CJF's Counterpoint Israel Program Becomes World's First Accredited Jewish Service Learning Program; Expansion Includes Youth of Arad, Yemin Orde

Yeshiva University's Center for the Jewish Future announced that its “Counterpoint Israel Program,” a month-long service-learning initiative that aims to empower the next generation of Israeli youth via an action-packed, Jewish values-driven summer camp experience, has been retooled to allow counselors to receive credits for their participation in the program.

This new development makes Yeshiva University the world's first institution to offer an accredited program for Jewish service-learning.

“We are proud to add the accreditation element to the long list of firsts for the hugely successful Counterpoint initiative,” said Rabbi Kenneth Brander, David Mitzner Dean of the CJF. “We hope that this newest component of the program will further enhance the experience for our college counselors, bringing them one step closer to impacting communal life as our future Jewish leaders.

“This new offering perfectly illustrates the ways in which Yeshiva University blends academics, Torah Judaism and social responsibility. It is our goal to continue this trend and add this important element to future CJF service-learning and experiential education programs.”

Now in its sixth year, Counterpoint Israel—supported by the Zusman Family and Repair the World and staffed by 34 outstanding students from the U.S., Canada, South Africa and New Zealand—will double in size with camps operating in Dimona, Arad and Yemin Orde between July 12 and August 18.

As in past years, the Dimona program, run with additional funding by  Sharon and Avram Blumenthal, as well as the new program in Arad, with additional support from the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey as part of the Jewish Agency's Partnership 2000 initiative and Congregation Beth El-Atereth Israel of Newton, MA, will include classes given in English and workshops in arts, fashion, music, dance and sports—all with the goal of improving the students' English skills while promoting a positive self-image and traditional Jewish values.

However, the Yemin Orde program, sponsored by the Jewish Federations of North America, will be run as an overnight camp hosted at Yeshiva University's Israel campus in Bayit Ve'gan and will focus on addressing the specific needs of the Israeli teens residing in the Yemin Orde Youth Village following their firsthand experiences with the devastation caused by the Carmel forest fire in December.

“The students of Yemin Orde have been through a lot over the last several months and Yeshiva University wants to do something to buoy their spirits and help them move beyond this period of loss,” said Shuki Taylor, director of YU's Department of Experiential Jewish Education. “As such, the CJF is working in close partnership with the leadership of the Yemin Orde Youth Village to create a unique summer program that will provide the teens with a safe, fun and educational experience that will ease them back into the important business of being kids.”

In addition to Counterpoint Israel, the CJF will be running several other summer programs around the world, including student kollels [Torah study programs] for Jewish communities in Georgia, Colorado, California, Kansas, New Jersey and Illinois, and a Counterpoint summer camp for unaffiliated children in Sao Paulo, Brazil.