Brothers to share Israeli high school experience
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Brothers to share Israeli high school experience

By Robert Wiener June 9, 2010, 12:00 am Edit
The Krieger sons, from left, Daniel, Eric, and Josh at a recent UJC MetroWest fund-raising event
The Krieger sons, from left, Daniel, Eric, and Josh at a recent UJC MetroWest fund-raising event

Fifteen years after Scott Krieger of Livingston visited Alexander Muss High School on a MetroWest mission to Israel, his three sons will follow in his footsteps — as students.

After his 17-year-old twin sons, Dan and Eric, finish the school year at Livingston High School and their 15-year-old brother, Josh, ends his year at Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in Livingston, they will head to the boarding school campus in the Mosenson Youth Village in Hod Hasharon, near Tel Aviv.

There they will spend eight weeks receiving a hands-on version of history, melding classroom work with field trips to archeological digs and locations that date back to the Bible.

All three wrote in an e-mail to NJJN that they are happily anticipating their time in Israel. “The Muss program seems to be a great way to learn more about our Jewish homeland,” wrote Dan.

“To be able to experience it as we study is an opportunity I’m very much looking forward to,” wrote Eric.

And Josh said he’s “really happy about being able to meet people my age from all over the world who all share a love of Israel and our Jewish heritage.”

Their father, who is UJA Campaign chair at United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, has great expectations for what his boys will do on their Muss high school summer vacation.

“It will be a watershed event in their lives and a great memory,” he said. “We want them to come home with new friends from all over the world and a higher degree of appreciation for Israel and what it means to be part of a worldwide Jewish community.”

The program the brothers will enroll in involves 250 hours of a college-level “core” course covering 4,000 years of Jewish history.

The classes are conducted in English and provide up to six college credits for students who excel.

The school was begun 38 years ago by Rabbi Morris Kipper and the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. Locally, it is an arm of J-Teen MetroWest, a program run by The Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life.

“It is amazing to me that the Kriegers are sending all three of their kids at once. It is a big commitment financially,” said Ellen Goldner, who played a major role in recruiting the brothers. Goldner, a director of admissions for Muss High School, is based at the Partnership on the Aidekman campus in Whippany and lists the three Krieger sons among the 15 local students she has recruited to date for upcoming sessions at the school.

The boys’ father and mother, Robyn, have some expectations of their own once all three of their kids are out of town. “We say we can do all these great things this summer while we’re empty-nesters,” Scott said. “We even talked about going over to Israel to visit them, but I’m not sure yet.”

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