The Altschul Student Absorption Center is brimming with young faces and fresh ideas.

Although the name Altschul (old shul) conjures up Old World imagery -- of wooden edifices and snowy streets -- the Altschul Student Absorption Center in Beer Sheva is a far cry from that past. Situated in a green oasis within Israel’s largest desert city, the Center is wall-to-wall vitality and youth. Having taken leave of their former homes in a bold leap, most of the resident students are one small step from becoming independent wage-earners.

“We have two types of immigrant students here,” explains social worker Lilie Joseph, as she introduces us to the Absorption Center facility. “Those who have completed their service in the IDF and are studying for academic degrees in local institutions, and those who are participants in Jewish Agency programs. The college students, many of them Selah, Kedma and Na’aleh program graduates, are primarily in engineering degree tracks.” Lilie, who grew up in the nearby development town of Dimona to Moroccan immigrant parents, has empathy for the difficulties the students face, and admiration for their perseverance. “These students have a very small safety net and we try to help them with any personal, academic, health, financial or bureaucratic problems that may arise.”

“The pre-academic Jewish Agency programs at Altschul are one-of-a-kind,” says Oren Akerman, Absorption Center Director. “We do serious evaluations of the existing frameworks, the changing needs and the changing populations,”

Oren can never leave well enough alone, “What you knew yesterday may not be true tomorrow,” he asserts. Following this new school of thought, the Altschul staff recently initiated two new programs. “There are many young immigrants, not to mention young Israelis, who never completed their matriculation exams. The reasons vary: lack of maturity, integration problems, language difficulties, etc. Many veteran Israelis have the wherewithal to take private lessons after the army to complete their matriculation. Most immigrants just don’t have the money or spare time to embark upon a venture like that. I don’t accept a presumption that the destiny of a 20-year-old is carved in stone. Not only will these youth benefit if we give them an additional opportunity, but Israeli society will benefit as well from a more educated, more skilled labor force.

“We have a group called “Selah Technology,” geared to FSU students who either don’t have a high school matriculation or were not able pass the more stringent acceptance requirements for the academic Selah track. The students study for a full year -- either computer maintenance, computer programming or computer graphics -- at the nearby Sami Shamoon College of Engineering. Although there is a very large component of Hebrew language study within the year-long program, the technical studies are in Russian, guaranteeing full comprehension of the material. Upon completion of this program, the students receive a certificate and they can then continue on with their studies or go into the IDF where they will likely be given a chance to use and improve their newly acquired skills.”

A second program is for disaffected French Jewish youth. “I’ll not mince words when I say that this program, “Atid Technology,” is a rescue mission.” Oren continues, “These youth dropped out of school as early as seventh grade. They have no skills, and for the most part, harbor quite an antipathy to the world around them. I can say that throughout this trying period with them, we have mastered some of the intricacies in dealing with what are essentially street youth. There are thousands of young Jews like them in France. Atid Technology follows the same format as Selah Technology, albeit with studies in French. With the proper resources, we can provide a framework which offers them a productive future. I can’t say all will succeed, but we can make a big difference.”

Oren and his staff relish the challenges and are continually encouraged by the results at the end of the school year.

On a trip to the North: Selah Technology student Dima (rt), and Israeli ‘shnat sherut’ volunteer, Paz (left), strike a pose for the camera. Many Israeli high school graduates defer their army service to volunteer for a year, ‘shnat sherut’. In an Absorption Center, these ‘shnat sherut’ volunteers live in the Center and help the immigrants and program participants with personal and Hebrew language difficulties, as well as assisting the staff in a variety of functions.

(l-r) Larissa Zinger, Coordinator for the Selah and Atid programs, Meital Yelena Makronts, Selah Counselor, and Lilie Joseph, Social Worker. Larissa made aliyah from the Ukraine with her family at the age of 13, began working with immigrants as a counselor and is now a certified social worker. Meital came as a young child from Russia. Long having eschewed her identity as an immigrant from the FSU, working with these students has “put me in touch with that aspect of my life. I relearned Russian and have newfound respect for those who left a familiar life to make aliyah.”