaching at Ulpanat Zevulun for the past seven years. She founded and runs Midrashat Mekimi, a unique weekly learning program geared for the school’s alumni.

According to the judges, “Hajbi is a beloved teacher who forms a personal bond with most of her students, who see her as a teacher who is available to advise them on every subject.”

Rav Professor Neria Guttel, President of Orot Israel College, noted, “Our Sages compared teachers to the stars in the heavens. Orot Israel College is proud to nurture stars. Yifat Hajbi is a little star who is destined to become a big star. It is a great honor for us that our student earned an award for excellence from the Religious Education Department.”

Yifat said, “I was very happy to hear about the award. It is a great feeling when a teacher is recognized for her efforts and empowered. This type of recognition gives me and other teachers the strength to continue to give of ourselves for the benefit of our students, who are the future generation of Am Yisrael. Particularly today, when the teacher’s stature is often being eroded, these types of initiatives are an appropriate response to continuing this important, holy work with renewed motivation.”