Dear Parents and Students, 

We will be using IsraelPhones (IP) as our exclusive provider as we have done last year. 

All students are required to get an IsraelPhones plan.  Besides the fact that they provide excellent plans, each student must have an IP plan so that we will be able to reach him immediately in the event of a security situation or other important message that the entire yeshiva will receive.

Attached is a letter from IsraelPhones with a link (http://www.israelphones.com/levhatorah.htm) to order form with substantially lower rates and new unlimited plans not offered previously. The Yeshiva has spent a good deal of time negotiating with many other providers to deliver to students rates that are in most cases over 60% less than last year. We have chosen IsraelPhones for their pricing and excellent overall service as well as English speaking customer service.

Please note, that we are working on providing a high-grade filtered internet program for all students who use a smartphone (not BlackBerrys). We urge students not to bring devices that are not under the IsraelPhones data plan. The Yeshiva does not want students to access ‘free’ wifi points of neighbors who have not locked their systems. It is also a major disruption for their year here in Yeshiva. 

Please direct any questions about the various plans to Israel Phones directly.  For the Yeshiva, Mr. Ephrayim Naiman (ejnaiman@levhatorah.org) will handle any questions or concerns you might have.

Phones will be distributed to each student at the airport when he arrives in Israel.  Please complete your order well before their arrival so that there are will be no issues with getting the phone to yeshiva before the students arrive.

I would just like to close with my opinion regarding the plans chosen and unfiltered internet phones.  This year we have asked IP to provide students with an unlimited plan as we have found that over-usage fees have caused a financial stress on parents. If you believe your son might exceed the minutes on a given plan we urge you to consider the unlimited plan as it avoids surprises!  Finally, the dangers of the Internet should be abundantly clear to all of us.  Therefore, we strongly recommend that if you are going to purchase a phone that has internet service, than you should purchase the internet plan being offered by Israel Phones (which we are confident will come with a reliable filtered program). We further suggest that you limit data usage to 1 GIG which is plenty for all normal use needs of a student.  Please DO NOT bring your own internet phone with unfiltered access to the Internet to the Yeshiva. Students using unsecured Wifi points has, in the past, caused both a great loss of potential growth during this crucial year as well as numerous complaints from neighbors and friends of the Yeshiva.

B'vracha, 

Rabbi Daniel Hartstein

Director of Institutional Advancement, Yeshiva Lev HaTorah