Young Judaea

Young Judea studentsYoung Judaea Year Course provides a year of immersive and intentional educational experiences. The program consists of three major components; service learning and volunteer/internship placements in the city of Tel Aviv and surrounding area, academic studies in Jerusalem, and regular seminars that enable participants to explore Israeli society, culture, nature, politics, and history.

Every experience is curated through the prism of Young Judaea’s educational principles known as the “Five Pillars”. These foundational principles form the backbone of all learning that takes place at every level of programming, regardless of location, or length. The pillars are as follows: Zionism, Jewish Identity, Pluralism, Social Action, and Peer Leadership.


Accreditation

Hebrew College is accredited by NECHE to offer undergraduate credits to students attending Young Judaea.

Kivunim

Kivunim offers a unique academic/experiential gap-year program for High School graduates based in Jerusalem, with programmed field trip visits to up to 12 different countries (including India where students have had the privilege of private audiences with His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, pictured above) and over 50 cities and villages significant to the history of the Jewish people. The core curriculum is based on the premise that in order to fully understand ourselves we must appreciate the cultures and religions of our hosts. Kivunim attracts those who are serious students, open-minded in their thinking and flexible in their encounter with the rich diversity of the world of our travels, from Morocco to India.

Kivunim is the only gap-year program teaching Arabic as well as Hebrew and cultivating “Critical Inquiry about Israel” ( the title of a major academic study about KIVUNIM by Dr. Bethamie Horowitz and published (2024) in “Teaching Israel – Studies of Pedagogy from the Field” edited by Sivan Zakai and Matt Reingold and published by Brandeis University Press. The program includes a significant art component with noted artist-in-residence Tobi Kahn.

Hebrew College is keenly interested in Kivunim graduates as key prospects for our graduate programs in Jewish leadership, ordination and Jewish Education. The pluralist, academic and contextual orientations of the Kivunim program align closely with Hebrew College’s mission.

Hebrew College offers five courses totaling 30 credits as part of the Kivunim program.


Accreditation

Hebrew College is accredited by NECHE to offer undergraduate credits to students attending Kivunim.