Following the massacre Hamas carried out on Israel on October 7, Bar-Ilan University’s International School has been working around the clock to meet the needs of hundreds of foreign students.
Some of those students have temporarily returned to their countries. Others, like Jessica Scalisi, who made Aliyah four years ago from Merrick, US, Stav Waknine, and Miriam Kranz, both from Riverdale, US, are remaining in Israel, watching and waiting to see how the situation develops and when the academic year will begin.
L-R: Stav Waknine, Miriam Kranz, and Jessica Scalisi
According to International School Executive Director, Ofer Dahan, staffers have been working closely with students on a number of fronts during these difficult days.
“We have provided assistance to those who have returned, or will be returning, to their home countries and are in daily contact with those who’ve remained in Israel. We are also helping our exchange students, whether they’ve come to study at Bar-Ilan from abroad or are Israelis studying abroad in the framework of the University’s exchange programs at various academic institutions abroad. A hotline is assisting callers in need of emotional support.
“Our staff is also helping students who wish to register for next year and we are adapting our study programs to a hybrid format should the war be prolonged past December 3, the new date which has been set for the opening of the 2023-24 academic year,” Dahan says.
While waiting for some sense of normalcy to return, Jessica Scalisi, 25, has been doing as much as she can to feel like she’s making a difference. She has been collecting donations from the US for a catering company providing hot meals to soldiers and organizing arts and crafts for children from displaced kibbutzim, currently living in Eilat, to keep them busy.
Jessica Scalisi
Scalisi, who lives in Be’er Sheva, has just one paper to submit before receiving her BA in Communication and Political Science, and the road to completing her degree has been quite an obstacle, delayed due to four different military operations plus COVID-19.
“Since this was my final semester, my plans were to get a job and start my life,” she says. “I was supposed to start a job the day the war started, but everything has been put on hold.” Scalisi has been trying to finish her final paper, due on November 15, but says it’s been difficult concentrating as she remains at home, close to her shelter.
Stav Waknine, 25, is entering her third and final year of study for her BA, also majoring in Communication and Political Science. Waknine, who made Aliyah (immigrated) with her mother and sister in 2017, has transformed from a part-time to a full-time nanny since October 7, as many parents are either working or on reserve duty and need help looking after their children when the schools and preschools are closed.
Stav Waknine
“I wish I could study to get my mind off what’s going on, but there is a lot of uncertainty about everything, not just with classes at Bar-Ilan, but with the whole country,” she says.
Miriam Kranz finds it so hard to feel useless. With that in mind, she’s been volunteering with children in hotels, which are housing displaced citizens from the north and south, and with youth at risk while raising money for necessary equipment and transporting it to various army bases.
All three women agree that Bar-Ilan’s International School has been very focused on its students.
“They have been very supportive and work hard to make sure we get all relevant information in English,” says Scalisi. “They’ve also been very sensitive to the fact that we’re not necessarily as adapted to wartime as Israeli students, so they’ve been very helpful.”
Miriam Kranz
Waknine adds that the International School has done a good job updating students and keeping a close eye on their emotional well-being. Recalling the day of the massacre, Kranz says she was very scared and the volunteers on the Bar-Ilan hotline helped her remain calm. As the 22-year-old resident of Givat Shmuel and new olah (immigrant) patiently waits to begin her second year of study in Psychology, she has felt 100% support from the International School, as well as from the Israel Ministry of Aliyah and Integration.
Does Scalisi consider going back to America? “It has crossed my mind, but my heart is here in Israel and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I went back to the US. I feel safer in Israel. This has been my home for four years and it wouldn’t feel right to go back.”
Waknine and Kranz also plan to stay. Though it hasn’t been easy adjusting to life in her new home, Waknine believes that Israel slowly but surely builds your resilience.
Adds Kranz, “The situation makes you realize more than ever why it’s important that Israel exists.”
