The Sephardic Educational Center (SEC) of Jerusalem has undertaken the task of organizing a Sephardic College Year Program. The aims of the program are to give the student an in-depth look at Sephardic history, culture, religious tradition, identity, language, and life. This will be a rare opportunity to experience Sephardic and Oriental Jewish life in Israel, learn Hebrew and Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) intensively, travel extensively throughout Israel and learn with some of the world's gretaest Sephardic scholars. The program will focus on leadership development and on communication techniques. Leadership will be taught through a special new innovative method consisting studying the "Dreams, Dilemmas, and Decisions" of Jewish historical leadership and contemporary Israeli and Jewish communal leaders, role playing, simulation games, and provocative trigger films, specially produced for this approach.   The participants will be given motivation and challenges for future Sephardic communal leadership.

In order to train students to become active leaders in their communities, the program participants will experience practical workshops and communal volunteer service projects. Each student will be introduced to a Sephardic family in Jerusalem. Also each participant will be given a chance to practice leadership skills in the framework of the summer projects of SEC.

In order to encourage such a rare offer, we have already obtained a special large subsidy per student from the Joint Program for Jewish Education, thereby reducing the participation fee to $5000. This fee includes: a full year of college credits recognized by Touro College, room and board, & special trips throughout Israel over the course of 10 months. For those in financial need, there are possibilities of further financial assistance.

Each week consists of four days of academic study and two days of practical  workshops, group study sessions, fieldwork, and enrichment programs. In adopting to modern technology, the student will learnfilm & radio production, internet cite management, special events organization, and educational trip organization. This Jerusalem based progrm will be a rare opportunity to meet Sephardic personalities: writers, musicians, filmmakers, and communal members.

Application deadline is May 1, 1999. Program acceptance notification will be given mid-May 1999. This program is open to Jewish students of all ethnic backgrounds. This program, although open to both men and women, will have separate dorm facilities.

Courses
Semester I
1) Biblical Studies and Sephardic Commentaries
2) Hebrew
3) Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) - beginners first year course - Levana Dinerman
4) Jews and Muslims throughout History - Yitzchak Kerem
5) Survey Course of Great Jewish religious Thinkers - Zvi Zohar
6) The Rise of Modern Israel or Sephardic & Judeo-Arabic Cultural Origins of North African Jewry - Moshe Bar-Asher
7) The History and Literature of the Jews in the Golden Age of Spain - Renee Melammed Levin, Aliza Ginio, and Yomtov Assis
8) PC Applications

Semester II
1) Biblical Studies and Sephardic Commentaries
2) Hebrew
3) Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) - beginners first year course - Levana Dinerman
4) Sephardic and Ashkenazic Approaches to Jewish Law - Zvi Zohar
5) The History and Culture of the Sephardic Communities after 1492 - Yitzchak Kerem
6) The Sociology of Modern Israel, & Sephardic Communities in Israel & the Orient -Harvey Goldberg         
7) The Jewish-Christain Polemic Throughout History - Yitzchak Kerem
8) Jewish Folklore - Tamar Alexander, Dov Noy, Matilda Coen-Serano

Please send all inquiries as soon as possible to:

Program Director - Haim Assis
Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem
Batey Machasseh 1, Jewish Quarter, PO Box 14326, Jerusalem 91142
TEL:011-972-2-6282344,6273220 FAX:011-972-2-6284480
sepheduc@netvision.net.il