Dear Dvar Yerushalayim, I am a graduate of the Law Faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a member of the Israeli Bar. On Saturday, the 4th October, I flew into London on my way to Harvard University in the United States where I planned to take a Doctorate degree in Law. My stay in London was intended merely as a transit stop for a few days. While in London I experienced for the first time in my life, the atmosphere of a vibrant Orthodox Community. My curiosity about Judaism was aroused and consequently I began looking for a deeper source of knowledge. After a short "research" I found that the only place that could provide me with this knowledge in this Country was Dvar Yerushalayim. I turned to the Principal, Rabbi Freilich, who accepted me with open arms and a tremendous amount of kindness, warmth and love, and since that day I have been a full time student of Dvar Yerushalayim in London. Thanks to Rabbi Freilich's caring assistance, patience, persistence and devotion, I became observant and eventually decided to continue my Jewish learning rather than fulfilling my original plan of studying in Harvard. Dvar Yerushalayim was for me an eye-opener in the fullest sense of the word. It has taught me a tremendous amount of Torah knowledge, brought me close to Judaism, enriched my personality, broadened my horizons, given me a new outlook on the World where we live and hopefully started a new page in my life. There are no adequate words of thanks that will properly express what I owe to this Institution. ALON GOREN, 27, ISRAELI LAWYER Dear Rabbi Freilich, As a student of the London Branch of Dvar Yerushalayim about to go and study at Yeshivah in Israel, I would like to express my gratitude to You and the other lecturers for all the help you have given me during my period of study with You and to offer some of my impressions. I came to your Yeshivah in the first place because it is the only place in England offering full-time courses (as well as part-time, evening and week-end courses) for people like myself with little or no religious background. Nevertheless, when I joined your full-time course I had expected to find rows of pallid young men, uniformly dressed and totally cut off from everyday life. How wrong I was. The students were all extremely friendly and interesting people with occupations such as Lawyers, Doctors, Accountants, Surveyors, Architects and students at University studying anything from Economics to Engineering (and from a wide range of Countries including Australia, South Africa and Israel). All were people interested in finding out more about their heritage and giving themselves some time off to do so. I found the atmosphere extremely friendly. People got on well with each other without exception and were always happy to help each other out. This is particularly unusual as the backgrounds were so diverse but as I have learned, comradeship is one of the salient features of Jewish learning. I was even more surprised by our Lecturers at the Academy. While, without exception, their knowledge is vast, most are men with other occupations and do not conform to the image of grave looking men with long beards and long black frock coats as portrayed in Woody Allen films or as we see in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim district. They are very approachable and are always happy to stay on and discuss any problem at the end of shiurim. I also found that whenever we discussed Jewish philosophy and ethics or aspects of the week's portion of the Law, we can relate the lesson to our own experience, the subject becomes alive and a broad understanding of the topic is obtained. I was fascinated by the method of teaching Hebrew language unique to Dvar Yerushalayim in London. It still amazes me how in twelve simple lessons one manages to learn enough Hebrew to understand 95% of Tenach. Talmud is also approached in a marvellously effective way. At first glance a page of unintelligible Aramaic is not the most exciting prospect but as the student is led gently through the maze of complex, legal and philosophical arguments, he picks up key phrases and before long begins to crack the code that is Gemara. Looking back at the months I spent with you at the Yeshivah, I am surprised by the variety of subjects that we covered Torah, Tenach, Talmud, Halacha, prayer, ethics, philosophy and contemporary problems as seen through Jewish eyes, but, what impressed me most was that Torah study, is not like an ordinary academic subject (which is shut away in a compartment of one's mind to be withdrawn should interest recur,) but is a living vibrant subject that is applied every moment of the day and it is in this aspect that Dvar Yerushalayim excels. As soon as you enter Dvar, you do not just learn Judaism, you live it and enjoy it. It is a unique experience that a student never forgets or regrets. I look forward to rejoining you when I get back from Israel. Yours sincerely, COLIN AARONSON. B. A. Econ.