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 50 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
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
JDC Jewish Service Corps
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)
Delegations
American Jewish World Service Volunteer Summer
Jewish Volunteer Corps
World Partners Fellowship
AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps
www.avodah.net
BBYO
www.bbyoprograms.org/spark/sparkmain.cfm
Nitzotz (with spark: Partnership for Service)
The Bina Center
www.tikunolamisrael.org
Tikun Olam in Tel Aviv
Brit Olam
www.britolam.org
Apples and Honey
Camp Isabella Friedman
www.isabellafreedman.org/adamah
ADAMAH: The Jewish Environmental Leadership Fellowship
Camp Tawonga
http://www.tawonga.org/qt_israel.html
Teen Service Learning Trip to Israel
The Dorot Foundation
www.dorot.org
The Dorot Fellowship in Israel
The Jewish Agency for Israel
www.jafi.org.il
Kibbutz Ulpan - Community Sharing Means Caring
OTZMA - United Jewish Communities & The Jewish Agency for Israel
Project 1000 Volunteers
Stagerim Professional Internship Program
WUJS ARAD INSTITUTE - International Graduate Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies
Magen David Adom Volunteer Program - YOCHAI PORAT
Jewish National Fund
www.jnf.org
Northern Renewal Campaign Alternative Break
CAARI
Jewish Organizing Initiative
www.jewishorganizing.org
The Jewish Youth Philanthropy Institute (JYPI)
www.jypi.org
Service Learning Camp
Kibbutz Lotan
http://www.kibbutzlotan.com/creativeEcology/ga/index.htm
Green Apprenticeship
Livnot U'Lehibanot
www.livnot.org
30-Somethings
Community Service Leadership Fellows
Community Service Spring Break
Alternative Spring Break Trips to Israel
Hike and Explore
Jewish Educators
Livnot Journey
Galilee Fellowship
Galilee Fellowship Kiryat Shmona Program
Nechama: Jewish Response to Disaster
www.nechama.orgHYPERLINK "http://www.jewishservice.org/redirect.html?link=http://www.nechama.org"
92nd Street Y
www.92y.org
The Tiyul
The Nesiya Institute
www.nesiya.org
PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values
www.panim.org
Jewish Civics Initiative
Panim El Panim
Panim Fellowships
Summer JAM (Judaism, Activism, and Mitzvah work)
spark: partnership for service
www.sparkpfs.org
Nitzotz (with BBYO)
Temple B'nai Abraham
fudgeaugust@hotmail.com
Tikkun Olam Family Work Trip to Maine
Union for Reform Judaism
www.urj.org
www.rac.org
Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Fellowship
Machon Kaplan Summer College Internship Program
Tzevet Mitzvot: Adult Mitzvah Corps
NFTY Mitzvah Corp
Adult Mitzvah Corps in Israel
United Jewish Communities
www.ujc.org
www.otzma.org
Otzma (with The Jewish Agency for Israel)
Washington DC Jewish Community Center
http://washingtondcjcc.org/kids-and-parents/camp/camp-yad.html
Camp Yad B'Yad
Weinberg Tzedek Hillel
www.tzedekhillel.org
Alternative Breaks (with American Jewish World Service)
Local Hillel Alternative Breaks
Weinberg Tzedek Hillel Fellowship
Student Leadership Tzedek (Social Justice) Mission to Israel
Yachad
www.yachad-dc.org/images/rampitup.pdf
Ramp it Up!
Young Judaea
www.youngjudaea.org- click on Israel
Shalem – Shnat Limud U’ma’aseh
Year Course in Israel
WUJS ARAD INSTITUTE - International Graduate Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies
Local Service Initiatives
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston
www.jcrcboston.org
Related Organizations
birthright Israel
www.birthrightisrael.com
Jewish Community Centers Association
www.jcca.org
Weinberg Tzedek Hillel
www.tzedekhillel.org
History
In 2001 fourteen term of service programs formed the Jewish Coalition for Service to support one another and to begin to build a national movement. Using seed grants from UJA-Federation of NY and Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, they launched the www.jewishservice.org. With the help of The Trust for Jewish Philanthropy, additional funds were raised from two generous anonymous funders, from the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and from other donors to enable the Coalition to become a professionally staffed organization. In February 2003 the Coalition incorporated and opened its office.
Officers
President - Arthur Shapiro
Secretary/Treasurer - Rabbi Leon Morris
Photo Credits
Thanks to the following programs and individuals for providing the pictures for our website--AJWS, OTZMA, Summer Jam, The Tiyul, Tzedek Hillel, Emily Weinstein, Melanie Greenspan, Robin Wehl, Noah Farkas, and Miriam Feinberg.
Contact Information:
The Jewish Coalition for Service
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1367
New York, NY 10115
Phone: 212-870-2450
Fax: 212-870-2455
General Email Address: info@jewishservice.org
Executive Director - Simha Rosenberg,
simha@jewishservice.orgHYPERLINK "http://www.jewishservice.org/redirect.html?link=mailto:whitney@jewishservice.org"
Program Manager - Melanie Hildebrandt,
melanie@jewishservice.org
Program Associate - Navit Robkin,
navit@jewishservice.org 
