(Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Krivoi Rog, Donetsk, and Kyiv) Report of a ...

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10. Beit Chana Jewish Women’s Pedagogical College was established in 1995 to
prepare teachers and childcare workers for Chabad-sponsored preschools and
elementary schools throughout the post-Soviet states. Initially, it recruited its all-female
student enrollment mainly from smaller cities and towns, assuming that Jewish young
women in such locales would be eager to escape their often-stifling environments for
free college programs in a larger city. Over time, Beit Chana grappled with the
consequences of lower educational achievement of girls from such circumstances and
with demographic developments that sharply reduced the number of Jewish young
women in smaller towns, regardless of their capacity to complete post-secondary
education programs. Further, notwithstanding their enthusiasm for relocation to a larger
city, many young women were reluctant to commit to residence in an isolated gendersegregated
dormitory with a religious lifestyle for the duration of their course of study.
Beit Chana never reached its capacity enrollment of between 200 and 250 young
women. It achieved its peak of 165 students several years ago, and its 2008-2009
enrollment plummeted to 70. Acknowledging that the institution was unlikely to survive
without a “new vision”, Beit Chana has made several changes in its operational
procedures during the last several years and intends to evolve further in the future. In
collaboration with Crimean State University in Yalta, Beit Chana is now accredited to
offer a full baccalaureate degree, rather than just the certificate program
(approximately equivalent to an associate’s degree in the United States) that was its
highest diploma in its earlier years. Its curriculum now includes degree concentrations
in additional fields, including psychology, public relations, tourism, and finance, It
scrapped its residence requirement, opening its program to day/commuter students
from Dnipropetrovsk and environs.
In cooperation with Crimean State University, Beit Chana has developed both
baccalaureate and master’s degree programs that enroll practicing teachers on a
part-time basis. Some such students live and work outside Dnipropetrovsk and travel to
the city for intensive courses several times yearly. All of its degrees are recognized
both in Ukraine and Israel. According to Rabbi Moshe
Weber, Rabbi of the College and its Deputy President
for Jewish Studies and Jewish Education, Beit Chana
graduates are in demand for teaching positions in
Chabad schools throughout the post-Soviet states.
Rabbi Moshe Weber, left, has held administrative positions at
Beit Chana through several transitions. He directs the Jewish
studies and Jewish education component of the curriculum.
Photo: the writer.
Rabbi Weber stated that current enrollment at Beit Chana includes almost 70 students
who follow the traditional curriculum in pursuit of associate or full bachelor’s degrees; 45
of these young women live in the Beit Chana dormitory, and the remainder commute
from the city on a daily basis. Another 10 young women from the Chabad Akademia