Jewish volunteer service matters.  A recent study of American Jews found that making the world a better place ranked highest as the most personally meaningful activity. 

Jewish term of service programs connect with this sense of meaning in a deep way.  They offer intensive, immersion experiences in which volunteers serve full-time – from a week to a year.  Jewish term of service programs are open to people aged 15 through post-retirement. Participants work and study together, building community and making a difference, helping others and transforming themselves, becoming more engaged citizens and expanding their understanding of what it means to be Jewish. 

Mission and Goals

The Jewish Coalition for Service was recently listed in Slingshot as one of 50 most innovative Jewish organizations. The mission of the Jewish Coalition for Service is to inspire everyone in the Jewish community to dedicate a part of their lives to full-time, hands-on volunteer service. 

The Coalition accomplishes this goal by:

1) Helping members of the Jewish community find full-time volunteer programs and by helping programs find high quality volunteers,

2) Developing a national movement of the alumni of Jewish service programs and mobilizing their capacity to expand the field,

3) Acting as a resource for Jewish professionals and lay leaders to foster growing interest in Jewish service, and

4) Providing a collective framework in which programs can address shared challenges of organizational and resource development. 

Impact

The more than 70 programs that are affiliated with the Coalition address pressing needs of communities and individuals, among both Jews and non-Jews.  They deliver thousands of hours of direct volunteer service.  Perhaps most important they convey the Jewish community’s spiritual solidarity and concern with people in crisis all over the world.

Affiliated Programs

92nd Street Y

92nd Street Y HAVAYA International

www.92y.org

The American Jewish Committee

www.ajc.org

AJC Fellows Program in International and Domestic Affairs

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Inc.

www.jdc.org- click on how you can help

Break New Ground

JDC Jewish Service Corps

JDC Short Term Service Program

Ralph I. Goldman Fellowship

Roslyn Z. Wolf Cleveland-JDC International Fellows Program

American Jewish Society for Service
www.ajss.org

American Jewish World Service
www.ajws.org

Alternative Breaks (with Weinberg Tzedek Hillel)

Break New Ground

Delegations

American Jewish World Service Volunteer Summer

Jewish Volunteer Corps

World Partners Fellowship

Am Kolel

www.bubersummer.org 

Martin Buber Summer Youth Institute for Teens

AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps

www.avodah.net

BBYO

www.bbyoprograms.org/spark/sparkmain.cfm

Project Shema

The Bina Center

www.tikunolamisrael.org

Tikun Olam in Tel Aviv

Binghamton University Hillel

www.hillelatbinghamton.org

Break New Ground

Brit Olam