Options
This period follows the first four months of the Shnat Netzer program, and lasts for about 2 months. Options is the time for the participant to get what they, as an individual, want out of Israel and so it can take place all over the country. During this period the participants get to choose a volunteer placement (often more than one) to work in. This placement depends on the participants skills and interests, and certain criteria for each option.
Below are several of the Options we have offered in the past. However this changes from year to year and we are open to suggestions from the Shnatties themselves.
Jerusalem Based Options
1) Magen
This option includes volunteering at a residential home for adults with learning disabilities, which has strong links to Kol Hanashama (a major Progressive synagogue in Jerusalem). There are about 20 or so adult residents living there who have mild to medium learning disabilities. The goal of the hostel
is to provide social & recreational activities and to help increase the residents' independence. You will be involved as a volunteer in helping out in
the whole range of the hostel's activities, which could include chatting to and befriending the residents, helping with activities, taking them on
outings, etc.
2) Archaeological Dig
You'll be working at the Beit Guvrin (Tel Morisha) "Dig for a Day" site. You will act as a Madrich/a, helping the guides show tour groups around the archaeological site and teaching them how to do what is known as the "sift, shlep, sort" rotation. Some people who show initiative may eventually
get to do the "spiel" themselves with some groups.
3) Pardes
Pardes is an excellent Yeshiva in Jerusalem, which attracts students from all streams of Judaism. You will be able to choose from a variety of courses
and classes, which Pardes offers as part of its Summer Program. This is an opportunity for traditional style, serious Jewish study under the
guidance of experienced teachers. This will probably only take up half, or just over half of, your time.
4) Gan Harmony
You will either be working every morning on a Kaytana (non-residential day camp) at Gan Harmony and/or working for 1½ hours each afternoon in
their afternoon activities. Gan Harmony is a unique program for pre-school aged children in that it integrates disabled and non-disabled children.
Located in Har Nof, Jerusalem, it is also a mixture of ultra-orthodox, modern religious and non-religious children. Volunteers will assist in many
of the activities in the Kaytana including art, music and sports chuggim, Usually you will also work specifically one to one with one particular child
who is allocated to you.
5) JNF
i) Hadracha Option: This is a special JNF Hadracha program which involves you working as a Madrich/a with visiting tour groups, usually of 16 year
olds from Britain and USA, while they are involved in JNF programming including ecological education, tiyulim and getting involved in nature.
You would undergo a one and a half week training course with all the others on this program and you would then spend the rest of the time
working with groups. It is far preferred by JNF that this will be a single Option lasting the whole summer, so that you can work as a Madrich/a
for about 5 weeks.
ii) Working in the Netzer Forest
You will travel each day to the Netzer Forest, about 45 minutes outside Jerusalem, and will be involved in outdoor physical work, mainly in the Netzer
Forest but also sometimes other areas, contributing to the land and the environment. You will be involved in such things as clearing and creating
paths, clearing archaeological finds, caring for and nurturing the trees, pruning, weeding, etc. and generally contributing to the joint JNF/Netzer
plan for this area of forest near to Beit Shemesh.
6) Working with the Elderly
You will be volunteering to help out with elderly people. This could take the form of working within an old age people's home and/or befriending one or
more specific elderly people, either living in a home or in their own homes. You would do such things as visit them, read to them, help them out
with shopping and generally befriend them. This Option would not take up all your time and would be combined with another Jerusalem based
Option.
7) Soup / Food Kitchen
You will be volunteering to help out with a food/soup kitchen which feeds hungry people in the neighbourhood. This will entail working in the mornings helping prepare the food (cutting, chopping, washing, etc.) and then helping serve people during the lunch time period, This Option would probably not take up all your time and would be combined with another Jerusalem based Option.
Non-Jerusalem Based Options
8) Machane Shimshon
This is a residential English speaking Machaneh for a mix of Jewish children from all over Israel and the Diaspora (mainly American), aged approximately
10-14. You would be living where the camp takes place, Kibbutz Tzora, a large kibbutz about 40 minutes outside Jerusalem. If, as last year, there
are not so many Diaspora children coming for the camp because of the situation, then the camp will probably run in the same way but just with a
greater percentage of Israelis. This is a very intense hadracha experience lasting approximately 5 weeks.
9) Marva
This is a 2 month army program, where you get to see a lot of the country on tiyulim, do a fair amount of 'basic training' (pretty hard physical exercise
with an emphasis on discipline) and participate in an educational program, mostly in Ivrit, about the army, Israeli history and wars, etc. Most of the
time you live on army bases. Those doing Marva will do this as their sole Option.
10) Rishon L’tzion – Partnership 2000
Kaytana in Development Town
The idea of this Option is to live and work in an 'independent living style' situation in a disadvantaged neighbourhood of an Israeli town. You would spend
the mornings as a madrich/a helping the Israeli madrichim to run a Kaytana (non-residential day camp) which could be either Hebrew and/or
English speaking for local neighbourhood children aged approximately 6-12. We go to the above town is that it is a twin community with the
Australian Diaspora community. For this reason, they will only take people from a twin community.
11) English-speaking Kaytanot around the Country
You will be working on a Kaytana (non-residential day camp) and this could take place in a variety of locations and settings in Israel. A key aim of the
Kaytana is that it will all be in English to help the children improve their English and, as opposed to just helping out in a Kaytana, in this Option you
and a team of other English speaking volunteers will be planning and running the whole thing. Living situation will vary according to which Kaytana
it is – it could be staying in the house of a host family, living in a separate flat, or living together in a Merkaz Klita (absorption centre). Most camps
will be run for 2 sessions, each of 2 weeks with a few days preparation and training beforehand., In some cases, it may be possible to do just the
training and one 2 week session. Some of the places where these Kaytanot take place are Jewish Israeli town and cities, some are Druze or
Bedouin villages or towns.
12) Machane Noar Telem
Noar Telem is the name of Netzer’s snif in Israel and belongs to the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaims (IMPJ). This Option would entail, initially,
being a Madrich/a on their two week summer machaneh for 11-15 year olds. This year the Machane will probable be based on a residential
dormitory style site somewhere near Ashkelon. To be a madrich/a on the regular camp, this Option requires a reasonable-good level of Hebrew.
If you do this, it is then also an option to stay on, after a few day break, as a participant in the 4 day Bogrim camp where you can get to make new friendships among Noar Telem and cement those that you made with your co-madrichim on the machaneh.
13) Netzer Machanot Abroad
Traditionally, this has involved being a Madrich/a on either Shemesh or Kadima, which are respectively the RSY-Netzer and ULPSNYC-Netzer summer
camps in the UK. You would arrive about 2 weeks before camp starts, stay with one of the British madrichim and spend most of the time helping prepare for camp and getting to know the rest of the tzevet. You would go to camp for the 2 weeks and leave to return to Israel the day after camp ends. This year there also a possibility (by no means certain) that you could be a madrich on Netzer Spain’s 5 day summer camp. This too would involve a period of preparation beforehand. Not knowing Spanish will not necessarily be a problem.
14) Kibbutz Lotan – Summer Hadracha & Ecology There are two possibilities, one of which is more established than the other.
a) Summer hadracha:
You will be a Madrich/a, living on and getting to know Kibbutz Lotan, both as a Kibbutz and its summer seminar program. You will be part of a
friendly tzevet composed of both kibbutz members and volunteers. The seminars are run for Israel Tours of Jewish teenagers from America,
Britain and Israel. The aim is to excite them about the Arava and the challenge of living as a Reform Zionist Community. You will plan and run
peulot, run creative chuggim according to your skills, help staff the "goodies shop" and take an equal part with the rest of the tzevet in the organisational and toran duties. You may also help out with some general kibbutz volunteering work if there are no groups for a given period.
b) Ecology
There is a possibility that we could work out with Kibbutz Lotan an ecology based option where you would be working with the varying ecology
related projects that Lotan has as well as learning about their approach to ecology in the desert. This includes such things as the ecological
garden, alternative therapies and building structures from mud and reusable materials . It might also be possible to combine this with some of the
above hadracha work.
15) Sarel
This is a 3 week program, based on an army base in the centre of Israel, which combines volunteering in the army base for two weeks, and experiencing
a little bit of soldier training for one week. This week is Gadna - an intensive experiential army program, with basic training, battle stories, etc. Your
madrichim through out the whole period are soldiers doing their army service. The program also involves 1 day siurim (tours) - to places you haven't
yet visited and getting to know the Israeli army first hand.
16) Ilan Camp, Kibbutz Ashdot Ya’akov
You will live and work as a volunteer on this residential camp run by Ilan, a well known Israeli organisation working with disabled children and adults.
17) Residential Camp for the Blind in Tzfat
You will live and work as a madrich/a on this 2-3 week residential camp for the Blind - children youth and young adults - held in Tzfat
Click here for information on Machon/Etgar or Kibbutz or to return to the Shnat Netzer page