Background & Resources
The NCJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education (RIFIE) at Hebrew University is a landmark project and vital component of NCJW's overarching legacy of educational initiatives in Israel.
NCJW's historical education work in Israel began even before the Jewish state was founded in 1948, with early efforts focused on shipping toys, games, clothing, and educational materials to children in war-torn Europe and the Middle East. This "Ship-a-Box" project was headquartered in Jerusalem and operated by NCJW volunteers in conjunction with the Israeli Ministry of Welfare . Thousands of parcels were sent to Israel for at-risk children, immigrant children and their families for over half a century of service.
Early in Israel's history, it became clear that improving educational opportunities was a special niche for NCJW. Beginning in 1948, NCJW helped to cultivate a generation of Israeli leaders by awarding over 200 fellowships for graduate study in the United States. These professionals obtained advanced degrees and returned to fill high-level posts in government ministries, universities, and agencies -- helping to shape educational and social welfare services in Israel. In 1959, NCJW undertook to build the campus for the Hebrew University High School in Jerusalem. The school was dedicated in 1962 and represents NCJW’s only brick-and-mortar project.
The development of the RIFIE program was inspired by a NCJW delegation's visit to the office of Zalman Aranne, Israel's minister of education and culture, in 1967. Agreeing with Aranne's sentiments that , "Education is the passport of life," NCJW created RIFIE two years later.
NCJW continues to fund programs at RIFIE through its RIFIE endowment. In the 2007 fiscal year, the RIFIE programs supported by NCJW included: "Gateway to the University," an educational program for talented high school students from Israel's lowest socio-economic segments, which provides special classes and activities to enable these students to advance to and succeed in Israeli universities, and "The Teen Girl's Project: Preparation of Girls for Service in the IDF," in partnership with the Yuval School-The Hebrew University Apprenticeship Program. This program identifies teenage girls that had been rejected from IDF army service, but still wish to experience IDF service and trains them for such service and independent adulthood.
In addition to ongoing efforts through RIFIE, NCJW continues to invest in the future of Israeli society by providing scholarships for study at the Hebrew University High School through the Drabkin Scholarship Fund.