Masa Year of Service

Dear parents and participants,

Masa Year of Service is off to a great start!
We met new friends, traveled and explored Israel and started our volunteer work. We’re happy to share with you some of these great moments and invite you to be part of our shared experiences.

Tiyul (trip - day!)

During the past few weeks went on trips all around the country!

So far we had the chance to tour Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Kiryat Gat, Northen Galili and Jaffa! Each trip took us on a fascinating journey in which learned about Israel’s history, got to know Israeli society and enjoyed nature!

"Katef shaul" overview

We traveled north to Spring Valley and had a wonderful water-hike at nahal hakibbutzim. We swam, enjoyed nature and had a great time meeting students from other Aardvark programs as well. Later that day we went to a nice lookout called “Katef Shaul” (up the Gilboa Mountain) and heard about its jewish history.

Jaffa and Neve Tzedek

We got a chance to tour these beautiful neighborhoods and learn more about their history, demography and culture.

It was eye-opening to see how much has changed throughout the years!

Kiryat Gat & Hurvat Midras

We visited at “beta”, a unique Ethiopian village! We met the local community and heard amazing stories about their Aliya (their journey to Israel).

We also went on a hike at “Hurvat Madres” and crawled in a tunnel which led us to a beautiful cave.

Jerusalem

Our trip to jerusalem was wonderful as we got to know Jerusalem through learning about the city’s beautiful sights and historical views. We visited Mishkenot sha’ananim, the first neighborhood outside the old city walls, and had lunch at Machane Yehuda Market.

Group Volunteering

As we got prepared to start our volunteer placements after the Chagim (Jewish holidays), we joined a few volunteer activities, meeting very interesting people and making an impact on Israeli society.

For Yom Kippur and Sukkot, we collected food packages and delivered them to people in need and worked in a soup kitchen serving free hot meals. These experiences were extremely powerful as the joint work brought us closer as a group, and we had an incredible opportunity to meet new people as well.

Weekly activities

Every Sunday we have a weekly meeting. We come together in our apartment to talk about the schedule of the upcoming week and have a chance to spend time together as a group.

we spent are last few meetings talking about our living situation as we set expectations and shared ideas of how we can help one another throughout the year.

We also have fun nights, cooking original Israeli Shakshukkah, making fresh home-made pasta, and made our own choclate bars!