Application process
Program overview
Educational curriculum
Insights from our alumni
Information sessions
Funders & Partners

Complete a Applicant Information Form today to reserve your space with Shalhevet 2012.

Application Deadline: January 6, 2012.

Participation is limited and priority is given to early applicants. Apply Today!

Click here to see a list of answers to Frequently Asked Questions, including the application timeline and important program dates.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Shalhevet (which means "flame" in Hebrew) is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Bay Area 11th and 12th graders. The program includes interactive seminars throughout Spring semester and a transformational journey to Poland and Israel with a local Holocaust survivor.

• Learn about the thriving Jewish life in Poland before World War II and what exists today
• Witness the concentration camps and remnants of the Jewish ghettos
• Develop a relationship with a Holocaust survivor who shares personal stories
• Meet with Polish teens to hear how they relate to their country's past and future
• Grapple with life's most challenging and meaningful questions
• Experience Israel through the unique lens of the Holocaust and its aftermath
• Engage with Israeli teens who have visited Poland and hear their perspectives
• Explore issues of diversity and tolerance in Israeli society today
• Share what you've learned with your community through personal projects after the trip

Trip dates: March 21 - April 4, 2012
Participants: 11th and 12th grade students from all over the Bay Area

Questions? Contact Rebecca Goodman 415.735.6983 (cell)

Join us on

EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM

Shalhevet participants will attend a series of interactive seminars on Sundays from 10:30am-4:00pm. The dates for 2012 are January 22, February 5, 12, 26, and March 11. Locations will rotate around the Bay Area.

Engaging professional educators and inspiring guest speakers will prepare students for the trip and provide context for the experiences they will have while abroad. These seminar days also offer the staff and participants the opportunity to get to know one another and to bond as a group before they travel. There will be an additional seminar after the trip as well as a special "siyyum" (graduation). Guided by staff, each student will work on a personal project that expresses a component of the Shalhevet program that was particularly meaningful to him/her. Participants will share their projects with friends, family and the greater community at the siyyum.

INSIGHTS FROM OUR ALUMNI

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."

Find an information session near you on Facebook or contact Rebecca Goodman 415.735.6983.
FUNDERS & PARTNERS

Past and future Shalhevet participants are grateful for all the financial support this program receives.

Shalhevet is a program of the Bureau of Jewish Education of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.

Shalhevet is funded in part by the Ingrid D. Tauber Philanthropic Fund; Jewish Community Federation (JCF) of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties Endowment Fund; Jewish Community Endowment Fund's First Time in Israel Experience Scholarships; The Gift of Israel Program; The Israel Trip Scholarship Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of the Greater East Bay; Jewish Family & Children's Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties; The Israel Education Initiative of the Bureau of Jewish Education, BBYO, Inc.; and the generous families of Shalhevet alumni.