Helyn B. Reich Scholarship
Updates from 2007 Helyn B. Reich Recipients
Danny Moss, a rising junior at Oberlin College taking a year abroad at the University of Haifa
“During the past four months I committed myself to a number of rewarding academic programs: I began by studying Ulpan in Tel Aviv for the first two months of my trip, after which I moved to Haifa and began studying there. As a member of the International School, I continued Hebrew Studies on an intensive basis, in addition to taking classes in Rabbinic Literature, Biblical Theology, and Israeli Art Music. I also enrolled in an honors seminar (with both undergraduate and graduate students) on the topic of European Jewish culture and civilization from the Middle Ages to modernity. Although that class will not continue next semester, I am pursuing a separate honors thesis that I will write when I return to Oberlin for my penultimate year.
“This semester, I was also fortunate enough to participate in a volunteer program in which students in the International School tutored Ethiopian children in a nearby neighborhood. I found the experience to be immensely rewarding, and I look forward to continuing it next semester.
“Finally, I embarked on several wonderful trips throughout the country. In addition to traveling to many major and minor cities, I hiked with other international students in Machtesh Ramon, the Dead Sea, and in Wadi Darga in the Judean Desert. We also climbed Matzada together at sunrise.”
Artwork made by Laura Finkelstein while in Israel
Laura Finkelstein, a graduate student in fine arts at Boston University participating in the WUJS Arts Program.
“These last few months in Israel have not only informed my art, but also my understanding of my culture, religion and most importantly the land of Israel for which I feel a deep and committed reverence. During my time at the WUJS Institute in Arad, I have spent my days participating in Ulpan where I have quicky progressed, even through I started in only Aleph. I spend the remainder of my time either painting, participating in group seminars, or traveling independently in Israel. I have grown quite fond of Tel Aviv and would one day like to call it home. Although I have only spent a week exploring Jerusalem, I feel more spiritually connected to what I consider the most beautiful city in the world, than I have to any other place. In some ways, it is a challenge with so many things to experience here, trying to balance my language studies with painting, and general social interactions with both Israeli’s and other Westerner’s who have decided to make Israel their home.
“I have learned so much from the other people who have chosen to come to the WUJS Institute. It is such an ecclectic group of people who have come for so many different reasons. However, the one bond that connects us all is the willingness to risk our career and educational paths in our respective homelands to come here and pursue a dream and have a life-changing experience.”
Laura (L), with friends on Kibbutz Ketura