Our 2012 program, running September 23 2012-June 30 2013, can cost as low as $1,000 with flight, housing and program expenses included!

See below for more details & please share this link to help us spread our exciting news!

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Yahel Social Change Program expands to 9-months for as low as $1,000!

Interested in making a difference in Israel? The Yahel Social Change Program gives Jewish young adults an unparalleled opportunity to live, learn and volunteer alongside Israelis in a predominantly Ethiopian Israeli neighborhood.

Applications are rolling. First deadline is April 1, 2012 (*preference will be given to early applicants). Apply here!

Program Highlights

- Live as part of the local Ethiopian Israeli community and experience the community’s culture, tradition and way of life
- Cultivate deep relationships with your Israeli peers and community members
- Volunteer with an Israeli grassroots organization focused on social change and community empowerment
- Engage with Israeli social change initiatives through meetings with social entrepreneurs and policy makers
- Build a vibrant home-based community that lives, explores and works together
- Grow professionally by working side by side with Israeli community members in a position tailored to your talents and needs. Past placements include:

• teaching English in local schools
• mentoring at-risk youth
• creating community gardens
• interning at Israeli non profit organizations

You can participate on Yahel for as low as $1,000 (including flight, accommodations and all program expenses). Spots are limited so apply now!

Want to know more? Contact Rachel Zieleniec, program alumna and recruitment associate, at Rachel@yahelisrael.com or 202-630-6686.

I have two weeks left in Israel. This would seem like the time one would naturally begin to partake in the process known as ‘reflection.’ But there is something about this that does not sit right with me. When we ‘reflect,’ we are essentially ‘looking back.’ We look back at the things we did, the people we met, the lessons we learned. But here is where my problem resonates, if we are always looking back, how can we effectively move forward?

I know that my philosophy may seem ridiculous, because it is essential that we look back on and recount our experiences in order to give those experiences meaning. But my issue resonates in the idea that too often, the lessons we learned simply stop there, and those experiences and relationships become nothing more than nostalgia. What I’m saying is, we need to fight this urge to let the past simply become the past, and not part of our future. We need to carry the lessons of our experience forward, utilizing them in every practical way possible. Our experiences in Gedera were nothing short of eye opening and insightful, but they will mean nothing if they only remain fanciful stories we tell our kids one day.

Jews have been discriminated against for thousands of years. My grandmother and grandfather were in labor camps and survived the Shoah. They saw their families murdered for being Jewish. Never should Jews be spewing this kind of hatred against anyone- especially our own brothers and sisters. Israel is the home for all Jews- there should be no conditions. This has been a lesson for me in how to channel my own anger into something positive and productive to make a difference. To do my part to ensure that this is the last generation of any immigrants to feel unwelcome in their home, in all of our home, Israel.

The first step was to participate in the protests here in Israel. What will come next, I am still figuring that out but I am thankful to Yahel and all of its supporters, my fellow Yahelnikim and my friends in Gedera, for being on this journey with me to create and spark social change, and for allowing me to be on theirs.

T-Shirts say "The value of a man is not the same as the value of an apartment"

"I'm a woman, I'm Jewish, I'm Ethiopian... deal with it!"

"Our blood is good only for wars?"

"You should love your neighbor as yourself, even if he doesn't look like you"

"This is the time to fight for our future"

Or is the same little girl who didn’t speak a word of English four months ago.

As I think about how my time here is winding down, I am acutely aware of each of these moments. I want to hold them inside and remember the sound of Or’s voice and the feel of her kiss on my cheek, remember each “What’s up” from Ebay (a 16 year old boy who I work with in a weekly youth group), or the time I sing Beyonce songs with Orit and Alemnat (two 14 year old girls in the neighborhood).

I want to soak it all in.

The thought of leaving brings up emotions I never thought I would feel after such a short amount of time, but it makes sense. It makes sense because from day one, the people in the Shapira neighborhood have welcomed me with open arms and warm smiles.

The Yahel Social Change Program is a five-month immersive service learning experience that is very unique in nature, because we actually live among the community in which we work. That means that we spend time and build relationships with Ethiopian Israelis who are our age because they are our neighbors, and our friends. We go to the same grocery store, have the same community activities and celebrate holidays together with the kids we teach in the local schools. We can’t walk to a restaurant without running into our host families, or friends from the Gar’in. As we walk through the neighborhood, our names are called by kids running from 300 feet away, asking us to come play with them outside.

The Yahel volunteers become a part of the community, and in return, the community becomes a part of us, a part of Yahel.

Learning about and creating social change has to start somewhere. Yahel is where it started for me. In one month I will leave this community with not only deeper relationships, but with a deeper appreciation for and a deeper commitment to social change, for the rest of my life.

When I first arrived here I couldn’t help but feel like the same failure who sat on my parents couch weeks before. I was frustrated and disappointed in myself when I sat alone for hours at the local school waiting for teachers to remember to send me students to tutor. Or when working on a program building session with five other opinionated and strong minded volunteers we would end for the day with no resolution. And there was one consistent thought I could not get out of my head, can we possibly be so high and mighty that we come into people’s lives for such a short amount of time and actually believe we can make a difference?

I read an article that was passed around the participants and staff of Yahel. Reading this helped to make sense of the feelings I was experiencing. The article made me feel like I wasn’t alone, and more importantly what I have chosen to devote a year of my life to was important. I realized success and failure have nothing to do with this program or this year. I’m not here to pitch an idea or sell a product. I had said it over and over to myself “I’m here to grow” but, just recently I realized I haven’t been open to the biggest part of me that needs growth – that side of me that demands tangible change.

I’m here to observe and to give only what I can. To be honest and open so that when people take what they can from me they will get something organic and rare. The people I have come here to “help”- who chose this for them? At what point does my help become a crutch and just another force that keeps them separated? Mostly all of the families that I believed I was coming here to help are the same as any I’ve seen. They argue, they have busy schedules, they love, they sit and watch TV with their siblings, they fail tests, they ace tests, they go shopping and to the movies and gossip- what needs fixing? Maybe it isn’t them. Maybe my side of the world needs fixing. Given, there are substantial problems in every community. Many immigrant families have had their lives changed drastically and dramatically and programs and volunteers can be helpful when asked. Programs like Yahel force us to raise many of these questions about “fixing” and “helping,” and challenge us to think about things in new ways.

One of the biggest principles of the Yahel program is empowerment. I am just now really beginning to understand what empowerment means. I had this idea that I could show empowerment. That if I went into a situation and was confident and guided someone in the “right way” then they would make anything their own and then, I was empowering them. Wrong. That model is just one of a copy cat- do this because I say so. Of course, we were never told to do anything like this, I just didn’t know any better. But, only after feeling like a failure on my parent’s couch was I able to take a step back and ask myself honestly, “Okay, what are you doing and what are you not doing?”

I feel I am no longer here just volunteering. I am here living my life. I will attend events and speak out and listen and be myself. I will continue connecting with people in my community here and back home. I hope one day I can empower someone the way my experience has empowered me to grow and confront what I thought I knew. My frustration and fear of failure has transformed me into a life here I never expected to have.

I have decided to stay on the program for next five months. My reasons for why keep building with every day. Almost four months ago I never could have imagined the life change I was about to undergo. I am still not certain of my direction or my ultimate passion but I am certain that right here and right now I am exactly where I need to be.

We decided that there would be no better way to kickoff our weekly event then throwing a Hanukah party in the garden on the first night of Hanukah. We had two arts and crafts projects, a seedling seminar, fresh pita cooking, Hannukah sing-a-long, homemade menorah for candle lighting, and Sufganyot (Hanukah Doughnuts). Everything was set up for a great evening; the only thing left to worry about was the turnout.

Garden party: Justin lighting the menorah for the first night of Hannukah

We had spent so much time preparing this event and coincidentally another Masa program, Eco Israel, just so happened to be joining us on that day to see what Yahel was all about. We spent the morning talking to them and showing them around our neighborhood; Eating Ethiopian food and sharing laughs. We tried to make them feel as comfortable as possible but lingering in the back of all of our minds, we knew we had to have a successful afternoon.

Three o’clock arrived and it was showtime. Slowly kids from the neighborhood, and even adults, began to show up. The activities went as planned, the turnout was great, and the execution was precise. Still though, I had my doubts as to whether we were actually making a difference or if we were just throwing a party and giving out some free doughnuts. Then, one of the girls from Eco Israel who I had just met that morning and had no more then two minutes of conversation with, walked up to me. “I just want you to know that I am so proud of you guys,” she said. Proud of us, you don’t even know us, I thought. She continued saying that “if I saw an advertisement for Yahel, I wouldn’t believe that a program can actually accomplish social change, but you guys are proving that it can.” I was flattered and felt great but was still skeptical because she had just witnessed one of our finer days. Minutes later, I overheard a group of Eco Israel participants discussing how they love the program they are on, but they feel very connected to the work of Yahel as well. So for their last 45 minutes in Gedera, they became Yahelnikim. They walked up to some of the kids and tried to get to know them. The kids laughed at them for mispronouncing Hebrew words and talking with a funny accent. They exchanged their feelings on Justin Beiber and Tupac. One kid sat on a seesaw across from a local Gedera kid and went up and down, laughing at each other.

For those 45 minutes, I got to see how lucky I am to spend five months in a little town in the middle of a little country in the middle east. And with time winding down, it reminded me to make the most of every minute I have here. Treat every 45 minutes like it’s the only 45 minutes I have here.

In the last 10 months I have had the good fortune of doing community gardening work in several different contexts. I have worked in community gardens in a predominantly Ethiopian Israeli immigrant neighborhood, another one that is open to everybody in the town of Gedera, and one at an Ethiopian new-immigrant absorption center in Beer Sheva.

Each of the gardens are beautiful in their own way. In addition to producing food, the gardens serve as places for talking, laughing and learning. In the buildings in the Shapira neighborhood, the immigrants came from different regions of Ethiopia at different times, and some speak different languages from one another. The majority of the adults speak Amharic as their mother language, but some only know Tigrinya (a language spoken in northeastern Ethiopia). In addition, about 5% of the neighborhood is made up of non-Ethiopian Israelis from the former USSR, Morocco, Yemen and other places. Most of the Ethiopian immigrants in the neighborhood lived in villages in the mountains of northern Ethiopia, lacking running water and electricity. Some villages were only Jewish, while others were comprised Christians and/or Muslims as well. However, the people lived separately based on their religions. The villagers grew their own food, made their own clothing and homes, and the lifestyle moved at a slow pace.

Now in Gedera (and towns and cities all over Israel), the Ethiopian Israelis are living in buildings in an industrialized, fast moving country. The community gardens under the buildings provide adults an opportunity to grow their own food as well as flowers and plants for aesthetic purposes. In addition, they provide adults with opportunities to work together with their neighbors (Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian) and form relationships and teach their kids about gardening, connecting them with their heritage. The gardens also serve as a source of empowerment. Many adults in the neighborhood are unemployed or work low income jobs and the community garden provides them with the opportunity to work and bring food to their families.

Lastly, the building residents that want to have a community garden, need to contribute money for compost, plants, seeds and other materials. This is an important process, because it empowers residents to make their living spaces more beautiful by themselves, and not to wait for the municipality or others to do it for them. They take ownership. Friends by Nature has played an instrumental role in bringing community gardens to immigrant neighborhoods all over Israel. I have been very fortunate to work in two of these community gardens during my time here in Israel. I am grateful to talk to residents and sow different plants with kids from the neighborhoods, dig, break up soil, put up fences and just laugh with the volunteers.

I have been involved with the Gedera and Shapira neighborhood community gardens since I arrived in Israel in February of 2011. The Gedera Community Garden in particular was opened to the public in May 2011. I have worked side by side with Alex, the Head of the Community Garden project for Friends by Nature, throughout it all. The garden beautifies the area, brings people together of different ages, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, produces food, produces compost and provides people with the opportunity to have their own personal beds’ for growing whatever they choose. There are ten communal beds and every week the harvested produce is divided up between everyone that comes and works; many times we also cook these vegetable over the fire. We also make pitas from flour and water every session, cook them over the fire and eat them with different spreads, like hummus. The kids love this process and some come out to the garden just for this.

I have learned a great deal by watching and learning the sensitive process in which Alex goes about approaching the community and its members. The project has taken years to complete, but each community garden has its challenges and accomplishments. Although they all provide food, relieve stress and serve as a source of pride, there are also many challenges in starting something from the “ground up.”

It’s inspiring to have been a part of the process, and watching residents be empowered to take charge, and create a beautiful garden that they can be proud of. We have all experienced people working, sweating, talking and laughing together. We have all witnessed plants flowering, giving fruit and dying. Although we don’t necessarily speak the same language, I have come to realize that gardening is a truly universal language – a way of connecting with people not with words, but with hands, expressions, sighs and laughs. It has been an honor to witness the growth of these gardens and I am looking forward to seeing what else we can accomplish while I am here.

We started our test-run hike, so we all would know which trail to take and could identify different flowers and trees, as well as stories about the area to tell our youth groups when the real hike took place. It was a beautiful hike that took almost four hours. It had just rained the previous night and the countryside was green and blooming with that fresh, just rained smell in the air. I can only hope that the actual trip is just as beautiful and fun. There was never a dull moment during the whole hike.

There’s nothing better than being in nature and working with amazing people who wish to do good in the world. In the upcoming trip I hope the kids will enjoy the tiyul as much as I did, and I know now that I’m fully prepared to lead my group, with the proper knowledge, interesting stories and trivia to share along the way.

Our experience has actually been quite unique. We work side-by-side with two different teachers, each with their own unique style. When we say, ‘kids will be kids,’ we all know that accounts for a certain level of leeway, be it their understanding of the world, or in this case, their level of mischievousness. Apparently, Israeli kids are notorious for being rambunctious.

One of the women we work with, Oshrit, is probably no different than any other EFL (English as a foreign language) teacher. She was educated in the Israeli school system, and mastered her English abilities while attending University in England. Yet, despite the chaos I observed in the school yard, and heard in the halls, I observed a classroom of quiet, respectful students. Was it simply this handful of students? My theory was proven false upon observing all of her subsequent classes behaving in the same manner. I decided I needed to know her secret, and I asked just that, to which I received the response ‘You cannot let them misbehave like they do outside or in their other classes. If a student does not want to listen, or do his work, I call his parents and make sure they know about it.’ This answer though, did not have me convinced. My own experience and knowledge had shown that authoritarian rule over the classroom always ended in failure. But then I noticed something that made everything clear to me. While walking down the hall, we came upon two young boys getting into a pretty heated argument. At this point, Oshrit intervened, and she and one of the boys began a heated conversation of their own. Voices continued to rise, up until Oshrit’s became the dominant of the two and what had started as an argument soon became a lecture. The entire conversation took place in Hebrew, so of course I understood only a few words, but the context was clear. What followed next totally took me by surprise. Oshrit’s voice went from rigid, to soft and comforting. She said a few more words (that I did not understand) then took the boys face in her hands, and gave him a kiss on the forehead. It was suddenly clear to me, why her kids behaved in the manner that they did. It wasn’t out of fear, but respect. It was clear that they identified Oshrit as a figure not to be messed with, but also as someone they could rely on, someone who they could trust to be fair.

On my next visit, we were assigned to our other classroom, with our other teacher, Gazeet. Upon entering, we were met by what we assumed to be the familiar noise of chaos. But again, something was amiss. What we heard was definitely yelling, except it was being done in unison. The explanation came when we looked into the room to see all the students singing along to an interactive video, teaching them the different sounds of letters. Having already previously met with Gazeet, we were familiar with her alternative teaching style. She had grown up and been educated in the States herself, and took an approach to learning that addresses all the different ways in which children best process information.

It truly is a disappointment, knowing that the United States is not the only place in the world where the education of the next generation goes unaddressed and is undervalued. I am not unaccustomed to the results of this kind of practice, having just student-taught in a 7th and 8th grade English class in downtown Buffalo this past Spring. Schools lack essential resources, and what little they do have is stretched far too thin. The end result; it’s the kids who suffer, most of the time completely oblivious to the injustices being committed against them. But there is still that glimmer of hope, and it shines in the people who commit themselves to making what difference they can. Despite the vast differences in the way each of these women choose to educate their students, they somehow manage to harness and channel the seemingly boundless energy into something productive. Not only that, but their commitment has started a chain reaction, providing a future educator with invaluable lessons, a means to reach kids who are afforded so little and give them something they only have one opportunity to receive, an education.

A few months later, they contacted Dana about wanting to help Yahel, and about wanting to make a difference. They weren’t quite sure how or to what extent, but they knew that they wanted to help. After a quick trip down to Gedera and visits with Yahel and Friends by Nature, they were particularly inspired by the community garden project – they decided they wanted to help raise funds to sustain the garden.

The group of friends were hosting a joint birthday party for all three of them a few weeks after they made their decision, so they decided to talk to the bar where they were hosting their party, and ask them if they would be willing to donate a percentage of the proceeds to FBN’s community garden…and they agreed! Three weeks and three birthdays later, Friends by Nature was presented with a check for NIS 1,500 as well as toys and games for the community.

This time of year, and always, we are so thankful to those people who do not just sit on the sidelines – they get involved! If you are involved with Yahel already, thank you, and if you want to do more, please let us know. We are happy to talk to you about how we can work together to make a difference.