Getting There

By Jon Ramsay October 16, 2018 This is the first in a featured series of blogs by writer Jon Ramsay, friend of URJ Heller High. This series was written during a ten-day trip alongside the students of the Fall 2018 semester.  When you have a 10 hour, 15 minute flight...

More Than Just Sweetness

The following is the text of a D’Var Torah (sermon) that Spring 2018 alum Joanna Tasch delivered on August 17 to Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, California. Joanna is a rising senior in high school. Growing up, I was always taught to love Israel....

Meet the Fall 2018 Madrichim

With less than one week to go until the departure of Fall 2018, our staff in Israel are hard at work getting ready for the arrival of our newest students. Three of those staff are our wonderful Fall 2018 Madrichim (counselors)–Nitzan, Mili, and Omri. Our Heller...

School’s Out For Summer

On June 1, the Spring 2018 semester of Heller High came to a close. The students have returned, and the final transcripts have been sent; summer is here and school is out! So what does the Heller High staff do now? When summer arrives, our staff hit the road. They are...

Life Over Death

By Arielle K., 11th Grade, Irvington, NY The first thing I saw this morning was a lichen [slow-growing plant] growing on a tombstone in what was once a thriving Jewish shtetl in Poland, a true Kehillah Kedoshah, Tykocin. In August of 1941, all the Jews of Tykocin were...