Israel is everywhere at Kohelet Yeshiva.  From the classrooms to the hallways to the Beit Midrash, there are constant reminders of the importance of Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, Medinat Yisrael and Torat Yisrael.

 

Each teaching team in the Lab School contains at least one native Hebrew speaker who teaches multiple subjects and interacts with our children in multiple contexts throughout the day, all of which is done completely in Hebrew.  Starting in Middle School and continuing throughout High School, these seeds of conversational Hebrew that have been planted and nurtured in K-5, fully bloom with the help of the Ulpan Or program, a comprehensive Ivrit program that emphasises the importance of written and spoken communication.

 

Connections to Israel at Kohelet, though, extend well beyond the classroom.  Four Bnot Sherut join Kohelet Yeshiva each year in order to infuse the school with an avirah of Eretz Yisrael.  Their creativity, spirit, and spunk adds an invaluable element to school programs and community events.  Through a partnership with Bnei Akiva, Kohelet Yeshiva is also home to two morim shlichim who teach in the school and oversee the local snifei Bnei Akiva.  Together with the Bnot Sherut, they ensure that the students of Kohelet Yeshiva develop deep and long lasting relationships not only with the State of Israel, but with a group of talented and inspiring people who live there.

 

Religious Zionism plays a similar role in Kohelet Yeshiva’s Beit Midrash.  By consistently  bringing in some of the leading minds and personalities in the Dati Le’umi world, the Beit Midrash program ensures that the Philadelphia community feels connected to our community in Israel.  By hosting moving public ceremonies and uplifting celebrations for Yom HaZikaron, Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim, the Beit Midrash provides the Greater Philadelphia community with a place in which to remember and to rejoice in the remarkable unfolding of history that is the modern State of Israel.