Our Goals:
- Create a Year of Service program that will ensure an authentic Israeli experience for young people from the Rochester Jewish community.
- Nurture the connection between young people from the Jewish community in Rochester and the community in Modi’in.
- Create a meaningful Year of Service that will deepen the personal connection of its participants to their Jewish identity, the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
- Advance collaboration with the Modi’in community and the formal and informal education institutions through volunteering.
- Serve as a living bridge between the Rochester and Modi'in communities, and their respective partner schools.
The values of the program:
By means of rules and procedures that regulate the relationship between the Jewish Agency and you, the Year of Service volunteers, we express a practical commitment to excellence in service, and to an aspiration for continual improvement based on the following values:
Personal attitude: The employees of the Jewish Agency and the Year of Service volunteers will relate to one another and to everyone with mutual respect and esteem, and will behave politely, courteously, and patiently while expressing care and empathy for their needs, wishes and opinions.
Integrity: The Jewish Agency and the Year of Service volunteers will act ethically and will exercise decency, honesty and reliability in the various relationships between them while upholding their commitments.
Equality, openness, and tolerance: The employees of the Jewish Agency and the ShinShinim will relate equally and uniformly to any officeholder or any individual in the target audiences with whom they volunteer, and will behave with tolerance and linguistic and cultural openness while accepting a variety of opinions and views.
Transparency and training: The employees of the Jewish Agency and the ShinShinim commit to transparency and to providing the most up-to-date information that is necessary for the Year of Service volunteers and which they need in order to carry out their role and succeed in it, and to do so fully and reliably.
Professionalism: The employees of the Jewish Agency see themselves as responsible for the quality of the volunteers’ Year of Service and are committed to high quality and professional work processes, with emphasis on availability and accessibility, a fast response, consistency, and uniformity.
Rules and procedures:
The Jewish Agency views the quality of the service provided by the ShinShinim in its ranks as highly important and considers it an obligation to improve it constantly. Accordingly, we act to train this leadership group in a number of complementary circles:
We work to introduce the ShinShinim to new audiences, and different and varied populations to enable them to get to know Israeli society in depth. We train them by teaching them tools for work with these populations that are the object of their volunteering during the year.
We accompany the ShinShinim, for whom this may be the first time they have left the warmth and support of their family home. We do this by means of ongoing individual emotional, group social, and professional task-oriented mentoring from the start of the screening process until the end of their year of volunteering.
We act to enrich and empower the ShinShinim to work in the spheres of society, community, and country with the aim of building and strengthening their connection to Israel, to Israeli society, and to the Jewish people.
The ShinShinim are involved in educational activities and in various subjects such as at-risk youth, getting to know Israel, counseling, empowerment, and enrichment, and they work in informal education frameworks in order to connect them to Israel and to their Jewish and Israeli identities.
We act to train them for leadership while linking them to their Jewish identity in the hope that in the future they will want to take part in additional programs of connection to the Jewish people.
The ShinShinim carry out regular volunteer activities in the different communities,, building personal relationships with people of all ages, with the aim of nurturing a love of Israel and in-depth knowledge of the various populations that live next to one another, awareness of and sensitivity to the different challenges of Israeli society, to cultivate excellence and leadership and thus to contribute to a meaningful connection to Israel and Israelis.
Program rules:
- The ShinShinim must obey and uphold the instructions given by the Jewish Agency through the program staff and act according to the provisions of the laws of the State of Israel, and conduct themselves in a way that is fitting, appropriate and representative.
- Mandatory participation: The ShinShinim will participate in all meetings (enrichment, courses, training, personal meetings, etc.) arranged by the program manager.
- It is strictly prohibited to work for pay outside of the program framework during the Year of Service.
- Any violent behavior is strictly prohibited. A ShinShin who acts with any violence whatsoever will have their Shlichut terminated.
- The Jewish Agency is entitled to end the Year of Service at its sole discretion.
- The ShinShin is obligated to report security and safety incidents to the community manager and program staff, and to obey all procedures and instructions.
- The ShinShin's medical insurance is adapted especially for the COVID-19 pandemic. All expenses related to COVID-19 treatment are covered.
- Extreme activities: Participation in any extreme activities that take place in the framework of the position must first be approved by a member of the ShinShinim staff.
- Rules for drugs, smoking, and alcohol:
- No Cigarettes, vaping or alcohol in the host families' homes or worksites.
- Use of Drugs of any kind or any drunk or disorderly behavior will result in immediate dismissal from the program.
What’s included:
Rochester-Modi'in Partnership2Gether will provide the ShinShinim with a Rav-Kav ticket for use with public transportation.
Rochester-Modi'in Partnership2Gether will provide the ShinShinim with health insurance.
Rochester-Modi'in Partnership2Gether will arrange for host families for the ShinShinim during their volunteering, plus a monthly stipend as pocket money.
*** Flights will be booked by the Jewish Federation upon confirmation of itinerary by participant.
All participants must be in Tel Aviv by the first start date for pickup at Ben Gurion Airport.
**Cost of participation in the program: $5,400 for 5 months (which includes roundtrip airfare to Israel). Please note there is an additional cost to extend the program until the end of May, whether it's staying to volunteer in Modi'in or joining another Masa gap-year program.
For more details or questions, you can contact the program team:
Aviva Dvir, Partnership Director, Modi’in - AvivaD@jafi.org
Ayelet Boasson, Municipal Youth Director
Michal Spivak, ShinShinim Program Director, Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester - mspivak@jewishrochester.org