Olami
Olami: A Journey Like No Other
The rich history of Israel is deeply influenced by other Jewish communities worldwide whose connection to Israel span the past, present and future. Olami explores these connections with a series of week-long journeys outside of Israel to countries around the globe—from the cobblestone streets of Europe to the villages of Africa—to discover how they shaped the creation of Israel and how Israel continues to shape them today.
Olami is an extension of the main Shalem program with one trip scheduled during each program component and one for the week before Shalem begins. Participants will tour famous and lesser-known sites, visit embassies, attend cultural and social events and meet their Jewish peers in each country to experience first-hand their relationship to our history and ours to theirs.
Olami programs are open to both Shalem and Year Course participants.
The Zionist Revolution
France, Eastern Europe, Morocco, Ethiopia (Four one-week trips)
France
See the world through Herzl’s eyes.
Amid the lights of the Eiffel Tower and the treasures of the Louvre lived a deeply anti-Semitic culture that led the father of Zionism to first propose the creation of a Jewish state.
Eastern Europe
Feel the hope that emerged through our darkest time.
From the ashes of the Holocaust rose a strong Jewish culture and Zionist vision that is still alive in the quaint cities of Budapest, Prague and Krakow.
Morocco
Find a rich Jewish history in a Muslim country.
The Moroccan Jews, once thousands strong, moved in droves to Israel in the 50s and 60s—though many still live there peacefully alongside their Muslim neighbors.
Ethiopia
Unravel the mystery of the Falasha Mura.
In the 80s and 90s, rescue missions brought tens of thousands of Ethiopians out of the second-oldest Christian nation in the world, fulfilling their longtime dream of aliyah.
The Olami program, activities and itineraries are subject to change. The Olami experience involves activities, group living arrangements and interactions that may be new for participants.
The Shalem staff reserves the right to make changes in the program and itinerary of the Olami track or to cancel the Olami program, in its sole judgement, if this is required by changes in circumstances, including security, or for any other reason.
A Sample Itinerary for the Olami program will be posted here soon
To Register
To sign up, please use our online registration system and make sure you click off OLAMI when you apply.
Still Have Questions About Olami?
Contact us at 212.451.6215 or by email at shalem@youngjudaea.org