“English-speaking teachers graduation in Jerusalem, July 2022
Israeli Government Funding Diaspora Teacher Training
Keren Munnell from South Africa receives her Diaspora Teacher Certificate from program director Rabbi Reuven Spolter”
Photographer: Netanel Bin Nun
Herzog College wins International Teacher Training Tender
Herzog College has won an Israeli government tender to run its successful professional development program for Judaic Studies teachers around the world in three languages. Jerusalem, January 24, 2023: Herzog College’s international education arm, Herzog Global, has committed to run its Rimonim International Teacher Training Program during 2023-24 in three languages: English, Spanish and Russian. The program is taught online over several semesters, with
asynchronous lessons that teachers can choose to study in the evenings or at the weekends. At the end of the course, they also participate in a 2-week intensive experiential seminar in Israel, meeting
leading Jewish pedagogy experts and visiting sites of relevance to Jewish education. The program is subsidized by the Israeli government, to allow teachers from around the world to participate.
Herzog Global first developed its Rimonim program for Spanish-speaking teachers in 2020. Under the leadership of Herzog’s Director of Spanish Language Programs, Rabbi Shmuel Kornblit, it has so far trained 70 teachers in Jewish schools of all types in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Uruguay, and Spain. Following the success of the last English-language online Rimonim course, which
trained 22 teachers from Jewish schools across North America, the UK and South Africa, Herzog will soon open a second Rimonim course in English and the first such course for Russian-speaking Jewish Studies teachers.
Commenting on the tender, Herzog Global Director Amihai Bannett said: “The Ministries of Education and Diaspora Affairs have entrusted Herzog College with this important mission, because we have an impressive track record in training Judaic Studies in Israel, North America and Latin America.”
Herzog College President Rabbi Prof. Yehuda Brandes said: “We see this as part of our responsibility to Jewish communities around the world, to help empower teachers as an investment in the future of the Jewish people. We are particularly excited to be able to offer our successful Rimonim training program to Russian-speaking populations in the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, including Jewish communities hosting refugees from Ukraine.” Rimonim graduates receive a Teaching Certificate for Diaspora Educators from Israel’s Ministry of Education, and many of the courses qualify for credits that are recognized in Israel and at some international universities. For more information about the program, visit: https://global.herzog.ac.il/resources/rimonim-program/
Herzog College is Israel’s leading education college for training religious teachers, and also leads the
Ministry of Diaspora Affairs UnitED project, offering subsidized teacher training courses and resources
to Jewish schools around the world.
