Students to Study with Reform Movement in Haifa The Carmel Year-long College Program Starts September 12
September 7, 2006 – New York –Students will embark this Tuesday on a 12 month trip to Israel studying in Haifa with the Reform Movement’s Carmel program. Carmel, a progressive Beit Midrash (a traditional study method) and Israel study program, is the Reform Movement’s premier opportunity for graduating high school seniors to combine Jewish learning and living in Israel.
“The Carmel students represent the strength and commitment of the youth of the Reform Movement,” said Lisa David, director of the KESHER College Department of the Union for Reform Judaism. “We are confident that today’s Carmel students will be leaders of tomorrow.”
The Carmel program is rigorous, open only to high school graduates who maintained a high grade point average and scored a minimum of 1100 on their SATs all while taking an active role in their local Jewish community. Students who are interested in the program are advised to apply to college during their senior years of high school, and, upon acceptance, defer for the year.
The students complete coursework at the University of Haifa for college credit and study at the Reform Movement’s Lokey International Academy of Jewish Studies at the Leo Baeck Education Center. Carmel students live in dormitories at the university with both international students and Israelis.
A major aspect of the program is the interaction with their peers in the Israeli progressive movement and the creation of a vibrant Reform community of their own, using the new North American Reform prayer book, Mishkan T’filah, and the prayer book of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, HaAvodah Shebale, for their worship.
The Union for Reform Judaism (formerly the Union of American Hebrew Congregations) is the central body of Reform Judaism in North America, uniting 1.5 million Reform Jews in more than 900 synagogues. Union services include camps, music and book publishing, outreach to unaffiliated and intermarried Jews, educational programs, and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C.
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