Like most parents of 12th graders, I've been following along with my oldest daughter as she made her decisions about next year. Israel drafts both men and women at 18. Religious girls can get an automatic exemption from the army by signing a declaration at the rabbinate stating that they are religiously observant. Most female high-school grads in the national-religious sector choose to do Sherut Leumi, or national service. Blogger Mrs. S., who also has a 12th grader, has written The Parental Guide to Sherut Leumi, complete with lexicon. My sister asked how religious girls decide between the army and sherut leumi. In 2011, a record 1500 religious women enlisted in the army. Most … [Read more...]
Local Principal Takes Stand on Cheating
March 1, 2010 by 14 Comments
We often hear stories about condoning cheating in Israeli schools, and in the religious sector as well. One a retired teacher told me she didn't see anything wrong with it. She cheated as a student, and her children did, too. Image by Mr_Stein via Flickr So I found it refreshing when my daughter's high school principal canceled this year's hachtarah, after senior girls texted answers to friends during an important exam. In Israeli religious schools the hachtarah rates somewhere between an American senior prom and homecoming. But instead of crowning a queen, they crown the Rabbanit Purim (rebbetzin, or rabbi's wife). The focus is humor, not beauty. The principal knew the girls … [Read more...]
A High School in Israel
September 15, 2008 by 15 Comments
[Haveil Havalim is up at Shiloh Musings.]My daughter entered ninth grade this year. This year she has "the best teacher and the best class." She was able to request a number of friends, and they'll be together for the next four years.Her school has six grades, each with about eight classes of thirty girls. The six grades are divided into three batim (lit. houses), each with its own building, vice-principal, secretary, advisor, and two teachers who serve as grade-level coordinators.The school operates several large volunteer projects:All ninth graders volunteer in a public gan (kindergarten) once a week. My daughter catches a van from school at 7:30 to take her across town, where she assists … [Read more...]
Jet lag and secondary jet lag
July 31, 2008 by 10 Comments
I handle jet lag well upon arrival in the US. We function during the day, despite waking up at 3 am for several days. By the second morning the kids already woke at 7:30. The return is different. Typically we are all awake at night the first week, then I suffer for an additional week. It's not just the jetlag; it's having to jump back into the summer "routine." I find myself not remembering things that happened during that first week at home. And my husband complains about "secondary jet lag" from everyone else's night-wakings.We arrived yesterday afternoon. My 7yo then slept all night, getting up in time for my husband to take him to camp. Go figure. My 4yo slept for a while then lay … [Read more...]
Kicking Ourselves in the Foot: Guide to Choosing a Religious Elementary School in Israel
January 23, 2007 by 14 Comments
It's that time of year, when parents are running around applying to elementary school. Most families only make the decision with their oldest, so they must consider carefully. In the religious Zionist school system, grade school options generally include: a) Government-sponsored, public "mamlachti dati" school, known as "mamad" for short. b) "Mamad torani." The main differences between mamad and mamad torani are that a torani school has more leeway in selection, which they use to avoid admitting children from non-sabbath-observant families, and they charge an additional fee for enriched religious studies (in my local school this comes to NIS 70/month for an extra five hours per … [Read more...]
Post high-school decisions
November 19, 2006 by 7 Comments
In Israel the post-high school decisions take on a different flavor because of the obligation to serve in the army. There are essentially four options for observant boys. Hesder, a five-year program including 1.5 years of army service. Most yeshiva high schools aspire to send the majority of their graduates to hesder. Mechina Kedam-Tzvait, a one-year program specifically geared to those not inclined to do hesder. The mechinot prepare them for the army, and they have a reputation for instilling yiddishkeit in some of the less serious kids. Yeshiva gevoha, which involves learning in a haredi or hesder yeshiva for one year before being drafted. Straight to the army. My son said that a … [Read more...]
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