Trading Places: MTA students on exchange program in Israel

By Yaffi Spodek

May 1, 2009 / 7 Iyar 5769

A select group of MTA students visited Israel for two months this year as part of the inaugural Yeshiva University High School for Boys (YUHSB)-Makor Chaim Exchange program.

“Even now that I have returned, I still cannot believe I went,” said Shua Brick of West Hempstead, one of the participants. “Foreign exchange programs seem to only exist in movies, a distant concept that does not occur in real life.”

Thanks to the vision of MTA Head of School Rabbi Mark Gottlieb, and the program's director, Mrs. Tova Rosenberg, the concept became a reality on Rosh Chodesh Shvat, Jan. 26, when 10 MTA sophomores traveled to Yeshivat Makor Chaim, a high school in Gush Etzion. In exchange, four juniors from Makor Chaim came to study at MTA. The program ran through March.

Brick described the program as “the opportunity of a life time, a chance to experience and benefit from a culture different from any other Israeli high school, let alone an American one.”

“The school’s ideologies have no appropriate label, except unique,” he observed. “There isn’t any place like it. They have a refreshing perspective on educational methods, Judaism and life.”

In contrast to other exchange programs where students simply continue their regular activities and classes in a new location, MTA's goal was to completely immerse both sets of students into their new surroundings.

“Our program was unique because we were fully integrating the kids into the Israeli system,” explained Rosenberg, who heads the Hebrew language department at MTA and at its sister school, Central. “Our 10 guys were fully integrated into the limudei kodesh classes at Makor Chaim, and the Israelis attended regular shiur at MTA. In Israel, for the second half of the day we provided four English speaking teachers to supplement the curriculum.”

Beyond the experience of the new academic environment, the exchange students lived in the dormitories of their host schools, and enjoyed tiyulim (trips), shabbatonim (weekend gatherings), chesed projects and other special activities. The Americans were particularly intrigued by the unique style of learning practiced by their Makor Chaim peers, and by their rousing prayer services, specifically the Hallel on Rosh Chodesh accompanied by guitar and bongos.

Brick, who is part of the Woodmere-based Lev Leytzan clown troop, brought along his clowning costume and props and volunteered in Israel over Purim to bring cheer to others. He and the other MTA students were taken on trips around Jerusalem and Tzfat, and made weekly visits to YU's Gruss Kollel in Bayit Vagan to learn with the head of the kollel, Rabbi Dovid Miller.

The Israeli students traveled all over New York City and to Philadelphia, and made their presence felt at MTA. On Rosh Chodesh Adar, they decorated the library and transformed it into Achashveirosh's palace, “really bringing their spirit of their school into our school,” Rosenberg observed.

“I envisioned it to be a life-changing experience and I am hearing positive feedback from both sides of the ocean,” she told The Jewish Star, reflecting on the program’s success. “We live in a global world and I see these boys from both sides as future leaders of Jewish communities. It is very important for them to be acquainted with what's going on in the modern Orthodox world in Israel and the United States, and to be part of the culture. The kids really want to bring the experience back to their schools, and it will impact them for the rest of their lives.”

MTA plans to continue the program in future years, and hopes to expand it to include girls from Central as well.

“We had a vision and it turned out to be better than we expected,” Rosenberg noted. “It was a tremendous success and we absolutely want to run the program again.”

SIDEBAR

Exchange we can believe in: A local participant reflects on his experience

By Shua Brick

The unique Makor Chaim experience started immediately on the first day, Rosh Chodesh Shvat, when Hallel is said. The Hallel at Makor Chaim is unlike anything that I have ever seen. It is done with instrumental accompaniment, and every paragraph is followed by breaks for dancing. The guitar seemed out of place around the neck of the shliach tzibur (the leader of the service), but when the bongo came out, the 10 Americans immediately knew that this trip would be interesting.

This is only one example of several incidents that would never happen in most modern, Jewish high schools. The Israeli students have a love for their religion. There is no dress code, nor anything close to a Dean of Discipline. The Makor Chaim students have a great amount of freedom which they use to strive to get closer to G-d. They sing Hallel not because they are forced to or because it is routine but because they want to. And they enjoy it.

They have such a love for things we take for granted, and they have worked hard for it too. Last year, only two weeks before the attack on Mercaz HaRav, they had their own terrorist scare. Two terrorists breached the school’s security dressed as security personnel. Luckily, the room they decided to attack was where the armed staff members were, and not the weakly defended Study Hall where all the children were gathered that Thursday night for the weekly mishmar learning program. There were only minor injuries among the staff which quickly healed, though you can never heal the sense of fear that these attacks cause.

The most important philosophy that we learned in Makor Chaim, which fuels their passion for Torah and religion, is Beli Tzinyot, without mockery, shortened to Blit"z. The unique social contract of Blit”z is what allows the Makor Chaim students to observe Judaism in their unique way, such as their singing during weekday prayer services, a practice which would be scoffed at by the typical American high school student. The only way, in my opinion, one can experience Judaism in such an unusual yet laudable fashion is without the fear of whether or not you will receive your peers' approval. Without fear of being scorned, anyone can do anything. Without the worry of onlookers and their judging eyes, or invasive, disheartening comments, one is able to experience Judaism any way they like. It is a completely different society in Israel, and that environment is what allows them to enjoy life and their religion, even if it looks weird or different. They have no need to worry about being judged, nor do they find the need to seek approval from others.

While I traveled around the globe to seek such a society, my friends and I began to wonder why this passion and freedom of worship cannot be found closer to home. Only then did it become apparent to us that this is the exact reason why we were sent: to return and spread our knowledge of what could be, and hopefully will be.