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April 20, 2007
Lively learning for students
Ulpan Etzion's future is not in doubt, despite the sale of building.
GIL ZOHAR
To paraphrase Mark Twain, news is premature of the demise of Ulpan
Etzion the flagship Hebrew language school for academics
run by Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI).
The Carmelite Church, which is connected to the Vatican, will not
renew its lease in June on the aging building that has served as
the absorption centre's main dormitory and dining hall for more
than half a century. The property, located on Gad Street in Baka
in the south end of Jerusalem, was recently sold to a private developer,
who plans to construct luxury housing on the site, said JAFI spokesman
Michael Jankelowitz.
The quasi-governmental body that operates the ulpan and that
works with the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption to recruit
and settle new immigrants is investigating alternative residential
arrangements, he explained. (Yoel David, JAFI's director of properties,
would not speak to the Independent.) The compound currently
contains five low-rise buildings apart from the main building. One
idea is to build a new main dormitory on the campus. As well, a
new dormitory is under construction in nearby East Talpiot, beside
the Beit Canada residence, said Jankelowitz.
Founded in 1949 as the first language school in the newly established
state, Ulpan Etzion is now home to 102 new immigrants and 53 external
students, said Anat Uzzan, the ulpan's director since returning
from Montreal in 2005, where she served a three-year stint as aliyah
shalicha (immigration emissary).
The cosmopolitan, polyglot student body ranges in age from 22 to
35. All are single academics and professionals, representing the
114th class at the school, said Uzzan, who lovingly nurtures her
charges as a mother hen raises her chicks.
The largest contingent hail from France, but Ulpan Etzion's student
body represents the ingathering of the exiles, with students coming
from countries as diverse as Aruba, Turkey, Greece, Uruguay, Brazil,
Mexico, South Africa and Britain. Some are the children of Israelis
who settled abroad, including Soviet Jews who moved to the West
after a period in Israel.
Students spend the mornings of the five-month program studying Hebrew.
Four levels of Hebrew are taught, with eight classes and 11 teachers.
The afternoons are devoted to cultural programs. Meetings with government
bureaucrats fall into that rubric, with clerks from the Ministry
of the Interior and Ministry of Absorption coming to the school
for ceremonies to hand the new immigrants their identity cards and
immigrant certificates. As well, representatives from the Student
Authority come to advise those under 30 of their eligibility to
study for free at Israeli institutes of higher education.
"This place has a certain magic," said Uzzan, comparing
the intensive program to paratrooper training. Students become "the
best buddies, like in the army."
She saluted her charges' idealism, leaving their careers and families
to fulfil their Zionist dream. They're "oxygen for the state.
They're doing something great, making a real contribution to Israel.
They're truly outstanding students," she said with obvious
affection.
Many hound the Draft Board to be accepted into combat units and
to commence their military service earlier than scheduled, she noted.
"I love Israel. I want to go to the army," enthused Michael
Uzan, who studied computer science in his home town of Sousse, Tunisia.
And, as if on cue, he opened his mail to find an Israel Defence
Forces call-up notice for two years, beginning in the summer of
2007.
Aviva Hirshman, who came from Toronto, said, "The connections
we make [here] our incredible. We rely on each other. It's hard
but it's beautiful. When they talk about life-changing experiences,
this is it."
Clive Chazzan, who grew up in the Sydney, Australia, suburb of Rosebay,
together with many fellow South African expats, called the school,
"Lots of fun. I've made good friends. I go to the beach."
Indeed, Ulpan Etzion has a certain reputation for its active social
life.
"They're kids," Uzzan winked, adding the school has never
had to call the police regarding parties that have gotten out of
hand, nor had complaints from its neighbors many of whom
"adopt" students for festivals and Sabbaths. By the same
token, many of the students settle in Baka and the neighboring German
Colony, locating their permanent housing near their first home in
Israel.
The flip side of Ulpan Etzion's boisterous social scene are the
many couples who met there and ultimately marry, said Uzzan.
Holding hands as they leave the cafeteria, Daniel Apfelbaum of Paris
and Andrea Klimova of Prague said they're planning to rent an apartment
together when the program ends. Apfelbaum, who left a six-figure
position in Manhattan as a bond trader, is looking for a job with
an investment bank or in finance. Klimova intends to study international
relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Michael Flam of Ventura, Calif., posts a blog of his experiences
(http://blogcentral.jpost.com/newsItems/viewFullItem$1294)
under the nom de plume Exodus: Yehuda Hammer. Notable is his blog
entry early in his stay: "I made aliyah almost 40 days ago
and, aside from attending Hebrew classes for five hours a day, I
have exerted little effort to learn the language. I frequently don't
do my homework. Rather than speaking Hebrew with the other students
at the ulpan, I instead take the easy route and speak English.
"Every day, I tell myself that I am going to start hitting
the books, but I don't. Instead, I play basketball, watch a movie,
take swing-dancing class, go out for a hamburger or drink some beer
with the many nice people at the ulpan. But now the party is over.
I need to study."
It's a gritty sentiment of determination to succeed one hears again
and again from Ulpan Etzion's students. Most seem to enjoy, or at
least not mind, the communal aspect of living together including
having roommates and sharing a washroom with some 40 others, an
experience that Uzzan called a "social pressure cooker."
If there's a fly in that cholent, it's the institutional cooking.
Sitting in Ulpan Etzion's neatly manicured garden, Michael Snider
from the United States enjoys a falafel he purchased on Derekh Beit
Lehem, rather than eat the subsidized, but somewhat unpalatable,
lunch. "Don't write about the food," he said, grimacing.
Another student, from London, who asked that her name not be used,
added that the kindest thing you can say about the cooking is that
it's kosher. (Students pay for their room and board out of the absorption
basket that immigrants receive. Tuition is covered by the Ministry
of Immigration and Absorption.)
A guard is posted at the gate of Ulpan Etzion and the buildings
are locked, but those security measures can only partially protect
the students from what is, at times, rough reality. One student
reported she had NIS 8,000 charged on her VISA card for purchases
made in the United States while she was attending class in
Jerusalem. While credit card fraud is universal, what she found
hard to deal with was the aggressive attitude of the bank's investigators,
who grilled her at length before finally determining that it was
a genuine case of fraud.
For Ruth Brainis, who was born in Haifa but grew up in Canada, that's
just part of the acculturation process. "I feel like Ulpan
Etzion is an incubator," she said. "I feel like you're
transforming at every level."
Gil Zohar is a freelance writer living in Jerusalem.
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