Thirty young people with minimal financial resources will receive scholarships from the Jewish Agency and the ‘Spirit of Israel’ to help graduates of the Jewish Agency's youth villages realize their potential and enable their integration into the economy.Many of the scholarship recipients will be trailblazing a personal path, as the first in their families to study in university.
Each year hundreds of young men and women are educated in the Jewish Agency's youth villages, many of whom come from difficult socio-economic backgrounds, and they receive support throughout their studies and their military service.In order to assist them after they have completed military service, the Jewish Agency and the Spirit of Israel have established a special scholarship fund that grants scholarships to graduates of the youth villages, and offers them the opportunity to pursue higher education or vocational training. Timor Gertz, a graduate of the Hadassah Neurim Youth Village, immigrated from the Ukraine at the age of 13 and studied at the Youth Village for seven years.Several years ago, his mother died, but he does not feel abandoned, because people are helping him and offering support. “Thanks to the scholarship fund, I am in my third year of studies, studying computer science at the Holon Institute of Technology," says Gertz, who also serves as a volunteer at the Hadassah youth village which was his home.
On Thursday, the Spirit of Israel, established by the Jewish Agency to help narrow social gaps in Israel, held a fundraising event in Tel Aviv for young people at risk, focusing on the scholarship project and other programs of the Jewish Agency for the empowerment of children and youth at risk.
Isaac Herzog, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, said: “The Jewish Agency, through the generous assistance provided by Diaspora Jewry and Israeli donors, provides assistance to the disadvantaged within Israeli society who have not benefited from equal opportunity.The Israeli spirit of the Jewish Agency will help these young men and women realize their potential and accompany them throughout their studies so that when they have completed their studies they can begin their professional careers from the same starting point as their peers. It is a truly exciting and worthwhile Zionist project.”