JERUSALEM — A major initiative strongly advocated for by Eretz HaKodesh has reached an important milestone, with approximately ₪40 million Israeli shekel for the Olim B’Limud program now going to participating yeshivos and seminaries across Eretz Yisrael.

Eretz HaKodesh strongly advocated for and helped push the program forward, recognizing both the financial commitment families make to send their children for a year of learning in Israel and the unique opportunity this year presents to build a lasting connection with Eretz Yisrael and encourage students to consider building their future here.

Olim B’Limud is a program of the Jewish Agency for Israel, with the support of Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration. The program combines meaningful financial assistance for first- year -in- Israel students with educational programming, using the gap year as a unique opportunity to deepen students’ connection to Israel and encourage them to consider making aliyah in the future.

Every year, thousands of young men and women leave their homes and families to spend a year learning in yeshivos and seminaries across Israel. While the year represents a substantial expense for many families, it also provides a unique opportunity for students to experience life in Israel and build a relationship with the country that can continue long after their gap year ends.

Olim B’Limud seeks to build on that opportunity. The financial assistance to the parents  is part of the program’s broader effort to encourage a future move to Eretz Yisroel, helping ease the financial burden for participating students while creating opportunities for them to experience the country, become more familiar with Israeli life, and develop a deeper sense of connection and belonging.

Through Olim B’Limud, thousands of gap year students have had the opportunity to experience Israel in a deeper and more meaningful way. By encountering the people, places and communities of Israel firsthand, students are able to turn their year in Eretz Yisrael into something more than a year abroad. For many, it becomes the beginning of a connection they want to maintain and strengthen for many years to come — and an opportunity to begin thinking about one day moving to and building their future in Eretz Yisrael.

The approximately ₪40 million for Olim B’Limud is also an important example of the impact Eretz HaKodesh has sought to make through its involvement in Israel’s national institutions.

From the outset, Eretz HaKodesh has worked to ensure that the priorities of the community are heard and that opportunities benefiting families receive the attention they deserve.

Olim B’Limud presented just such an opportunity. Thousands of students were already choosing to spend this formative year learning in Israel. Supporting them could both help families with the considerable costs involved and use this unique year to strengthen students’ connection to Israel and encourage them to see Eretz Yisrael as a place where they might ultimately build their lives.

Eretz HaKodesh advocated strongly for the concept and helped push the initiative forward. Today, through the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, that effort has developed into a program representing tens of millions of shekels of investment in gap year students.

“We are deeply grateful to all of our partners in the Knesset and at the Jewish Agency for making this dream a reality,” said Rabbi Nechemya Malinowitz of Eretz HaKodesh. “We thank them for this significant financial support and for helping thousands of young people experience Eretz Yisrael in a meaningful way, strengthen their connection to the country, and begin to see it as a place where they may one day build their future.”

It is a tangible example of why representation in Jewish communal institutions matters: representation can lead to results.

The approximately ₪40 million Israeli shekel being provided through Olim B’Limud is an investment in thousands of gap year students, in the families making this year possible, and in strengthening the next generation’s relationship with Eretz Yisrael — with the ultimate goal of encouraging more young Jews to see Eretz Yisrael not only as the place where they spent their gap year, but as a place where they may one day choose to build their future.

For Eretz HaKodesh, helping push that investment forward is an achievement worth celebrating.