Twenty-four years after starting her bachelor's degree at Hebrew College in 1981, Janice Rebibo came back from Israel this summer to finish it.

"To be a responsible writer and make a contribution to the Hebrew language, I need to have a sufficient background in Jewish studies," explains the published poet, editor and translator of Hebrew works. "At Hebrew College I can fill in the gaps in knowledge and perspective."

Hebrew language was what brought Rebibo to the College in 1981, following a three-year stay in Israel in the 1970s. Hoping to maintain and improve her Hebrew-speaking skills with an evening class, she quickly found a host of interesting courses in Hebrew language and literature and forged connections with her instructors.

A devotee of Dr. Gila Ramras-Rauch z'l, Rebibo fondly remembers first writing poetry in the basement of Hebrew College's library on Hawes Street. During that period, she immersed herself in Ramras-Rauch's Hebrew literature courses and, to gain the benefit of her criticism, began writing poetry in Hebrew.

Ramras-Rauch also encouraged Rebibo's translations, introducing her to the Israeli poet Chaim Gouri and asking her to help translate his lectures into English when he spoke at Hebrew College. Rebibo continued to develop as a poet and translator when she moved to Israel in 1987, just short of completing her bachelor's degree in Hebrew language and literature.

Now an established translator, she has authored three books of poetry and is widely published in Israeli journals.

Back on Hebrew College's campus, Rebibo is determined to finish what she started—and more. Her parents, Henry and the late Eve Silverman, both studied Ulpan for many years at Hebrew College and always encouraged her to complete her academic studies. While visiting her father this summer, Rebibo enrolled in three courses toward her bachelor's degree. This fall, upon her return to Israel and her full-time job as a Hebrew translator and director of an innovative school-pairing program, she will continue her studies online. Her goal: a Master of Jewish Studies.

"I am enjoying the process and have already learned a great deal," Rebibo says of the experience. "I know that whatever I studied here in the past, I have done a good job of applying elsewhere in my life. Gila Ramras-Rauch told me that I would look back on my time at Hebrew College as the most wonderful days of my life. I'm glad to be back."

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