Shalhevet

Shalhevet ("flame" in Hebrew) is an once-in-a-lifetime experiential learning opportunity for Bay Area Jewish teens (11th &12th grade). Inspired by the international March of the Living program, Shalhevet is a way for local Jewish teens to participate in a program tailored specifically to the educational and cultural environment of the Bay Area.

Shalhevet includes a journey of Jewish history, beginning with the life of pre-WWII Polish Jewry through the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel. The spring semester course culminates in a two-week trip to Poland and Israel (March 16-30, 2009). Students will travel with a local Holocaust survivor, Rabbi and educators.

Participants of Shalhevet will:

• Learn about the thriving Jewish culture in Poland before WWII and today
• Witness the concentration camps through the eyes of a survivor traveling with the group
• Experience Israel: the people, the culture and the homeland
• Meet with Polish and Israeli teens to get a taste of their lives; examine today’s political and geopolitical challenges in Israel.

Regional seminars run from January to May and the group will travel March 16-March 30, 2009. For more information on the program, information sessions near you, and to complete the online application, visit: www.bjesf.org. To see photos, look for Shalhevet on Facebook

Shalhevet is a dynamic collaboration between the Holocaust Center of Northern California and the Bureau of Jewish Education.

For more information, contact Morgan Blum at mblum@hcnc.org or 415.777.9060 ext. 203, or Yaron Lipschitz at ylipschitz@bjesf.org or 415.751.6983 ext. 106.

Financial aid is available
Contact ylipschitz@bjesf.org or 415.751.6983 ext. 106 for details.

Shalhevet is funded, in part by the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund; Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties Endowment Fund; Alexander M. and June L. Maisin Foundation; The Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation; William J. Lowenberg; Rubin Family Philanthropic Fund; Marc and Ellen Brown Family Philanthropic Fund; Jewish Community Endowment Fund's First Time in Israel Experience Scholarships; The Gift of Israel Program, sponsored by the JCFSF and the Janet A. Schultz Teens to Israel Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund; The Israel Trip Scholarship Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of the Greater East Bay; Jewish Family and Children’s Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties; Congregation Beth Abraham; Congregation Emanu-El; Congregation B'nai Shalom Temple Sinai; and Claire Mikowski.