Year of Service

Year of Service

We offer a combination of a voluntary service year to a pre-army preparatory year, which combines community action with studies.
The Shnat Sherut (service year) operates in two centers: an urban program in the north and a community program surrounding the Gaza strip.

The program is comprised of 3 elements:

  • A Group framework: a rich group life, as part of living in a commune, which includes joint discussions and activities. In all the communes (Shant Sherut groups) there is a full schedule that includes seminars, trips, and classes. We emphasize greatly the aspect of group building and the independent conduct of the group and the Shinshinim as individuals. The commune operates with economic independence, and there is a lot of room for voluntary initiatives and projects, as well as for communal development.
  • Mission: in the Urban route the Shinshinim (Shnat Sherut participants) work with children and youth to reduce gaps and empower the local youth. The mission will include, among other things, educational assistance with studies, leading social lessons, private tutoring, leading workshops, group projects, etc. The Shinshinim express values of solidarity, responsibility, and persistence in their work. In the community program, the Shinshinim work in the industries of agriculture and education and strengthen communities in the geographical periphery. During the afternoon they lead different tasks inside the Kibbutz, such as tutoring children, social events, work with the youth group in the Kibbutz, etc. The Shinshinim express through their work values of manual labor, teamwork, and Zionism.
  • Education: we believe that to take responsibility for society, one needs to understand it first. The classes are meant for broadening the knowledge and offering a basis for understanding society, through trips, seminars and educational trips that relate to Economics and Society, Zionism, Judaism, Community, Gender, Politics, and more.

We encourage our Shnat Sherut alumni to enlist together in the Nahal program within the IDF. This program allows the participants to be enlisted as a recognized group in the IDF while receiving personal counseling during the service by a Hechalutz staff member. The Nahal program allows the participants to attend 7 group seminars within 20 months of service and keep in close touch with the same people they had Shnat Sherut with. After 20 months, the group begins to live together (as part of their IDF service) and work in a local underprivileged community and continue the impact they had on society during their time in Shnat Sherut.

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