Hadassah Academic College graduates a diverse group of students
Earlier this summer, almost 600 students graduated from the Jerusalem-based Hadassah Academic College (HAC), the institution in the heart of the city that boasts a diverse student population and high rate of job placements of students upon graduation. Over 2,000 spectators – including graduates, family, and friends – attended the ceremony at Safra Square-Jerusalem City Hall.
Over the last four years, the College has doubled its number of students to 4,000—it grew by 10 percent in the current academic year—and has the highest rate of student growth of any college or university in Israel.
HAC’s exceptionally diverse student population includes Christian and Muslim Arabs (both Israeli and Palestinian); new immigrants from around the world; Ethiopian Jewish students; secular and ultra-orthodox Jewish Israelis; and those with special needs. Women comprise 70 percent of the student community.
The College hosts Israel’s largest academic program to educate male and female ultra-Orthodox “Haredi” students toward rewarding careers in the public and private sectors. There are currently 900 students in the program. Bachelor degree tracks offered include Biotechnology; Communication Disorders (speech & hearing therapy); Computer Science; Management; Optometry; Politics and Communication.
Enrollment is already strong among Haredi students for a new bachelor’s degree in Social Work to be offered next academic year.
As the academic year concludes, HAC also notes that:
· 90 percent of students successfully complete their degree. Student focus groups attribute this to the high level of personal assistance provided to every student by both faculty and student counselors.
· Alumni surveys reveal that 85 percent of all College graduates find employment in their field of study upon graduation, and that this high rate of career placement is equal for both Jewish and Arab students.
· For four consecutive years, a national survey of 10,000 students commissioned by the Israel National Union of Students has selected HAS as the top institution at which to study in Jerusalem. In January 2018, Forbes-Israel rated HAC as the number one college at which to study in Jerusalem.
· Over 50 percent of the College’s students are the first in their family to pursue a college education. —From Hadassah Academic College
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B’nai Mitzvah twinning program to honor the 1.5 million children murdered in the Holocaust
One day in June 1944, Moshe Porat’s uncle woke him up in the middle of the night. “Moshele, do you realize that today is your Bar Mitzvah? Wake up quickly!” Through sleeping bodies scattered on the floor, they trekked an hour or so to a hidden place where 10 men gathered with a Torah scroll. That is how Moshe celebrated the special life-cycle event in Jewish tradition, the day when he became a full adult member of the Jewish nation.
Unlike Moshe, however, of the nearly 1.5 million Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust, many never had the opportunity to reach the age of Bar or Bat Mitzvah. It is a cherished Jewish tradition that girls and boys at the age of 12 and 13 respectively mark their transition into adulthood. This occasion is marked with great joy by family and friends, and signifies the continuity of the Jewish people from generation to generation. The day also signifies the moment a child accepts his responsibility and becomes part of the fabric of the Jewish people.
As we turn our attention to the upcoming Jewish New Year, we are once again reminded of the importance of Jewish continuity and tradition. It is with this in mind that Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center developed this unique program called the Bnei Mitzvah (Bar/Bat Mitzvah) Twinning Program in an attempt to connect the younger generation to the history of the Holocaust.
In honor of this Jewish life cycle milestone, Yad Vashem offers a variety of programs for Bnei Mitzvah-aged youth. The Bnei Mitzvah Twinning Program is a unique way to mark this special occasion. The program connects a Bar/Bat Mitzvah to their past by bonding them with the memory of an individual child who was murdered during the Holocaust and who shares something with the child celebrating – a birthday, a name, or their place of origin.
Registration for the program is easily completed online. A specially created study guide /and kit is sent to the family that includes a brief history of the individual paired with the Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a Page of Testimony from the Yad Vashem Shoah Victims’ Names Database and an official Twinning certificate from Yad Vashem to be presented to the Bnei Mitzvah.
Yad Vashem offers another program for those traveling to Israel to celebrate their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. The program in Israel includes a special tour of the Holocaust History Museum and a Twinning ceremony in Yad Vashem’s Synagogue.
As time passes, remembering those murdered in the Holocaust as individuals and not just a number becomes more challenging, and we must engage the next generation to continue carrying the memory forward. This program helps ensure that youth today remember the Holocaust and connect with those who lost their lives just because they were Jewish. For more information, contact simmy.allen@yadvashem.org.il —From Yad Vashem
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CPR on a floating pier saves drowning victim
Last week, a firefighter and a diving instructor helped save the life a 45-year-old father of two from a drowning death. Oren Kauffman is a firefighter in Eilat and Sophie Donio is a Diving Instructor and Animal and Diving Therapist in the city’s Dolphin Reef. Both volunteer with United Hatzalah as EMTs and both are ambucycle drivers.
Donio spoke about how the incident occurred. “The man was scuba diving with his two sons and they were pulled by the current out away from the beach. The children were swimming ahead of their father and saw that he wasn’t following closely. They finally noticed that he was in trouble and swam to him eventually pulling him to the Mykonos beach. The father’s air had run out. They brought him to the surface and signaled for help at which point the Maritime Police pulled the man and his sons from the water and brought him to the floating pier.”
“Performing CPR on a floating pier is not easy,” said Donio. “I’m very used to standing on a floating pier from my work at the dolphin reef, but it was still taxing. It’s different than doing a CPR in a home or on the street, we were all floating with a lot of onlookers trying to see what was happening. In addition to the crowds, we were facing very strong northerly winds and the rolling waves. Scene management became a priority and we needed to move the patient as soon as we could without interrupting the CPR. Hence the challenge,” Donio explained. “My experience in previous CPR cases helped me operate efficiently under the difficult circumstances.”
The man eventually revived in the hospital. “We don’t always hear what happens to our patients after they go to the hospital,” explained Donio, “but in this instance, I was called the next day by one of the other EMTs at the scene. He told me that the man had revived and I was ecstatic to hear that. Not all CPRs are successful, and it is very meaningful to know that I had a hand in saving someone’s life. This isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last, but each time it is incredibly meaningful to me to know that this person will be able to go home to his family once again.” — From United Hatzalah