URJ Kesher Taglit-Birthright Israel Trip
Travel to Israel for ten days on our absolutely free trip!. Trips are open to Jewish young adults who are 18-26 and who have never been to Israel on a peer program. Kesher is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the beauty of Israel and form friendships with North American and Israeli peers. Travel with Kesher and experience Israel's most famous sites -- the Dead Sea, Masada Jerusalem's Old City, and trendy Tel Aviv. Of course, Kesher is also about experiencing Israel's off the beaten path charm -- bonfires on the beach, a taste of Israeli nightlife, and an evening under the stars in the Negev Desert.

Make new friends from all across North America in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. Because Kesher is part of the Reform Movement, you can be sure that the program atmosphere will be relaxed and inclusive. Each trip is also joined by a group of local Israeli peers. It is a perfect opportunity to make new cross-cultural connections & friendships.

Netzer Year
Netzer Year is a unique eight-month gap year leadership training program in Israel for recent Reform Jewish high school graduates. Netzer Year is a fun, challenging and stimulating way for recent high school graduates to spend a year in Israel as a member of an exciting and vibrant group. The program involves extensive travel throughout the country of Israel, intense leadership training, Hebew and Jewish immersion studies, and hands-on volunteer work. Throughout the program, participants live, volunteer and learn alongside their Netzer peers from around the world.

Develop the skills and knowledge to become leaders in the Reform Movement, at Jewish summer camp, on your college campus, and in your home community. Create an organic Jewish community at the epicenter of Jewish life in Israel while you form lifelong friendships with people from around the world! Live, learn, explore, and grow as a Jewish leader.

Kibbutz Lotan Peace, Justice & the Environment
Through engagement with a holistic approach to world issues that encompasses inner, cultural, and outer processes, you will broaden and deepen your understanding of sustainability and ecology. Hands-on experience with habitat restoration, local organic food production, teaching in village schools, working with village action groups and more, help build a growing theoretical understanding of issues relating to global sustainability.

Explore the connections between new forms of ecological identity and stewardship, social justice and community in Israel. Work alongside Palestinian-Arab, Bedouin and Jewish Israelis who are striving for a just and lasting peace. Gain practical experience in ecological design, green building and sustainable agriculture. Put permaculture into action in authentic cross-cultural situations.

Kibbutz Lotan Green Apprenticeship
The Green Apprenticeship (GA) trains participants to understand and create alternative solutions for environmental issues facing the modern world. In all our programs, practical skills are developed through hands-on work in our environmental education center, organic garden, and alternative/natural building projects, and complemented by classroom sessions in such topics as ecological design, permaculture, gardening theory, and community building.

Participants are also interwoven into the daily life of Kibbutz Lotan, an intentional cooperative community based on the principles of liberal, egalitarian Judaism. Students also have the opportunity to live what they learn on a day-to-day basis by staying in the GA EcoCampus – a prototype neighborhood for sustainable living.

Tikkun Olam in Tel Aviv-Jaffa
Tikkun Olam in Tel Aviv-Jaffa offers English speaking Jews between the ages of 22-27 the opportunity to live, study and volunteer in Tel Aviv-Jaffa for 5 or 10 months. The program begins with one month dedicated to Hebrew Ulpan study and touring potential volunteering places. Participants will volunteer and study in their chosen track, either Community Service or Coexistence and may add volunteering options from the other track while maintaining an overall focus on their chosen track. In the Community Service track, you will volunteer in South Tel Aviv with new immigrants, African refugees and others while studying the relationship between volunteer work and Judaism. In the Coexistence track, you will Live in Jaffa while volunteering in organizations working toward Arab-Jewish coexistence and studying the complexities of coexistence. Participants from both tracks take part in monthly overnight trips around Israel, as well as periodic day tours in and around Tel Aviv-Jaffa and cultural activities.