Browse Programs

An 8-month gap year for UK school leavers built around Socialist-Zionist and collective-living values: 3 months on kibbutz (Shorashim) for group bonding, Hebrew ulpan and Jewish/Zionist education; a month of leadership training; and 4 months (Anafim) living communally in an Israeli city, volunteering, running youth groups, teaching English, and a March of the Living trip to Poland.

Britain's flagship Zionist-youth-movement gap year: a 9-month program (or 4-month option) split between a Jerusalem semester and a Tel Aviv-area semester based in Bat Yam, combining academic study, community volunteering, direct engagement with Israeli society and a Special Interest Month (options include kibbutz, yeshiva, hiking, business internship, or surfing).

From £12,999, with subsidies available

An 8-10 month program for young adults (18-21) combining Sherut Leumi-style social-service volunteering (health, education or welfare, participant's choice) with an educational program on Israeli-Arab conflict, politics and current affairs, leadership/entrepreneurship seminars, and cultural/outdoor activities, while living independently in rented Tel Aviv apartments.

A women's midrasha built on Religious-Zionist ideals, combining Torah learning with hands-on community service — students volunteer with the children of Beit Hayeled, becoming part of the children's extended foster family alongside their studies.

An immersive, co-ed, modern-Orthodox Zionist gap-year program giving participants a broad taste of Israeli life through internships, kibbutz living, volunteering, Magen David Adom training, a taste of Marva IDF preparation, seminars, Torah learning and travel.

$17,000-$25,000, with $5,000-$10,000 Masa grants typically available

A Foreign Volunteer Program placing short-term overseas volunteers alongside nursing staff, in service laboratories, and in patient-comfort and care roles at Hadassah's two university hospitals, with a coordinator introducing each volunteer to their unit and staying in touch throughout their placement.

Israel's national food-rescue organization runs gleaning trips to pick surplus produce in the fields, night-time food rescue runs, and sandwich-packing sessions for schoolchildren, redistributing rescued food to a network of 200+ partner nonprofits serving over 175,000 people weekly; sessions require no prior training or professional credentials.

Free

Volunteers support children from developing countries receiving pediatric cardiac care, organizing games and activities and providing companionship and emotional support to patients and families before and after their procedures; tracks range from an 'Immersive' 3-week minimum to longer 'Superstar' and 'Buddy' commitments of 2+ months.

Free to volunteer; participants arrange and cover their own accommodations

A service-learning center co-directed by a Jewish woman and a Muslim man where young-adult volunteers weekly support Beit Elisha (a group home for adults with disabilities) and Sha'ar La'adam's ecological/educational activities, alongside pluralistic Jewish learning, Hebrew and Arabic classes, coexistence sessions, theater and bio-dynamic gardening.

Places North American medical students, nursing students, and other healthcare professionals as volunteers in Israeli hospitals and primary-care services, matched to placements by ability and availability. Also runs an annual APF/Birthright medical trip for medical, nursing, and allied-health students to see Israeli healthcare firsthand.

(unconfirmed) likely participant covers own travel/lodging as a volunteer placement -- confirm with APF

A volunteer EMT program for young Jewish adults (ages 18-40) that provides certified first-responder/EMT training followed by real ambulance shifts alongside Israeli paramedics; offered independently and through Masa Israel partnerships.

~$400-$1,300 depending on program track (partial subsidies available via Masa)

An official Israeli government program placing overseas volunteers from 51+ countries into welfare settings (group homes, day centers, nursing homes) to support people with disabilities, at-risk youth, Holocaust survivors, and the elderly.

Accommodation, stipend, meals, insurance, and Hebrew classes provided; volunteers cover their own flight

A national civilian service alternative to IDF service for young adults ages 17-24, placing volunteers in hospitals, schools, at-risk-youth programs, and other social service settings; Nefesh B'Nefesh provides dedicated support (including a track for lone volunteers) for participants coming from abroad.

A Masa-affiliated program for English-speaking young adults (ages 21-30) to live, study Hebrew and Jewish culture, and volunteer in south Tel Aviv-Jaffa, choosing between Social Action, Coexistence, or Internship tracks over 5 or 10 months.

A long-running lone-soldier program (since 1991) that brings young Jewish adults from abroad to make aliyah and serve in the IDF, providing a 'garin' (seed group) peer community, host absorption support, and ongoing assistance before, during, and after military service.

A volunteer program placing civilians (17+) on IDF bases for 1-3 weeks to perform non-combat logistical support such as packing medical supplies and equipment maintenance, living alongside soldiers.

Registration/program fee varies; participants cover own flights

A 9-month service-learning fellowship for ages 22-32 involving ~30 hours/week of grassroots volunteering across multiple placements, Hebrew ulpan, and immersive learning about Israeli society.

~$1,000 (heavily subsidized; includes housing and monthly stipend)

The longest-running Israel gap-year program, an 8-month experience combining kibbutz-based collective living, volunteering with Israel's Hanoar HaOved VeHalomed youth movement, a Poland seminar, and study of Israeli society.

~$24,500 (2026-27), scholarships and Masa grants available

A 10-month secular gap-year program in which participants live communally with Israeli peers in south Tel Aviv, study pluralistic Judaism and Hebrew, and take part in grassroots social-action volunteering.

A customizable gap-year and semester program combining internships or volunteering, Hebrew ulpan, academic courses for college credit, and field trips, with participants living in staffed apartments in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

~$13,990-$25,490 (before Masa grants)

Short-term programs in Tzfat and Jerusalem focused on Jewish identity, hiking, volunteering, and Israeli history.

$1,500-$3,000 depending on session

A nine-month gap year program combining volunteering, touring, army experience, and academic study across Israel.

~$30,000 (financial aid available)