ITIM: Resources and Advocacy for Jewish Life
 | |
| Founded | 2002 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Seth Farber |
| Focus | Jewish law, Education |
| Location | |
| Website | http://www.itim.org.il |
ITIM: Resources and Advocacy for Jewish Life is an Israeli non-profit offering information and direction on Jewish lifecycle events such as birth, bar/bat mitzvah, marriage, divorce, death and burial, and conversion.
ITIM was founded in 2002 by rabbi Seth Farber and is based in Jerusalem. The NY Times called Farber, a "pragmatic idealist" who is transforming the Jewish experience in Israel.
Services
ITIM runs a call center with a 24-hour hotline, a website and distributes printed informational material. The hotline is staffed by people responding to questions on a broad range of topics regarding Jewish life in Israel. More than 40,000 individuals have turned to the ITIM call center for help and more than a million have visited the ITIM website. ITIM also runs weekly programs on Jewish identity in Israeli public schools.
In 2005, ITIM published the first guide to conversion in Israel, which was subsequently adopted by the Prime Minister's Office as the official Israeli guide to conversion. Since then, ITIM has helped more than 4000 individuals through the conversion process in Israel.
In 2006, ITIM partnered with the Israeli Education Ministry and created the "Drasha Project", a curriculum that seeks to transform a student's bar and bat mitzvah into an interactive, stimulating and ultimately empowering moment. The program looks to reduce the intimidation that students feel when encountering Jewish sources in general and Torah in particular. This project now serves more than 120 schools around the country, and more than 10,000 students participate weekly.
See Also
- Presentation of Drasha Project participants in The Kenesset's Committee on Education and Culture , May 2010
- Drasha Project website