Rebekkah Gold of Stamford, Connecticut is among the newest co-hort of the Graduate Degree in Israel Education program of the iCenter for Israel Education and The George Washington University, it was announced earlier this month. Gold is director of Israel Experiential Education, RootOne @ The Jewish Education Project.

Twenty-one in-service professionals spanning the United States, Canada, and Israel, were selected for the program through a rigorous screening and admissions process designed to offer inspiration and strategies to place Israel education at the heart of Jewish communal life. Members of Cohort 5 work in Jewish federations, foundations, advocacy and social justice organizations, day and supplementary schools, Israel travel programs, experiential education institutions, and campus Hillels, among other settings. Students enroll in a one-year Graduate Certificate program that ultimately can be leveraged toward a second-year Master’s Degree.

“The cohort model is truly an integral part of our students’ success, with the range of experience and the diversity of institutions, settings, and nations represented in this stellar group.  Each student in this group brings unique experience and perspective that is invaluable to this program,” said Erika Vogel, director of The iCenter’s Graduate Degree Program. “We are extremely excited to welcome this new cohort, and very proud of Cohort 4 as they move into the second phase of the program.”

The only program of its kind, GW’s Graduate Degree in Israel Education, offered in partnership with The iCenter, provides rigorous academic preparation in the fields of experiential education and Israel studies towards the development of credentialed professional Israel educators. This unique integration of study, combined with individualized mentoring in the field, enhances the content knowledge, conceptual approaches, and pedagogical methods of Israel educators serving institutions across North America and Israel.

All students enroll as one-year certificate students and then have the option to apply for the year-two master’s program. Through a hybrid learning model–including in-person intensives, online seminars, and Israel-based experiences–students receive training in the academic discipline of Israel studies combined with the practice of experiential Jewish education, all taught by a world-class faculty.  Integral to the program’s success is the cohort model. The program has matriculated over 100 Jewish professionals, all of whom are now collectively and independently making an impact on the field.

For more information about the GW Degree in Israel Education, visit theicenter.org/GW.

Main Photo: The George Washington University