As senior Ben Freund looks toward his final months of high school, he’s excited to see where his post-high school plans will take him.

Freund plans to attend a Kerem B’Yavneh yeshiva in Israel next year.

“I’ll be taking a gap year and doing a yeshiva program and then after that some college in America,” Freund said. “It’s going to be a lot of Jewish learning and Torah studies.”

Daniel Kutoff, a member of Freund’s synagogue and someone who has served as a mentor to Freund, explains yeshiva programs as opportunities for Jewish students to develop a Jewish focus for their lives.

“(Yeshivas involve) intensive Judaica study, which would include development of Talmudic literature and ethics and social responsibility,” Kutoff said. “You also get an opportunity to be connected with a larger group of Jewish people as represented in Israel, as opposed to the community in Minneapolis which is a pretty narrow group.”

After coming to Park from Torah Academy freshman year, Freund said he lost some of his connection to the Jewish community and the impact of being constantly surrounded by Jewish life.

“I figured I’d go to Israel for a year and that impact will come back, even if it’s just to an extent, and then go to college in America and see where that takes me,” Freund said.

Kutoff said he helped Ben research yeshiva programs that would best suit his interests.

“I travel regularly to Israel and I have a lot of contacts with many of the schools there,” Kutoff said. “I’ve used them to help find the best pick that I think would work for him.”

Beyond the Jewish learning aspects of the program, Freund said there are many other opportunities and activities as part of the gap year programs.

“It’s also going to be English, math and science at the college level,” Freund said. “It’s also going to just be a bunch of 18 and 19-year-olds just hanging out, playing sports, going on trips, touring the land, just exploring.”

Kutoff said Ben expresses commitment to his religious experience and being good to others.

“He’s got a lot of intensity and focus and he really wants to grow a lot in spirituality,” Kutoff said. “He’s really just a kind-hearted, wonderful kid.”