Last year Naomi (not her real name), was in the 11th grade at YBA Ulpanat Tzfira when her father murdered her mother and committed suicide, leaving eleven orphaned children. 16 year-old Naomi was forced to drop out of school for six months to care for her younger siblings until the Or Yehuda welfare office could locate foster parents for the family. During those hard months, the school provided the family with food and sent Naomi's classmates in the afternoon to help her with her chores, assist her younger siblings with their homework, and to keep her spirits up.
With her school's support, Naomi made it through the bad times and she is back in school this year on full scholarship. She's receiving extra tutoring to make up for the studies she missed last year, and she's taking the difficult matriculation exams along with her classmates. Thanks to YBA Ulpanat Tzfira, Naomi has her life back on track. She plans to volunteer in the National Service next year and go on to higher education after that.
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Tal (not his real name), came to the YBA Mechina Program from Dimona – a remote development town in the Negev with chronic problems of poverty and high unemployment. Tal is one of four children. His father is unemployed and his mother holds a low ranking government job. He was a troubled youth in high school, with a record of truancy and run-ins with the police. He finished 12th grade without matriculating and without motivation to serve in the IDF.
A year and a half ago Tal was recruited off the street by Rabbi Boaz Sherman, the Mechina Program's director. He came to the Mechina with no aspirations but with a lot of potential. Today, after completing the year-long Mechina Program, Tal has completed his high school matriculation exams and is a proud soldier in the IDF Armored Corps commando unit. He is looking forward to studying oceanography and geology at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheva when he finishes the army.
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Sharona (not her real name) grew up in a modest apartment in a poor neighborhood in south Tel Aviv. Her mother died when she was a young child and her father struggled to raise her and her disabled brother on his meager salary. But Sharona was a bright student, and despite her background of poverty, excelled in her studies. She dreamed about becoming a teacher one day.
After graduating high school Sharona volunteered for a year of National Service, then enrolled at the YBA Orot Israel College for Women where she was awarded a full scholarship based on her financial need and academic potential. During her studies toward a B. Ed. degree her father became ill and died and she was left to care for her disabled brother alone. With great determination and tremendous financial and emotional support from the entire Orot Israel staff, Sharona managed to finish her degree. She married a very fine young man, had children and has been working as a teacher for several years. Recently Sharona decided to return to Orot Israel to earn an M. Ed. degree in Educational Counseling.
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These three vignettes are of real students with real problems who were lucky enough to find real solutions through their YBA schools. Our philosophy is to view every student as a world unto himself, and to educate each student according to his own particular needs, even if that means going the extra mile for a student in crisis.

We need your help to continue to succeed in our mission: to train Israel’s next generation of leaders, steeped in Jewish learning while totally involved in modern Israeli society. All our schools maintain an open enrollment policy – no child is ever turned away due to the parents’ inability to pay tuition; nearly 50% of all YBA students receive full or partial scholarship.