University of Pittsburgh student awarded the Alfred P. and Jane Bergner Scholarship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
University of Pittsburgh sophomore Rebecca Van Wagner, of Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, is the delighted recipient of the 2006-07 Alfred P. and Jane Bergner Scholarship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which she will use toward her studies in the One Year Program at the Rothberg International School. Rebecca, who is pursuing majors in history and political science in addition to certificates in both Global Studies and Jewish Studies, has maintained a nearly perfect grade point average throughout her tenure and has earned a place on the Dean's List each semester of her undergraduate career.
In her scholarship application essay, Rebecca wrote that "Israel is my passion." This passion has manifested itself abundantly in a variety of ways, as Rebecca has already spent a semester in Israel during high school through the Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim program; is active in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC); participated in the Caravan for Democracy Israel Activists Training Mission in Israel during the Summer of 2005; and is the co-founder and president of Panthers for Israel, the Israel group at the University of Pittsburgh.
Rebecca has ambitious plans for her year in Israel. She says that "An awareness of the history of Judaism, as can only be experienced by living in a place where so much of took place, will allow me to discover myself spiritually and find out where I fit in the Jewish world. I want to explore Israeli society, talk to Israelis, travel the country, and just feel what it means to be in Israel and among such a great society. I want to gain a sense of my own self while living in the land of my ancestors."
The realization of these ambitions is made possible by the generous assistance of Alfred P. (z”l) and Jane Bergner of Bethesda, Maryland. In 1986, on the occasion of their daughter Lauren’s Bat Mitzvah, the Bergners endowed a scholarship for students from their synagogue, The Washington Hebrew Congregation, who wished to spend a semester or year at the Hebrew University. This scholarship, dedicated to a specific congregation, was the first of its kind at the Hebrew University, and allowed the Bergners to support both their local congregation and the distant Israeli university at the same time. In this way, they simultaneously honored their perceived personal commitments to their synagogue, to education, and to the Hebrew University, where Al served as president of the Washington, DC Chapter of the American Friends of the Hebrew University. In the years following the establishment of the scholarship, many deserving students were able to study in Jerusalem. One past recipient eventually made aliyah and made Israel his permanent home.
After Al's untimely death in 2002, Jane Bergner determined to expand the scholarship beyond members of her synagogue because "there are other capable young college students throughout the United States who desire to attend the Hebrew University but who are in need of funds to enable them to realize that dream." Rebecca Van Wagner's dream will be imminently realized as she departs for Israel next month. For her, "studying in Israel will be the climax of my college experience."
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