Applications
Program overview
Educational curriculum
Travel & Safety
Financial Aid
Participant testimonies
Informational sessions
Interviews
Funders & Partners

We will be accepting applications starting November 2009.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Shalhevet ("flame" in Hebrew) is a once-in-a-lifetime experiential learning opportunity.

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 spring semester in addition to a two week travel component to Poland and Israel.

Trip dates: Spring 2010
Participants: 11th and 12th grade students from all over the Bay Area
Staff: two educators, spiritual leader, certified tour guide, and local Holocaust Survivor

Questions? Contact Julie Emden 415.751.6983 x 125 or Morgan Blum 415.777.9060 x203.

Join us on


EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM

To deepen the experience, Shalhevet participants enroll in a special course, beginning in January, with convenient class locations* around the Bay:

• North Peninsula
• East Bay
• San Francisco/Marin

Trained professional teachers and visiting guest speakers will cover the Holocaust Center of Northern California (HCNC)-developed curriculum about Jewish history, the Holocaust and Israel.

Participants will create personal projects throughout the program and present them after the trip at the program siyum (graduation).

TRAVEL & SAFETY

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.

In Poland: teens witness the concentration camps through the eyes of a survivor traveling with the group; meet with Polish teens; and get a glimpse of Jewish life in pre-WWII Europe.

In Israel: : the journey follows the footsteps of survivors who came to Israel, explores the setting in Palestine during WWII that led to the establishment of the State of Israel, and examines today's political situation and geographical challenges. In addition, the teens experience the people, culture, and homeland.

Please note: Safety is our number one priority.

Special consideration is given for the trip to coincide with the participants returning to the USA for successful preparation and completion of Advanced Placement exams.

FINANCIAL AID

Tuition is subsidized and additional financial aid is available. Contact Julie Emden 415.751.6983 x 125 for details.

PARTICIPANT TESTIMONIES

What do Shalhevet participants have to say about the program?

"This trip was one of the more amazing events of my life. I would come back every year if I could. I can't thank the staff enough."

"The other times I go to Israel it's because I've lived there or went to visit friends and family (vacation), and this time I seriously felt the purpose of us, as a group of Jewish teenagers, coming to Israel and learning about the present and how it connects to the past."

"I have become a better person and a witness to a genocide. I will never forget this and will pass it on."

"I have such an amplified understanding of the Holocaust. I am now more grateful than ever for my freedom of religion and speech. I consider myself very fortunate to have been a part of this experience and would encourage anyone, of any age, to visit Poland and Israel at some point in their lives."

"There is no real way to describe Shalhevet and the effect that it has. It is simply something that everyone should experience and find out about for themselves. It is absolutely worth missing school for. You learn more than you could have ever imagined, gain better understandings of issues, and you make incredible friends that will last a lifetime."

Informational sessions coming to a location near you. Stay tuned for details.
INTERVIEWS

2010 interviews will begin in December 2009.

For further details, click here to download the Q&A sheet: everything you ever wanted to know about Shalhevet.
FUNDERS & PARTNERS

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

Shalhevet is funded, in part, thanks to the generosity of:

• The Gift of Israel Program, sponsored by the SFJCF and the Janet A. Schultz Teens to Israel Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund;
• The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund;
• The Israel Trip Scholarship Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of the Greater East Bay;
• Jewish Community Endowment Fund's First Time in Israel Experience Scholarships;
• Jewish Community Federation (JCF) of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties Endowment Fund;
• Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties;
• Orli and Zack Rinat;
• Ingrid D. Tauber Philanthropic Fund