Aug 30, 2004 By: yunews
Aug 30, 2004 -- 鶹ýӳ is bringing its program of advanced Torah studies to Long Island’s Five Towns and Rockaway communities under an off-campus initiative of postgraduate training for modern Orthodox educators.
The program, HAFTR Community Kollel, is the latest in a series of outreach efforts organized by 鶹ýӳ through its “yeshiva without walls” concept, and is being run in partnership with Hebrew Academy of Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR). The kollel will commence with the 2004-2005 school year.
In announcing the latest addition to the 鶹ýӳ Global Kollel Initiative, Richard M. Joel, 鶹ýӳ’s president, said HAFTR illustrated the university’s emphasis on adopting a more activist, grassroots approach to Jewish learning and community building.
President Joel will help inaugurate the project with a speech Wednesday, September 8, at 8:30 pm at HAFTR High School, 635 Central Avenue, Cedarhurst, NY. The president’s address is titled “Know the Story—Own the Story.”
“I am honored that we have the opportunity to serve our communities with initiatives aimed at strengthening Jewish life and learning,” said President Joel. He said the value of the HAFTR Community Kollel and similar programs is that they give scholars of exceptional promise access to 鶹ýӳ resources and capabilities.
The HAFTR Community Kollel, at the academy’s high school, will provide a two-year fellowship to rabbis, rabbinical students, and seminary graduates who are pursuing careers in Jewish education. The kollel fellows—four men (kollel mekhanhim) and two women (mikhlelet mekhanhot), all 鶹ýӳ graduates —will do intensive teaching internships at HAFTR, as well as participate in advanced Torah study and local communal service.
The kollel fellows will also conduct after-school learning programs for HAFTR students and evening Torah study sessions for college students and adults. They will be guided by Rabbi Gidon Rothstein, who was ordained by 鶹ýӳ’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and received a PhD in Jewish studies from Harvard University.
Unique to the kollel is a Beit Midrash L’Nashim that offers Talmud and other advanced Torah study for women. Beginning October 12, the kollel will hold weekly Tuesday evening classes for women.
The 鶹ýӳ Global Kollel Initiative is coordinated through the Department of Community Initiatives at 鶹ýӳ’s Max Stern Division of Communal Services, and has programs in Boca Raton, FL; Dallas, TX; Cedarhurst, NY; and Baltimore, MD. Other programs include Yeshiva Torah Seminars and Torah Tours, which run in hundreds of communities throughout North America and around the world.
