The program accomplishes its ambitious mission with four distinct program elements:
1) Qualified secular students are selected and paired with struggling Haredi colleagues to provide personal and customized academic support and tutoring. Haredi students receive 120 hours of one-on-one academic support per semester in the areas of English, science, mathematics, computer science and software engineering, and other fields of study.
2) Haredi students provide their secular counterparts with mutually-respectful study of classical Jewish texts from Torah, Talmud, philosophy and law while engaging in meaningful discussion and analysis.
3) Participants in the paired study program are provided with communal educational and dialogue events such as tours of Haredi neighborhoods and yeshivas, and introductions to Haredi music, culture and Jewish holiday observance.
4) A newly-built alumni network provides program participants with follow-up resources, professional networking opportunities, sustained motivation and cultural dialogue, and facilitation of jobs placement.
The target population includes Haredi and non-Haredi (secular, Conservative, Modern-Orthodox) university students, ages 22-35 in Jerusalem, the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, Haifa and Be’er Sheva. In time, students within this age range will be recruited from new centers in Ashdod and Safed.