Yachad Gap Year is the ultimate Israel immersion experience, offering you the opportunity to learn, volunteer and explore Israel in Israeli Mechina programs with Israeli peers. For more than 20 years, these prestigious programs have been offering amazing experiences for Israeli high school grads, and now you can join them! And there's a Mechina program for every taste—non-religious, Reform, Orthodox and mixed; and any place in Israel you like.
If you're ready to create strong and lasting bonds with Israeli peers—if you're ready to have a deep and meaningful experience that you'll cherish for a lifetime—if you're ready to give back to Israeli society and to the Jewish people—then Yachad Gap Year is for you!
Learning: Each Mechina program has a talented and highly-trained teaching staff that will conduct discussion-based classes on Israeli society, Zionist history, Jewish studies, Jewish identity, philosophy and more.
Volunteering: You'll be active in the community where you live, by working in public schools and after school programs, visiting with elderly populations and contributing to the community through special projects.
Exploring Israel: Throughout the year you'll have seminars for several days to explore different parts of Israel. And some Mechina programs hike the "Israel Trail," which spans all of Israel from the southern tip of Eilat, all the way to the most northern point of the Galilee.
Life in the Group: You'll be part of a self-governing community in the Mechina program that makes all the major decisions governing life in the group. You'll serve on committees that determine everything from how to divide up the group food budget, to planning trips and seminars, to inviting guest speakers and performers for cultural evenings.
Yachad is the ultimate Israel immersion experience, because you're in totally Israeli programs with Israelis your own age the whole time! You and your Israeli peers govern every aspect of life, from dividing up the group food budget, to planning seminars and trips. And you can choose between a broad variety of programs, for every level of observance, and in every part of Israel!
