Students from around the United States (with a contingency from the Harvard Law School), England, and Eastern Europe converged for an intensive five weeks this summer on Jerusalem's Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies.

Located at the center of Israel's capital, the Lubavitch-run academy offered them sessions of Jewish learning, tours of the country's historical and cultural sites and rare encounters with local educators and public figures.

Chabad emissary Rabbi Shlomo Gestetner, who along with his wife Rifka Marga directs the Mayanot Institute, sees the summer program as an opportunity to engage students in hands-on experiences, directly acquainting them with Jewish tradition and the land of Israel.

"Just being in Jerusalem, surrounded by all the imposing Jewish history and passion that is in the air, makes a lot of the learning really come alive for them," says Rabbi Gestetner.

At the conclusion of this summer's program some of the participants decided to stay on in Israel and continue full-time their Jewish studies. Others are already making plans to get more involved at the Chabad centers and synagogues on the campuses where they will be spending the coming year.

"In just a few weeks of classes, traveling and discussions, the students tell us of the new perspective they are acquiring, the closeness they feel to Judaism and Israel, and the changes they want to make in their lives," proclaims Gestetner.

Some of these changes are more dramatic than others.

"One young woman in the program was very involved in an inter-faith relationship back in the US," relates Aharon Moss, a counselor in the summer program. "She decided to break it off with the guy and get more involved in her Jewish learning. She told me that after years of knowing only 'guilt Judaism' she finally had the opportunity this summer to experience the beauty and depth that she always felt was missing from her tradition."