Page 11 - HAC President Report 2022

Aharon Levy Aharon, 31, is a yeshiva graduate who continued to study
for 8 years in a kollel. He then completed a pre-academic
Social Work, 2021 program at another institution of higher education, because
he wasn’t sure what he wanted to study. Aharon was in the
first class to graduate in Social Work from HAC’s ultra-
Orthodox Strauss Campus. Today, Aharon teaches in a
Hesder Yeshiva and works as a therapist with adolescents
from the Haredi community.

“I chose HAC because I was looking for high academic standards
together with a religious environment that was compatible with my
values. The HAC faculty was very supportive. Learning a profession is
the exception in the Haredi world, and if one goes to study, the easier
choice is computer science: learning math is easier than learning social
sciences, where the gaps in knowledge are immense.”

Plans for the future? “To earn an M.S.W. at Bar Ilan University,
and build a career that combines education and social work, with a
focus on informal education. In the Haredi world, there is a (justifiable)
fear of change because the community also wants to preserve its
distinctiveness. In order to introduce the idea of therapeutic services
into the Haredi community, you first have to show clients that you
come from their world.”

Michal Saltsman Michal is 27 years old and currently working in a research
lab at Hadassah Medical Center.
Medical Laboratory
Science, 2021 “I chose HAC’s Strauss Campus because I wanted an educational
institution that suited my orthodox way of life. I always loved biological
research and, because HAC does not compromise when it comes to
academic standards, my studies lasted for three very intensive years.
I felt a strong sense of support and encouragement. I undertook an
internship at a lab that was researching COVID-19 at Hadassah
Medical Center, which lead to my present position.”

Plans for the future? “I hope at some point to go on to graduate
studies.”

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