Educational approach At She’arim we strive to reveal the depth, beauty, and excitement of Torah while maintaining our focus on its implications for our everyday lives and relationships. Active engagement in the process of learning allows each student to develop her own personal attachment to Torah, gain the commitment and motivation to continue growing after she leaves, and acquire the skills necessary to do that. We offer an extensive selection of classes in Chumash and Navi with commentaries, prayer, Jewish thought and ethics. While our more philosophical classes on Maharal, Ramchal, and Chassidut allow our students to consciously access the spiritual depths of Judaism, our emphasis on text keeps these classes grounded. The curriculum is balanced out by our strong Halacha program. She’arim is a school for women run by women. Care is therefore taken to provide all the elements necessary to develop the kind of connection to Torah that is uniquely a woman’s. The atmosphere at She'arim is characterized by mutual cooperation, concern, encouragement, and growth. We want every student to reach her potential emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. The small size of the school, high teacher to student ratio, and dedicated faculty allow the personal guidance which makes that possible. Emphasis is placed on text-based learning, with many classes including a time slot for text preparation, allowing students to access original texts with a study partner before the presentation of the lecture. Students develop their skills in reading, translating, and applying the text. Learning is not limited to classroom settings. She’arim presents a wide array of experiences that are all provided to enhance the students’ appreciation and attachment to Judaism. Tours, guest speakers, chesed opportunities, workshops and demonstrations are all part of the She’arim experience. Educational Tools The hallmark of She'arim is the fostering of a close student-teacher relationship, the skills and incentive to continue learning, and the ability to connect with the spiritual side of Judaism. As a school run by women for women, She'arim has a special flavor to it. An atmosphere of mutual cooperation, concern, encouragement and growth prevails at She'arim. At She'arim we believe educating women is the link to our heritage and the key to our future. She'arim is a holistic learning program uniquely tailored to women's needs. Small by design, She'arim offers Jewish women of different backgrounds the opportunity to study in Israel with top educators. She'arim fosters a warm cooperative environment that encourages close connections between students and teachers, and that, in turn, assists students to reach their potential intellectually and spiritually. Classes balance intellectual challenges and development with a focus on spiritual development. Mentoring One of the most powerful aspects of She’arim is the mentoring program. Students are encouraged, but not required, to reach out to our all star staff and find a mentor. Our teachers are multidimensional, and come with a wide variety of experiences, and time honed wisdom. Students have the opportunity to meet privately with the teacher whom they choose as a mentor and enrich their stay at She’arim through this interaction. No student need to feel neglected at She’arim; there is always someone to talk to. No matter the national, cultural or religious background of the student, efforts are made to find and appropriate mentor. Chavruta
Our students prepare the texts for a lecture that follows. This preparation is done in pairs, called chavruta, and is supervised by the course instructor. Tutors assist the study pairs and are available to answer questions during this time. In the beginning levels, students are taught the needed skills to learn with a study partner in tutorial preparation sessions. Tutoring She'arim makes extensive use of tutors to provide individualize instruction. The use of tutors allows us to provide each student with the tools that she needs to understand the text. The tutor helps the student understand the basic structure of Tanach/Bible, teaches the rules of grammar and other basic tools in learning text. In addition a student may request that a tutor to teach her any topic that is of particular interest to her. This allows students to explore subjects that are not a part of the general curriculum. In addition, if a student does not know how to read Hebrew, or to navigate through the siddur, she can request a personal tutor. At She'arim, we want our students to know that we will do our best to address her educational needs. Interactive classroom The majority of our classes are interactive. Students are required to participate in the reading and explanation of the material. This is possible because of the small class size that we try to maintain. Classes in some subjects use a frontal lecture format.
“…These past five months have helped me develop a deeper identity. I am returning to the States with a much greater sense of purpose and clarity. Thank you again so much to everyone for your dedication, hard work and warmth that I was privileged to receive everyday….” A.G. |
