At a Glance

With over 3,700 alumni since its founding in 1961, URJ Heller High (formerly NFTY-EIE) is the most experienced and trusted high school program in Israel for meaningful Jewish learning, spiritual experiences, personal growth, and academic success.

Students can earn up to $7,500 in scholarships from DREAM Israel by raising funds (fully tax-deductible) for specific projects in Israel.

Academics

• Accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools for over twenty years
• PSAT, SAT, AP testing site; ACT may be given in nearby Jerusalem
• A wide array of courses offered including Regular, Honors, and AP; Heller High is capable of teaching almost any course requested
• A wide array of courses offered including Regular, Honors, and AP; Heller High is capable of teaching
  almost any course requested
• College counseling by highly qualified staff with proven results
• Heller High staff work closely with home high schools to plan a curriculum that suits each
  participant’s academic schedule of required courses
• Extra help / tutoring is available
• Seminars on writing, note taking, study skills, and time management are offered
• Earn 2 semesters (1.0 credits) of high school language credits for Hebrew
  • Unique to Heller High – 100 academic hours and 30 field hours of Hebrew brings students to conversational level and 30 field hours
• Earn 3 semesters (1.5 credits) of high school world history or social science elective credits for Israel, Land, People, and Culture Honors (Jewish History)
  •  All of Israel becomes the classroom on 25 academic field trips providing a hands-on learning experience
• Earn 1 semester (.5 credits) of Physical Education credit
• Students perform and receive community service credit
• Earn up to 15 college credits concurrently from Gratz College in Israel for Israel Land, People, and Culture and Hebrew.

Field Trips

• Poland Pilgrimage includes Warsaw, Krakow, Lublin, Maidanek, Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration
  camps
• Sea to Sea hike from the Kinneret to the Mediterranean includes orienteering and mountain biking
• Travel to Eilat, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Golan Heights, & places in between including Masada, Ein Gedi, the
• Dead Sea, and the Northern Adventure to the Golan Heights. Jerusalem is in our backyard!
• Eilat trip includes Bedouin experience, camel riding, snorkeling, and desert hiking
• Visit an Arab village and engage in a dialogue with an Imam Northern Adventure includes visiting a Druze village for a cultural and culinary experience
• Sar El – working side by side with Israeli soldiers, make a meaningful contribution to their base

Campus Life Style

• Students live on Kibbutz Tzuba located right outside Jerusalem, in an organic Israeli environment
• Excellent accommodations in the kibbutz hotel. Each two-room suite is air-conditioned and has a
  private balcony, small refrigerator, microwave, and WiFi; 4 students per suite.
• 100% kosher, high quality food with varied menus and sensitivity to students with special diets
• Full-time MSW overseeing student life and social integration
• 10 weekends during the semester open for visiting friends and family

Travel and Recreation

• Parents’ Pilgrimage – Participants (parents, grandparents, siblings, friends) stay in the same kibbutz
  hotel as the students, visit classes and sites
• Swimming pool, basketball, tennis courts and outdoor workout area available in season on the
  kibbutz
• It may be possible for special arrangements can be made for students to have private instruction in
  music, art, soccer, tennis! Ask us, and we will do our best to help you progress in your sport or art.
  Spiritual
• Study Judaism: history, philosophy, traditions, Tanach and Talmud, and ideology of Reform Judaism
• Jewish holidays and festivals are examined and celebrated from a liberal perspective
• Meet with prominent Reform rabbis and community leaders
• Liberal Jewish values
• Celebrate Shabbat, holidays and special events in the Jewish calendar in a Reform liberal setting
• Enjoy home hospitality with an Israeli family and celebrate major holidays
• Tzedaka (social justice): Community service volunteer projects throughout the semester where
  students learn about the special Jewish approach to giving of themselves.
  Financial Information
• Generous Heller High need-based scholarships that could cover close to 40 – 50% of the cost of
  tuition.
• By participating in DREAM Israel, an effort by the Boruchin Center of JNF-USA, students can earn up
  to an additional $7,500 in scholarship by raising funds for specific projects in Israel. All donations
  are tax deductible.