Yeshvat Kenesset Yisrael is
not only a very unique school here in Bet Shemesh, it is in a group of less then
a handful of schools that offer a blend of traditional yeshiva curriculum and a
full course load of secular studies that prepare the boys for a full bagrut
which is the pre-requisite for entrance into a degree program in Israel.
The demand for this unusual
curriculum has been growing over the past few years for two divergent but
equally pressing reasons. First, there has been a tremendous increase in North
American Aliyah, and with it, a different view of education for high school and
junior high school children. Many parents in the United States are now allowing and encouraging
their children to incorporate some type of university education within the
framework of a Jewish studies curriculum. These parents understand the need to
provide a broad educational background for their sons that will allow them the
opportunity to advance in a job marketplace where the prerequisite for finding a
good job is at least a college or technical degree.
In Israel, there has been a
strong emphasis on learning full time and not pursuing secular studies.
Unfortunately, many families find themselves in terrible financial difficulties
because the wife is no longer able to go out to work and the husband has no
skills or secular acumen to find a job in the marketplace.
Because of both of these
pressures, Knesset Yisrael has found many eager parents and equally eager
students.
We are now entering our third year and we expect
an enrollment of 70 students in grades 7-9. The school provides another unique
option to local families who would like to provide the best education possible
for their children, but do not want to send them to a dorm. This is in contrast
to other the very few similar schools outside our area that require their
students to dorm.
For pictures of the students and there activities
click here
Click on the picture above to hear Rav
Goldstein, the 9th grade Rebbe
History
A group of concerned parents, headed by Reb Moshe Sandowski
and Reb Boruch Labinsky, were concerned about their children’s education. They
both had 6th graders in a school that did not have a 7th
grade. They had the option of sending to a local school but each of the local
schools had either a very strong Hebrew program or a strong secular studies
program, but not both. They did not want to sacrifice either aspects of their
children’s education and they did not want to send them to a dorm school in
another city. This left them with little choice and they decided to open their
own school.
Rabbi Sandowski, a sofer by trade, has thrown himself into
this project full force, taking on the fund raising responsibilities,
recruitment and general organization. He has the support of a dedicated parent
body, as well as the rabbinic supervision of ___.
Location
Currently, Yeshivat Kenesset Yisrael is located in
Bet Shemesh
in a large commercial building that has been converted to a school, complete
with a potential of 10 classrooms, a gym, large outside play area, large garden
and picnic area, on-site catering, all in a quiet residential neighborhood overlooking the
beautiful foothills of Judea. The Bais Medresh sings with the sound of students
davening and learning, as it is used as the 7th grade classroom as
well. The children enjoy the quiet, comfortable surroundings and thearea is easily accessible to public and private transportation and only
a few minutes from the neighborhood where many students live.
Bet Shemesh is a beautiful community, home of Shimshon
HaGibor which served as a development town in the early 1950s built to house the
huge influx of North African Aliyah.
About 15 years ago, a small religious neighborhood
with a significant number of native English-speakers developed in the outskirts
of the city and then about 9 years
ago, a new neighborhood sprung up called Ramat Bet Shemesh. It has become a
focal point for a very large percentage of the growing number of North Americans
and Europeans that have made Aliyah over the past few years.
