CONTENTS

1. YBA at a Glance
2. Yeshivat 'Yavneh' Haifa Joins YBA Network
3. Malcolm Hoenlein Speaks at Teaneck Friends Kick-off
4. 106 Winners in 'Yagdil Torah' Competition
5. Israel's First 'Green' Campus at YBA Sussya
6. Rabbi Drukman Addresses Conversion Controversy in U.S. Visit

YBA AT A GLANCE

Since the first Bnei Akiva yeshiva high school was founded at Kfar Haroeh in 1939, Yeshivot Bnei Akiva has grown to become the largest religious Zionist educational network in Israel, with 63 schools and 22,000 students from the Golan Heights to Eilat. The 60,000 graduates of YBA institutions can be found in positions of leadership in every industrial, academic and professional sector of Israeli society; YBA alumni include leading artists, scientists and industrialists, officers and generals in the IDF, municipal mayors, Supreme Court justices, Knesset members and Cabinet ministers and even Israel Prize and International Prize winners.

YESHIVOT BNEI AKIVA – TRAINING LEADERS
FOR ISRAEL’S FUTURE

Click here of read more about Who We Are.

YESHIVAT 'YAVNEH' HAIFA JOINS YBA NETWORK

In response to requests from parents to the Haifa Municipality, Yeshivat Yavneh in Haifa joined the network of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva schools in September 2008. The Haifa Municipality facilitated and gave its blessings to the merger, and expressed its readiness to help in any way it can.

Yeshivat Yavneh, Haifa: from successful to exceptional in every respect

Elchanan Glatt, Director General of YBA, elaborated on the numerous plans that "will bring Yeshivat Yavneh, Haifa from a successful school to an exceptional school in every respect." According to Glatt, “the Torah Studies field, Talmud, Bible and Jewish philosophy, will undergo a serious upgrade using deeper content while at the same time making Torah studies more attractive, interesting and relevant to the students’ lives. In the General Studies field, the existing Aeronautics/Space track will be strengthened, the Computer Programming track will be upgraded to a very high level and the Communications track will receive state-of-the-art studio and editing equipment. The Physics, Biology and Chemistry labs will also be improved, and a new Robotics track will be introduced for the Middle School.”

Deputy Director General, Shmuel Bieber, added that YBA intended to hire an informal education coordinator, "a position that never existed in the yeshiva before, to offer a wide variety of activities in the best tradition of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva, including seminars, workshops and annual hiking trips with Bibles in hand. Our aim is to make the Yavneh High School Yeshiva a gathering place for community events and a focal point for the Haifa community.”

Rabbi Yoram Shamir, the new head of the yeshiva, said, “from my point of view, the most important thing is that the students will come to the yeshiva with joy and a sense of fun, out of a desire to learn and not as something burdensome. I believe that the yeshiva’s mission should be the empowerment of each student according to his own individual area of strength.”

To support YBA Yeshivat Yavneh or any of the other 62 YBA schools from the Golan to Eilat, call AFYBA at (212) 248-0471 or visit www.afyba.org. 

HOENLEIN SPEAKS AT TEANECK FRIENDS KICK-OFF

Some 100 guests attended the Inaugural Teaneck Event of the American Friends of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva. The successful event was hosted by Jeanette and Martin Heistein. The Guest Speaker was Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice President of the Conference of Presidents.

From left: Menachem Bar-Shalom, Executive Director, American Friends of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva, Dan Edelman, Event Chairman, Elchanan Glatt, Director General, Yeshivot Bnei Akiva in Israel, Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman, Conference of Presidents, Martin Heistein, Event Co-Chair and host, Deena Yellin Fuksbrumer, Event Co-Chair, Joshua Annenberg, Event Co-Chair

For more information on how you can become a friend of YBA, call AFYBA at (212) 248-0471 or visit www.afyba.org. 

106 WINNERS IN "YAGDIL TORAH" COMPETITION

Hundreds of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva students from all parts of Israel gathered in Yeshivat Netiv Meir's large Beit Medrash (study hall) in Jerusalem to celebrate the culmination of the third annual "Yagdil Torah" competition – which encourages students to learn Torah for Torah's sake, well beyond the requirements of their yeshivot. Over 500 students mastered 50 double-sided pages of Talmud text beyond their school's regular Talmud curriculum. This year, 106 students earned the prize after passing the exam on the material – a set of Talmud valued at $250. A number of students earned the prize for a second or third time participating in the project. They were awarded sets of Shulchan Aruch and Rambam to embellish their personal libraries.

Ben Lande and Rabbi Druckman arriving at YBA Netiv Meir

Rabbi Haim Druckman, Chairman of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva (YBA), was greeted by the hundreds of excited students with singing and dancing. He told the students, "When I see this large crowd before my eyes I feel that this is a holiday for Israel – a true holiday; a holiday of Torah; a celebration of Torah."
Benjamin Lande, the benefactor of the Yagdil Torah Competition, moved by the excitement of the occasion said, "We believe that the students of Yeshivot Bnei
Akiva will become leaders of Israeli society in every field." Mr. Lande praised YBA Netiv Meir student Hadar Shavit, who mastered 100 pages of Talmud, and surprised the audience by announcing that Hadar, and any other student who matches his 100-page achievement, would receive a double reward – a set of Shulchan Aruch in addition to the set of Talmud.

Yeshivot Bnei Akiva seeks other benefactors to join Mr. Lande in sponsoring additional Yagdil Torah competitions in in Halacha for ulpana students, Mishnayot for yeshiva students who are not yet ready for the Talmud competition, and in writing Chidushim for the most advanced Talmud students. The sponsors will be invited to personally present the prizes to each successful participant at the annual Yagdil Torah Awards Ceremony, an event which has become a truly moving experience not only for the sponsor, but for the participating students, their classmates, their teachers and the entire YBA educational network.

To support YBA the Yagdil Torah Competition program or the help provide scholarships to needy students in the 63 Yeshivot Bnei Akiva from Golan to Eilat, call AFYBA at (212) 248-0471 or visit www.afyba.org.

ISRAEL'S FIRST "GREEN" CAMPUS AT YBA SUSSYA

Yeshivat Bnei Akiva Sussya for Ecological Studies, located in the Southern Hebron Hills region, has recently broken ground for four "green" dormitories on its "Ecological Campus." The buildings are being constructed according to ecological principals and "green" technologies for saving energy and utilizing local natural resources: the choice of building materials, the directional orientation of the buildings, the collection and recycling of rain water and the generation and utilization of alternative energies, including Wind turbines on the roofs of the dormitories, Photo-voltaic cells built into the dormitory roof panels and fiber-optic cables from the dormitory roofs to utilize sunlight to illuminate the halls, bathrooms and showers during the day time.

The revolutionary "green dormitory" follows on the footsteps of the revolutionary yeshiva's "green office," which cuts the use of paper by reusing photocopy paper, maximizes Internet and Email communication, and minimizes the use of disposable utensils.

YBA Sussya students are involved in a year-round curriculum of Land of Israel studies and matriculate in Ecological Studies, including writing a thesis paper. They also participate in two week-long seminars each year in which they study a region of the country in depth, including the Golan, mountain ranges, coastal region, Judean Desert, etc. The yeshiva's weekly field trips center on topics of geology, botany, zoology, ecology, archaeology, history, Bible and medrash, as well as field orientation and survival skills.

For information regarding naming opportunities available for the ecological campus at YBA Yeshivat Sussya or to support any of the other 62 Yeshivot Bnei Akiva from Golan to Eilat, call AFYBA at (212) 248-0471 or visit www.afyba.org. 

RABBI DRUKMAN ADDRESSES CONVERSION CONTROVERSY

During his recent trip to New York, Rabbi Chaim Drukman, Chairman of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva in Israel and outgoing Chairman of the National Conversion Authority in Israel, met for ninety minutes with the leadership of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). The scholarly discussion centered on the recent controversy regarding the Rabbinical Courts of Israel recognition of Rabbi Drukman’s converts in Israel, as well as the RCA’s converts in the U.S.

In answer to specific questions from the rabbis present, Rabbi Drukman explained in detail the ongoing efforts regarding conversion in Israel, and responded to the criticisms leveled against the National Conversion Authority by non-Zionist rabbis within the Rabbinical Court system in Israel. He elaborated his views by citing well known rabbinic opinions from previous generations whose decisions regarding the conversion process he follows. The RCA rabbis and Rabbi Drukman agreed to maintain an ongoing and positive relationship. 

Later in his U.S. visit, Rabbi Drukman was hosted by Congregation Rinat Yisrael in Teaneck, NJ, where Rabbi Adler welcomed him to lecture on the subject of conversion from the pulpit. Both the RCA meeting and the Rinat Yisrael lecture were facilitated by the American Friends of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva (AFYBA).

Click here to view video of Rabbi Druckman’s lecture at Congregation Rinat Yisrael.

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