Young Judaea sees steep rise in early registration

The Young Judaea youth movement, which runs the nation's largest post-high school program for young Diaspora Jews, announced last week a 40 percent increase in early registration.

In the first two weeks of official registration for the 2009-10 Year Course program, 108 high school students started the application process, compared to 83 applicants at the same time last year, a Young Judaea official told Anglo File.

"This is our biggest year ever," said Keith Berman, director of the program. "We keep saying this every year," he added laughingly. In 2008, 541 teenagers are participating in the gap year program.

Last year, the number was at 497. In 2002, during the height of the al-Aqsa intifada, only 127 youth enrolled in the program.

The surge may be part of a larger trend, though it is too early to tell, according to an official from Masa, which supports Israel programs.

Other Israel programs, such as Kivunim and Tamarim (Netzer), report double-digit growth in registration or project a significant increase in total registration, based on preliminary interest.

"Even in tough economic times, parents are still committed to fostering their child's Jewish identity," Berman said. "In addition, many parents find it cheaper to send their children to Israel than to the first year of university studies, and some of our teens get university credit for the year in Israel."

But not only the number of early applications has gone up. The tuition for the nine-month program, which includes everything from airfare to room and board, tuition, books and special trips, went up about 23 percent, from $17,700 to $ 21,800. The hike is mostly due to the disadvantageous dollar-shekel exchange rate, Berman said.

The bulk of participants of the Young Judaea program, which takes them to Jerusalem, Bat Yam and Holon and other places where they study and volunteer in various positions, mainly come from the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Other participants include young Jews from Israel, Switzerland, Sweden, Nigeria and other countries.