Student Profile: Reuven Kalifon, Master of Arts in Jewish Studies
by Paula Jacobs

  • Name: Reuven Kalifon
  • Residence: Kibbutz Tzuba, Israel
  • Program: MA, Jewish Studies
  • Profession: High school teacher, NFTY Israel
  • Interests: Archaeology, spelunking
  • Gratz Online: “I’m very pleased with the program.”

Jewish history is very much alive for Reuven Kalifon, a Jewish educator who made aliyah from Cleveland, Ohio after graduating from high school in 1971. His home at Kibbutz Tzuba in the Judaean hills outside Jerusalem, where he has lived since completing army service in 1979, is known as the birthplace of Igal Ben-Nathan, one of King David’s warriors (II Samuel 23:36); it is also the home of the Anuvai, a priestly family during the Second Temple period (Yevamot, Ch. 1, Jerusalem Talmud). A few years ago, based on a tip from Reuven, the Israeli Antiquities Authority discovered on the premises a Byzantine-period drawing of John the Baptist etched into this 8 th century BCE cave.

Reuven is a graduate of Bar-Ilan University in Israel and has taught Jewish history, Bible, Hebrew language, Jewish culture, and Arabic to high school students and new immigrants for more than 30 years. Presently, he teaches in the NFTY (National Federation of Temple Youth) high school program in Israel.

Living in close proximity to Jerusalem, Reuven has access to a wealth of quality graduate-level Jewish studies programs. But when the married father and grandfather decided to return to school for formal graduate studies, he wanted the flexibility of an online M.A. program so he would not need to miss work or spend time commuting into Jerusalem for class. Gratz Online was the result of his online Web research for a suitable, quality graduate program.

“I'm very pleased with the program,” says Reuven. “I was very anxious to return to formal studies, and the Gratz MA program was my chance.”

Using a DSL connection from his kibbutz, Reuven logs into Gratz Online to read lectures and participate in online – and often lively -- class discussions. Although he is on a different time zone from many of his professors and fellow classmates, Reuven enjoys the flexibility to post comments or questions on online forums and read replies at his convenience.

“It's been interesting ‘talking’ with the other students,” he says. “The sense of Jewish identity of English-speaking American Jews is different than the identity of Hebrew- speaking Israel, so the exchange of opinions has been interesting. It's a whole different point of reference and self perception.”

As a lifelong learner, Torah l’shmah or learning for learning’s sake has long been always been part of Reuven’s life. He has completed courses in Jewish education and Classical Judaism and is currently studying Midrash Rabba of Va-Yiqra with Dr Sandberg and Judaism in the Modern World with Dr Davis. He expects to apply the knowledge that he has acquired at Gratz Online to his classroom.

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