Hebrew You Staff Writer Jason Feldstein talks candidly with Dina Wachtel – Director of Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Vancouver Chapter. Part 1 of a 5-part series that sets the scene for anyone thinking about including HU as a vital part of your academic career.

Jason: What are the top 5 reasons a student considering an academic stint at HU might ask you before they go?

Dina: They will want to know if they get a credit at their home university; they will want to know the cost of the program; they will want to know the courses that are available and whether these would be part of the stream at their home university, or maybe they will use that time for their intellect and choose courses that are from completely different disciplines than their major discipline in which they are taking their degree.They will probably also want to know some logistics about the program, where they are going to study, the dormitories – they will also want to know if there are other students from their home city, or from their country – in this case how many other Canadians are going? So if I have to limit myself to 5 reasons, I think these are the key ones.

Once they satisfy themselves with the information they receive as to the content of the program, the courses that are available, the areas of interest… then we move onto the logistics. Part of the logistics is the finance, “how do we finance our travel; do you have scholarships available?” which, if not #1, is in the top 3 questions…because once they trigger that they want to go, they have the interest, they have to work out how to fund it.

Jason: What motivates people in the first instance to consider HU?

Dina: I think the #1 motivation is to be part of a world-renowned university that was established by some of the intellectual giants of the last century Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Martin Buber. It is the only Israeli university in the international top 100; they want to be part of this outstanding institution, and by spending a semester there or a year, they do just that. Another motivation could be to spend some time outside their natural environment of their home university where they spend 4 years… and so it’s the excitement, the adventure, the sheer adventure of spending a semester overseas. Israel can also be a bouncing board for students to discover other countries in the area; they can travel to Greece; they can go to visit Egypt, Jordan, and elsewhere.

And part of it could be to bond with other students who happen to be Jewish from around the world. On the one hand this is Jewish continuity…people come and they meet Jewish friends from all over the world, and they (with their roommates) bond – this is a relationship they have and enjoy for the rest of their lives. But if there is a student who is not Jewish I do not want to make him/her feel unwelcome, because this is absolutely not the case. Remember, all the students live together, which is a wonderful blend – I always make this joke “Welcome to Babylon” because if you go into the dormitories in this brand new facility, top of the line in all standards with anywhere else in the world, you hear Arabic, and you hear Hebrew, and you hear Spanish, and English and German…it’s a mish-mash of languages like you can’t believe!

And everybody lives together, so you could have a roommate who is Jewish, or non-Jewish and it’s just fantastic. So if you really want to get an international experience and become a citizen of the world, spend a day at the Student Village. It’s funny – we have this game when we walk down at English Bay in Vancouver, let’s see how long it will take before we hear English! You hear all the languages in the world! (laughs).

The university is happy to receive requests, and if somebody has a specific request the university will do its utmost to accommodate – so if somebody wanted, for example, to share a room with someone who keeps kosher, it’s like any good hotel – they will try their best to help them – it all depends on the request and the demand.

To be continued…

Ask Dina a Question: Don’t be shy! Dina is an HU alumnus, a Sabra and is extremely knowledgeable about HU (most things, actually). Submit your question here and she will publish your question and response in next month’s blog.

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