Study
Study opportunities at Alma, Home of Hebrew Culture, take place throughout the year through a series of programs, including: Alma Fellows; sessions that reach out to the general public; Young in Spirit; Batei Midrash (study programs) for artists from various fields of culture; cultural salon for program graduates; cultural salon for graduates of the programs for artists.
The Alma Fellows program is an opportunity for an in-depth study of Hebrew culture, and offers those accepted into the program, people from the worlds of culture and media, artists, educators and social activists, a window into treasures and sources of inspiration from Judaism and Hebrew culture. Participants are invited to engage in dialogue with these sources, examine their values, and turn them into a spring of inspiration for artistic creation. The aim of the program is to develop the infrastructure for new Hebrew thought and creation through the connection between the unique approach to the study of Hebrew culture that is Alma, and the language of study of the traditional Beit Midrash, academia and the artist’s workshop, guided by the fundamental conviction that Hebrew culture is a dynamic work open to interpretation and change, and that creators and thinkers living and working in Israel are significant partners in the culture’s ever-evolving design.
The program is supported by Matanel Foundation.
This approach to learning is based on independent reading of primary sources, an examination of various interpretations of those texts, and the development of study tools and discussion within a group setting. A Beit Midrash recreates learning that is not frontal, and prepares talented students to continue along the learning journey. Alma, Home of Hebrew Culture’s Beit Midrash for Artists is a study space for shared study that is geared towards a group of people from a common professional background (professional guild). In meetings held in alternate weeks, participants acquire study tools in and for classical sources of Hebrew culture, and through textual study the translation and interpretation of these texts is nurtured based on and related to their professional field.
Our Avinoam Cultural Salon is a space for shared study and conversation between artists from different “guilds” of Hebrew culture in Israel: painters, screenwriters, authors and poets, illustrators, media people, dancers, and creators of culture from central institutions of Hebrew culture in Tel Aviv.
Meetings take place once a month and each session is devoted to the study of selected sources from Hebrew culture, so that they can serve as inspiration for the participants’ worlds of content and creativity. The Cultural Salon reaches out to graduates of the Batei Midrash on an invitation only basis.
For Alma, Hebrew culture can serve as a field of connection between Israelis and Jews in the Diaspora.
Alma opens its doors on Jewish and Israeli holidays to the general public and diverse groups from different communities around the world. Alma invites groups to attend an experiential day of study, tours and Hebrew culture, centered on our Home of Hebrew Culture.
Alma offers a wide variety of lectures on diverse topics related to Hebrew culture and the Land of Israel, and invites Diaspora communities to visit our home that is situated in the very heart of Tel Aviv’s White City.
Alma hosts Young in Spirit, a program for gifted students who love to read, write and study. The three-year course is for students in the 10th – 12th grades of high school from various schools in various regions of the country. They come together in a unique program that combines a day of study every week, intense seminars, study tours and guest lecturers, and that awards the students 5 high school matriculation points. The program takes place in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, the southern coastal plain and Karmiel.
Students accepted into Young in Spirit come from a variety of backgrounds, from both the state education system and the religious state education system, from various ethnic groups and diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
To be accepted into the program, students go through a screening process that includes a workshop and a personal interview.
