Living in the region and want to participate in weekly education and volunteer opportunities? Achvat's Weekly Justice Fellowship is for you! Inquiries? Reach out to elly@achvatamim.org
Program Dates: Fall: October 22nd 2023 - February 11th 2024 Weekly on Sundays! (and 2 weekend trips)
Application Deadline For Fall: October 1st, 2023
The Weekly Justice Fellowship.
Through the Weekly Justice Fellowship, fellows living in the region will participate in a weekly learning program through which they will explore history, identity, politics, economics, spirituality, and the interconnections between them in and around Jerusalem. In addition to weekly learning days, fellows participate in sustained volunteer and solidarity work with our Israeli and Palestinian partners.
Critical Learning Process.
Achvat Amim’s learning process begins with the central belief in self-determination for all people in the place they call home. Importantly, Achvat Amim does not define “self-determination”, “people”, or “home”. We take the meaning of these concepts as a starting place for inquiry and exploration. Over the course of the learning process we go in depth into the topics of Home/Land, People/Hood, Self/Determinationthat together make up our learning arc. In the first weeks of the learning process, the cohort maps out their interests and questions related to these topics. This activity guides the speakers, workshops, and tours set up for various learning days. On these learning days, participants meet with activists, educators, lawyers, and community leaders who are experts on a given topic.
Through this critical educational process, we explore history, identity, politics, economics, spirituality and examine the interconnections between them. We build shared knowledge and understanding of the complex reality on the ground and envision our role in the struggle for a society rooted in justice and equality. Achvat Amim approaches learning from a place rooted in identity, and much of the learning is through a Jewish lens. We engage with Jewish history, thought, and culture from a multitude of perspectives as we build a diverse learning community and shared understandings through a focus on racial justice and the intersection of justice struggles in the land. Over the course of the Justice Fellowship, fellows will take part in designing and leading learning seminars based on the content and material they themselves identify as most integral to justice work as educators/activists. A taste of some learning days:
Jewishness, Collective Identity, and Power Relations
Environmental Racism, Food Systems, and Justice
Activist Skills Building
Gaza and Strategies of Resistance
Gender: Masculinity, Militarism and Mizrahi Feminism
Solidarity Work.
As a part of the Weekly Justice Fellowship, fellows volunteer with grassroots projects to support and strengthen communities working towards a just world.
Achvat Amim has partnerships with a wide range of human rights, community, and educational organizations. Our volunteer placements are always changing based on the needs of local communities, and the skills our participants are excited to share. Some placement opportunities can include:
Accompanying shepherds in the Jordan Valley with Torat Tzedek
Teaching storytelling and English skills in the South Hebron Hills
Agricultural work with Tent of Nations
Rescuing and re-distributing food with Jerusalem Food Rescuers
Teaching English afterschool at Beit Safafa Community Center
Timing.
Seminars areSundays from approximately 9:30-15:30 each week. There aretwo overnight trips at the beginning and the end of the learning process. The Achvat Amim Justice Fellowship will begin on Sunday, October 22nd, and will end on Sunday, February 11th.Placements are organized in conversation with the availability of fellows and the needs of our partners, ranging from multiple days a week to once a month. The Justice Fellowship is a commitment of 7-10 hours a week.
North and South Trips
Twice during the learning process we will have overnight trips. On our trip to the South, we will explore boundaries and borders in the Negev, sit with communities in the South Hebron Hills, and investigate the history of development towns. In the North, we will explore the concept of shared society in Haifa, discuss politics with members of the kibbutz movement, and discover how access to resources fall along racial and national lines. The overnights are also an opportunity to spend time as a group and enjoy one another’s company.
Who Should Apply?
Achvat Amim's Just Fellowship is open to students, workers, teachers, travelers, activists, all of the above, or something entirely different. Applicants can be living in the region for a semester or can be permanently residing in the region.
We aim to bring people together who are motivated to make real change in the world around them. Achvat Amim connects participants to projects that aim to end racism, violence and inequality as an essential building block for a society based on values that are central to Judaism - justice, equity, and peace.
We are seeking participants who are excited to develop a creative and participatory learning environment for exploring Jewish history, tradition and culture in order to build identity and community.
