Social Action

Alternative Winter Break

Alternative Winter Break (AWB) is a week-long service learning program emphasizing Tikkun Olam (repairing the world), social responsibility and volunteerism. While working to make a difference, participants gain Jewish context for their social action projects, a deeper understanding of the issues and challenges facing the community in which they work, and crucial leadership skills, as well as actionable items and experiences to bring home to their own communities.

Year Course: Tikkun Olam in Rwanda

Agahozo Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), founded by Year Course alumna Anne Heyman z”l, provides hundreds of Rwandan orphans and youth-at-risk a home and education. Anne believed in the power of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) and aimed to replicate Israel’s successful system of youth villages for orphans in Rwanda.

Year Course participants have the option to spend three weeks at ASYV, learning and volunteering alongside their Rwandan peers. Before embarking on the trip, participants raise funds for the village by leading fundraising events and inviting family and friends to contribute to the cause. Once in Rwanda, they volunteer at the village farm and kitchen, tutor students in English, lead workshops and assist in after school activities such as art, music, dance, photography, sports and more.

Hadracha at TY: DC Activism Mission

Teens in Hadracha, Camp Tel Yehudah’s leadership and activism track for 10th and 11th graders, undertake a 4-day trip to Washington, DC to see the sights and sounds of our nation’s capital and learn about today’s most pressing issues through direct dialogue with the US Congress, advocacy organizations and Young Judaea alumni on the forefront of US policy.