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

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

Trip dates: March 17-31, 2008
Participants: 11th and 12th grade students from all over the Bay Area
Staff: two educators, spiritual leader, and local Holocaust Survivors

Questions? Contact Yaron Lipschitz 415.751.6983 x 106 or Morgan Blum 415.777.9060 x203.

EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM

To deepen the experience, Shalhevet participants enroll in a 10-week semester, beginning in January, with convenient class locations* around the Bay:

• Peninsula Havurah High at Congregation Beth Am, Los Altos Hills
• Midrasha in Berkeley at Temple Beth-El
• Temple Emanu-El, SF

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.

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. Trip dates are March 17-31, 2008.

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: teens experience the people, the culture, and the homeland, while visiting Israel's historic cities, monument, and enjoying delicious food.

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

Financial Aid is available. Contact Yaron Lipschitz 415.751.6983 x 106 for details.

PARTICIPANT TESTIMONIES

What do Shalhevet participants have to say about the program?

"George and Iby (the survivors) were amazing on the trip and I feel very fortunate to have heard their stories. George's words of wisdom really impacted the life I strive to have today."

"...being in Poland impacted my experiences in Israel because it made me appreciate so much more the fact that I can go to the 'home land' and be completely free to be a Jew."

"Shalhevet has impacted me in many ways - The first is that wherever I go, I feel as if I am walking through Auschwitz with my head held high and a little Jewish flag sticking up out of my hat. That is not to say that I feel a leaden weight of despair as I trudge through life, but rather a sense that I am upholding the strength and history of the Jewish people. Because I have visited the sights of so much human struggle and determination, I feel that it is not only my right to be proud of my heritage but that it is also my duty to claim it as mine, for all the world to see. Anytime I hear mention of World War II, the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, Darfur, Germany, world rights, or a people with no identity, the spark of Shalhevet flares in me and I am reminded of that torch which is mine to carry through life".

"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."

There will be no more information sessions for Shalhevet 2008.

To learn more about the program please contact Yaron Lipschitz, 415-751-6982 x 106.

Help us spread the word! Please download our flyer.
INTERVIEWS

Shalhevet 2008 is no longer accepting applications.

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 by the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund; The Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture; Dr. Ingrid Tauber; The Koret Foundation; Alexander M. and June L. Maisin Foundation; Jewish Community Federation (JCF) of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties and the 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; and the Israel Trip Scholarship Fund of The Jewish Community Foundation of the Greater East Bay.

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

• The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund
• Jewish Community Federation (JCF) of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties Endowment Fund
• Alexander M. and June L. Maisin Foundation
• The Lazlo N. Tauber Family Foundation Inc
• 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
• Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay
• Congregation Beth Abraham
• Congregation Emanu-El
• Congregation B'nai Shalom
• Temple Sinai
• Claire Mikowski