This year, 93% of the graduates of the AMIT Menorat HaMaor Petah Tikva ultra-Orthodox high school will be graduating with matriculation certificates. This is a meteoric increase compared to the previous year in which 62.5% of the students earned a matriculation certificate. When compared with the national average of 69.7% the achievement is equally notable.
According to a study conducted by the Knesset Research and Information Center, there are more dropouts from ultra-Orthodox educational institutions than other high schools in Israel. In 2018, the dropout rate among Haredi students was 4.6%, compared with 1.4% among the general public. But experts say the real numbers are much higher and estimate that at least 20% of Haredi students do not complete their high school education.
It is precisely in response to such statistics that AMIT Menorat HaMaor Yeshiva offers Haredi education to teens who are searching for schooling beyond that offered by traditional yeshivot. Menorat HaMaor provides youth with a high school education that combines high level religious learning with secular studies in such a way as to give them the skills and tools needed to succeed in the workforce while remaining faithful to their religious values. Like all AMIT schools, it combines a focus on core educational values such as math, English, and science, with the Jewish values of Torat Chaim and Klal Yisrael.
Thanks to these studies, graduates can serve in meaningful positions in the IDF’s elite computer and cyber units, and after their military service they are well-positioned to enter the high-tech job market.
The Yeshiva has proven to fulfill an important role and the student body continues to increase. There are currently 177 students in grades nine through 14 (grades 13 and 14 comprise the Yeshiva’s Junior College), up from 40 students when the Yeshiva opened ten years ago.
It is important to remember the year was even more challenging in the wake of Covid-19, so the achievement is particularly impressive.
Sixty percent of the graduates went on to the Junior College to study for a diplomat in computer engineering, while approximately 30% enlisted directly in the army.
Student Yosef Zevulunov shares: “I came to Menorat HaMaor High School because I knew that here the student is given everything he needs to succeed. Today, G-d willing, I am finishing the Junior College with the highest level of practical training. My success came mainly thanks to the rabbis who accompanied us personally. In the professional field, too, there is a high commitment among all the college lecturers and high school teachers. What has affected us the most is the dedication and care of the staff. You know and feel that you are surrounded with warmth. That they are here just for you.”
Ilan Hamami, high school and junior college principal, says: “AMIT Menorat HaMaor has engraved as its motto to combine ‘Torah with Derech Eretz’ and strives for religious values excellence and academic excellence. Menorat HaMaor has the highest achievements among all the ultra-Orthodox high schools in the country and is a national example for all the ultra-Orthodox high schools. Thanks to the excellent staff of Menorat HaMaor, every student learns and also sees the fulfillment of his dreams – ‘I have labored and I have found [success] – believe [him]’ (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 6b).”
