Life

Explore The Vast Opportunities to Volunteer in Israel

Volunteer on a kibbutz in Israel. Image by iStock

By Alyssa Fisher August 17, 2019

Volunteering in Israel is perhaps the best way to embrace the beauty of the country. However you wish to practice tikkun olam, the Hebrew phrase for “world repair” and working for the greater good, there’s an immersive volunteer opportunity or program that’ll put you right in the action. Below is just a taste of Israel’s volunteer programs.

Check out all articles in our Guide to Working and Interning in Israel.

Work on a kibbutz

When I think of volunteering in Israel, my mind first goes to kibbutzim, rural collectives around the country. Jobs vary on each kibbutz, according to Go Overseas, but they all play a role in running the community. This could involve tending to the garden or helping with meals, or working with agriculture and livestock. You’ll live there, eat there and make a little money. The Kibbutz Program Center will help you get set up.

Work toward co-existence

There are two opportunities within Project TEN: volunteering in sustainability, education, and coexistence on Kibbutz Harduf in the Galillee, or focusing on ecotourism in the Negev. For five months, you’ll live and work alongside Israelis, learn Hebrew and Arabic, and work toward tikkun olam in the region.

Work in marine conservation

Help keep Eilat’s beautiful beach clear of trash and protect its bountiful coral reefs.

Work in community building

The Yahel Social Change Fellowship has various volunteer opportunities in the cities of Lod and Rishon LeZion. You can work with Arab citizens of Israel, immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and Ethiopian-Israelis in areas such as tutoring, grant writing, gardening and women’s empowerment.

Work in sustainability

Help manage an eco-village, build cabins using environmentally friendly building materials and more in the Israeli desert.

Work in social activism

At Urban Kibbutz Social Change, you’ll live in a kibbutz-like setting in the city of Haifa with fellow educators and activists while working to make a difference in areas such as teaching, research and journalism.

Teach English in Israel

When you teach English at local Israeli schools, you find that you’re not merely teaching the kids — you’re becoming a mentor and positive influence.

Work in a museum

Train to become a docent or guide at any of the country’s fascinating museums, including the Israel Museum, the Bloomfield Science Museum, the Museum for Islamic Art, Bible Lands Museum and Yad Vashem.

Work on a vineyard

Harvest grapes and olives with a Christian nonprofit that serves Jewish farmers.

Work in it all!

Get a taste of everything in Way More Israel, where for 4 to 5 months you will live in Jerusalem, learn Hebrew, travel to lesser-known places, intern or volunteer in your area of interest, and end the magical experience working on a kibbutz.

See More Stories

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO