Yahel - Israel Service Learning

I was a fellow in the 2021- 2022 cohort. I have only now gotten to the stage where i have been able to move on to the point where i can speak objectively about my experience. To cut a long story short i will summarize my horrific experience in the following points:

- Faced discrimination for not being jewish and had anti-christian rhetoric thrown at me (As at the time i was christian). Before i even got to israel i had rumours made up about me and i faced hatred and vitriole

- Was put in very inapproriate and potentially incriminating situations such as being asked to be with a minor with severe mental health issues unsupervised in his home along with his sister who was also a minor.

- Faced bullying and harrasment from coordinators on multiple occassions despite them being completely astute and aware of my mental health history

- Was slandered and had false rumours made up about me which were spread throughout the cohort and also to people in my placements which created unimaginable distress and sent me into a mental health crisis. A doctor sent me to emergency at the hospital because of my mental health state.

- Was refused time to see doctors for blood tests despite me being very ill from all the stress of my situation

- Was forced to go back to Australia after my psychologist told them i wasnt doing well and that they needed to excercise their duty of care. Was basically told to leave immediately and to tell my placements i was leaving because i had family issues.

- I witnessed severe bullying from the coodinator of Haifa towards a girl in our cohort who had physical limitations. Her mental health was approaching crisis point. This got worse when she faced biphobia as well. As somone who now identifies as bisexual, i feel there needs to be accountability placed on those responsible for this discrimination and mistreatment.

- One of my friends went to a placement and faced an anti semitic tirade from some arab students. He was highly distressed and asked his coordinator to not go back and they basically said suck it up.

The people at my placements were furious with how was i treated and one was close to intervening.

I need to say that these points are only the tip of the iceberg as to what i went through, it was hell.

The ramifications for my mental health from my time in Yahel were severe as i was hospitalised for 2 months when i got back to australia and have spent 12 months in intensive therapy to which i have nearly finished.

As somone who is now in the jewish community, i feel that it is my obligation to shed light on injustices. I do not want this to happen to anyone else and my review serves as reasonble consequence for how myself and my friends in the 2021-2022 cohort were treated.

I was a Yahel fellow in 2018-2019 and lived in Lod. I loved my experience, my cohort, the amazing staff and community members I worked with. Yahel is extremely thoughtful in how they designed their program, interact with the community and create partnerships. My year with Yahel was transformative and is a main reason I have changed my career from medicine to social work, specifically community organizing.

Yahel is intentional with the speakers they have talk to us and seminars we go on. They expose fellows to a variety of people in your specific community and throughout Israel, who all have their own experiences, perspectives and feelings. They created a brave space for us to have difficult conversations, ask questions and challenge eachother.

I always felt supported by staff. When I got really sick, staff called the doctor for me right away and make sure I was seen. When I had to go to the emergency room, different staff members stayed with me all 18+ hours and advocated for me since I did not speak fluent Hebrew. I was completely covered for both experiences by their insurance. Living abroad for 9 months can be difficult at times and when I was struggling mentally, the staff supported me 100% in any way I needed. Both my city director, fellowship director and executive director took time to talk with me, invited me into their homes and provided me with resources.

I still keep in touch with my cohort and have visited many of them, as we have moved around the world. Overall, Yahel is a deliberate program that can provide you with
a vairety perspectives and experiences that you will likely not have access to otherwise. It is an astounding program and I recommend it to anyone looking for an unique opportunity to learn and who is ready to immerse themselves into a different community.

I did the Yahel Social Change fellowship last year, as part of the 2021-2022 Cohort. I lived in Lod, and volunteered at several schools as an English teacher and English Teaching assistant, worked at an NGO, and more. Before Yahel, I had never been to Israel before, and living there for 9 months seemed like a long time to be away from home. Now, around 5 months after the program ended, I am living in Tel Aviv on a work visa teaching English, something I had never done before Yahel.
The Yahel Social Change Fellowship is for people who are not interested in a brief tourist-stint in Israel. It is for people who are dedicated to serving a community that values them and the work they put into helping their community. The YSCF perfectly encompasses the phrase "Be a traveler, not a tourist." You'll really feel like part of whatever community you are a part of (Lod, Rishon Letzion, or Haifa), which was maybe the most beautiful part of the whole experience. I even had an amazing host family that the fellowship staff connected me with that I ate with every Friday for Shabbat. Beyond the meaningful work placements, the staff was great, helpful, and caring. Beyond the service work, the 4 or 5 seminars that you will take with the program will be fun, interesting, and educational. You'll travel to places most Israelis would never even think about going, like the Druze village in Rameh or an unrecognized Bedouin village in the Negev. Having these experiences will teach you more about the complexities of Israel in ways a traditional classroom never could. And since the cohorts are usually a little over 20 people, the group becomes very close and the friends I made there are friends for life. If you're looking to be part of a big family, learn a lot about Israel, and do meaningful volunteer work, Yahel is for you. The YSCF is not meant for people who cannot handle hearing perspectives other than their own. During the learning days and seminars, you'll hear from people with very different perspectives and views on Israel and the conflict at large. During my year, there were a few people that ended up leaving the fellowship. Most of those that left the program were not able truly to empathize with the perspectives of others and left as a result of that as well as being more interested in living in Israel for a year for free than actually serving a community through volunteer placements. Don't let the negative reviews you may see on this site dismay you. If you're someone who cares about understanding different perspectives, wants to serve a cause above yourself, make tons of friends and connections, and learn about Israel in a unique and interesting way, then Yahel is for you. One of the best years of my life. -Josh

I did the 2012-13 9-month volunteer program. This program is well-designed, intentional, and thoughtful. We networked with a variety of non-profits/NGOs around Israel, which exposed us to the wonderful social justice being practiced across the country. Dana and the Yahel staff worked diligently to ensure participants were assigned volunteer work that aligned to our passions, allowing us to fine tune skills we could bring to our careers back home.

I have not had a more high-impact year since. It was such a transformational and inspiring experience. I recommend it to anyone who is considering work abroad, has even the slightest interest in Israeli social justice issues, and/or wants to do something more meaningful than a weeklong fairytale (ie birthright).

What I love most about this program is there is no sugarcoating of the issues on the ground. Rather than paint a more comfortable picture or ignore a problem, Yahel encourages direct engagement - no running from problems. It’s an approach I respect and wish were prevalent across more organizations.

Spending one fiscal year in Israel and learning about its positives and its challenges. It's about appreciating the nuances of being in this very special place and volunteering in order to have a substantial impact to the community.
You get to live in a poor neighborhood, learn about its inhabitants and work with them. Programming also includes small trips all across the country, seminars and learning days, ulpan and also a few Arabic classes.
Staff are really good people and had been very helpful all throughout the experience.