TORONTO — Tzvia, a network of religious high schools in Israel, has two priority projects for which it’s currently raising funds: scholarships for needy students and a new building for its arts high school in Jerusalem.
Yehoshua Adler, left, and Rabbi Efraim Grinfeld, were in Toronto recently to meet with supporters of Tzvia, a network of religious high schools in Israel [Frances Kraft photo]
Rabbi Efraim Grinfeld, Tzvia’s director of educational affairs, and Yehoshua Adler, director of development for the Tzvia Educational Network, were in Toronto last month to meet with supporters here.
The network consists of 20 girls’ schools (ulpanot) and five yeshivot for boys from Grade 7 to 12, serving a total of 6,000 students. Among them are about 300 Ethiopians, 100 olim from English-speaking homes and a handful of North Americans, although there is no program per se for overseas students.
Among Tzvia’s schools is a 10-year-old arts high school for girls that Rabbi Grinfeld – who pioneered the program – says is unique in Israel for its combination of religious studies, academics, and the arts.
It reflects Tzvia’s philosophy, based on that of the late Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda HaCohen Kook, which emphasizes, among other things, a love of God and community.
“We think that art is a very good binding to the world – to the history of the world, to the nation’s history, and to [one’s own] history,” said the rabbi, a veteran educator with 32 years in the field, the last 15 at Tzvia.
Another Tzvia program of note is a three-year-old pre-med program in Haifa. The school is the only religious school among 10 Israeli high schools to participate in the pilot program, which includes a focus on science and medicine, along with hospital visits and even observation of surgical procedures, the rabbi said.
Also, he added, Tzvia is the only religious school in Israel – and one of only two in the country – that offers architectural engineering, a field whose practitioners can be licensed to build buildings of up to four floors.
It empowers women, providing them with an opportunity to work from home and earn a good income, he said.
Adler noted that religiously observant women in Israel have made strides in areas such as broadcast journalism in the past 10 or 15 years. Sarah Beck, a reporter for Israeli television’s Channel 2 – who, as a religious, married woman, covers her hair – is a Tzvia graduate, he said.
Other Tzvia graduates include doctors, lawyers and high-level civil servants, he noted.
Most of Tzvia’s female students enter Sherut Le’umi (national public service in lieu of army service) after high school, and volunteerism is a significant component of their Tzvia education.
“We think that one of the most important issues in education is to be involved,” said Rabbi Grinfeld. “This is a part of our religious education – not to be closed in a ghetto of religious people. We need to go to our community.”
About 60 per cent of Tzvia’s budget comes from the Israeli government. The other 40 per cent is derived from tuition revenue – about $3,500 (US) per student, per year – as well as donations.
For further information about Tzvia, contact Mizrachi Canada at 416-630-9266, or Yehoshua Adler at 416-400-9072.
