Meet Jews from all over the world. Explore your Jewish roots. Volunteer in a developing country that needs your help. Challenge yourself in the great outdoors. Go to Israel! Combine your interest in sports or writing with travel. Never have there been such a variety of travel opportunities for teens. From Bulgaria to Poland to Italy and Israel, the world is out there for you to discover!
American Jewish Society for Service Make a difference this summer. Build low-income houses, live with other Jewish teenagers and explore a new corner of the U.S. in this six-week summer camp work project. AJSS can help you to find the right program for you.
American Jewish World Service Participants work for seven weeks with an AJWS partner organization in a rural area in the developing world. Projects require intense physical labor (approximately seven hours a day, five days a week). Structured discussions occur at least four times a week, and opportunities abound for cross-cultural exchange and community building within the group.
Etgar 36 Etgar 36 is a cross country summer journey in which you experience the sites, sounds, culture, food, and people of each city. You will learn about the American history that shapes us, our Jewish heritage that binds us, the issues that confront us and how the political process impacts us. The goal of the trip is to empower you to get involved politically and socially to create change in the world.
JCI/Panim el Panim Jewish high school students from across the religious and educational spectrum come to Washington, D.C. to learn about political activism and civic engagement in the context of Jewish values and principles.
PanimWorks: DC JAM, on the campus of The George Washington University, is a leadership training program for teens passionate about politics, community service, activism and Judaism. You will meet experts, participate in hands-on service projects and develop skills to pioneer change and impact the issues you care about. Two 2-week sessions or a four week session (including a bonus opportunity of a placement in a DC agency) will be offered for students currently in grades 10-12. For more information or to apply visit www.dcjam.org
PanimWorks: Southwest is a cultural exchange and community service program on the Navajo Reservation in the American Southwest. You will earn up to 45 community service-learning hours, make new friends, and live and work in an entirely new culture, while participating in fun outdoor recreational activities! Three sessions will be offered for students currently in grades 9-12. For more information or to apply visit www.panimworks.org
Maccabi The JCC Maccabi Games can be called the Olympics for Jewish teens, but they serve a larger purpose than athletic competition. The Games also promote community involvement, teamwork and pride in being Jewish. Each athlete has the chance to participate in one of 14 sporting events, creating memories that will last a lifetime. The Maccabi Games are the largest Jewish teen event in the world – each summer more than 6,000 Jewish teens participate in the Games.
March of the Living The March of the Living is an international, educational program that brings Jewish teens from all over the world to Poland on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, to march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest concentration camp complex built during World War II, and then to Israel to observe Yom HaZikaron, Israel Memorial Day, and Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day.
NFTY High School in Israel For the Reform teen looking for the ultimate in life experience, the Eisendrath International Exchange High School in Israel is the time of a lifetime. This is a four-month accredited high school nestled in the Judean mountains. Students live together, learn together and grow together as a community while they explore four thousand years of Jewish memory, learn Hebrew, and come to know Israel as their second home.
Sid Jacobson JCC Alternative Spring Break Contact Stu Botwinick at or 516-484-1545 Annual trips to volunteer in Louisiana and Jamaica. From building houses for migrant workers to helping victims of disasters, lend a helping hand with hands-on volunteer work.
Szarvas Fellowships program This is the world’s largest international summer camp, located in Hungary. Every summer Jewish teen leaders come together for the unique opportunity to meet, celebrate, explore and share experiences.
The TIYUL @ the 92nd Street Y The Tiyul is six amazing weeks of community service, outdoor adventure and travel throughout the United States. The Tiyul will change your life!
USY Outdoor Adventure: Costa Rica Discover the wonder of Costa Rica on a 3-week adventure and Spanish immersion program while hiking, sightseeing, and exploring the rain forests of Central America. Learn how to live a Jewish lifestyle in the rain forests.
USY Outdoor Adventure: Pacific Northwest Discover the wonder of the Pacific Northwest on a 4-week camping trip with USY while hiking, sightseeing, and sea-kayaking. Learn how to live a Jewish lifestyle in the great outdoors.
USY on Wheels: Travel USA Spend six and a half weeks traveling coast to coast and experience North America, from sunrise on the rim of the Grand Canyon to pizza and blues in Chicago.
USY on Wheels: Mission Mitzvah Travel through the U.S. and participate in intensive social action projects in the communities you visit. Approximately one-third of the 45-day trip will consist of various hands-on projects that will directly impact the community and people you'll meet and projects that will help improve the community and living situations.
Youth Ambassadors in Bulgaria (winter) The BBYO Ambassadors in Bulgaria program brings teens from around the world together to focus on diversity and commonality in the Jewish world. The 10-day trip includes sightseeing and traveling throughout the country, seminars on Jewish identity, community service opportunities, plus plenty of social activities and celebration surrounding the winter holidays.
Write On For Israel Write On For Israel is an intensive and exciting two-year program that trains a select group of high school students to become advocates for Israel through journalism. A project of the New York Jewish Week newspaper, Write On For Israel teaches students about Israel, Zionism and the Arab-Israeli conflict and empowers them to become effective advocates through writing, broadcasting and public speaking. Culminates in a free trip to Israel.
