Year Course Getting to Know: Rabbi Adam Drucker, Director of Experiential Education

Hello! My name is Rabbi Adam Drucker and I am the Director of Experiential Education for Young Judaea Year Course.

In a nutshell, my role involves curating experiences that enable our students to gain a deep understanding of themselves, their people, its history, culture and country, using the wonderfully diverse educational canvas that is Israel. Ever since joining the Year Course team and extended Young Judaea family two years ago, I have been blown away by the passion, professionalism and dedication of my colleagues and find myself waking up each morning with an unbounded drive to give my all to our incredible students.

My personal Israel story started while I was growing up in the UK and was fortunate enough to join my father on school Israel tours. I was instantly mesmerized by the place and have not stopped trying to engaging with the paradoxes the Zionist dream. After spending many years working for different educational institutions in England, I made Aliyah with my gorgeous family 4 years ago and we are now a part of an exciting new community in the southern city of Kiryat Gat.

I have dedicated my life to pluralist Jewish and Zionist education and still cannot believe how fortunate I am to have my dream job working for Young Judaea Year Course. Over my relatively short time as the Year Course Rabbi I have been so lucky to have met some of the most inspirational, energetic and authentic young people and have found something magical about actualizing meaningful moments for each of these students during their Year Course journey. I treasure Kabbalat Shabbat with the sun is setting over the Mediterranean to the journeys through the delicious strawberry fields of Gadera to the seemingly innocuous but life changing conversations that take place in my humble office in Beit Arel and everything in between.

Every student I have had the honor of guiding and teaching has moved me with their humility to open themselves up to new ideas and challenges. I find myself coming back to a famous Talmudic statement when trying to understand what Year Course means to me, “I have learnt a lot from my teachers, more from my peers but most from my students” – Ta’anit 7a . My hope is that students who participate in YC strive for authenticity in everything they do and continue to inspire all those around them (especially me!)