RIS Not Just For Twentysomethings

When Montrealer Philip Greenberg decided to study at the Hebrew University’s Rothberg International School last summer, he applied for housing at the new Scopus Student Village. CFHU’s director of student recruitment, Moshik Galanty, “cross-examined”Greenberg, he says, “to make sure I knew what I was getting into.”After all, it had been 50 years since Greenberg, age 72, had experienced student life firsthand. Greenberg was placed in a dorm with four other students, whose ages ranged from about 28 to 40. “We got along well,” he says of his roommates. Five mornings a week for five weeks, Greenberg studied Hebrew. He can’t praise his teachers and their skills highly enough. “To study with them was a joy and a privilege.” His fellow students came from a variety of countries and represented several religions. They included Canadians and Americans, a Japanese PhD candidate, the Moscow representative of Hebrew University, the head of Keren Hayesod in Sweden, and a professor of Bible studies from the U.S.
“Arab students are an integral and welcome part of the student body,” he says. Extracurricular activities included Israeli music sessions, visiting the military and dignitary cemetery at Har Hertzl, and a walking tour through the subterranean tunnels that supplied Jerusalem with water during the time of the Hasmoneans. “All the programs were conducted in Hebrew, at our level.” Greenberg describes his return to student life as “a marvelous experience” — dorm room and all.