The Shalom Hartman Institute (SHI) was founded to promote equality, inclusion, and tolerance. Our mission is to strengthen Jewish peoplehood, identity, and pluralism; to enhance the Jewish and democratic character of Israel; and to ensure that Judaism is a compelling force for good in the 21st century.
The Shalom Hartman Institute’s two model high schools in Jerusalem, the Midrashiya High School for Girls and the Charles E. Smith High School for Boys, provide over 700 students in grades 7-12 with an education committed to academic excellence, religious depth, democratic values, and respect for the diversity of Israeli society and the Jewish world. Students hail from various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds from liberal religious Zionist families across the Jerusalem area.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
One of the central tenets of the schools’ educational vision is the importance of social involvement and volunteerism. Throughout all six years of school, students are required to dedicate several hours every week to projects that benefit the community. The backdrop of these hands-on voluntary experiences is an educational curriculum of text-based lectures and learning of Jewish sources that focus on the values of social awareness, social responsibility, volunteerism and Israeli society. These lessons expose students to the stark realities of different populations across Jerusalem and Israel and instill within them a deep sense of social awareness and responsibility. And it is these values that underscore the schools' tzedakah projects, on behalf of residents of Jerusalem in need.