“I really appreciate our visits to Jewish scholars and changemakers,” says Vivian Cohen, one of this year’s Matmidot Scholars at Midreshet Lindenbaum. “Whether it’s learning from a scholar, visiting someone who has found a problem to fix, or understanding things in new ways, I feel very enlightened after each trip – even when we get back at 12:30am! This has been a huge privilege for me as I get exposure to the type of world I want to grow into in the future.”

The Yeshiva of Flatbush alumna continues, “What these amazing people have done inspires me to think outside the box and open my eyes to the world I’m living in – to be honest with myself over what is not good and needs serious fixing… In addition to the changemaking aspect, I’ve always wanted to be a Tanakh teacher, and learning from the scholars we visit helps me think about how I want to conduct my classroom someday.”