Today we also visited the Hava & Adam: Eco-Educational
Farm located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Students there, working in a tightknit community, learn how to grow their own food and other crops along with exploring holistic ecology, Judaism, and Israel.
Through the farm’s Eco-Israel program, students “embrace permaculture and sustainable living through intensive, hands-on experience and course work,” notes its promotional material. It is a 5-year program open to English speakers throughout the world, ages 18-30. Funding for this and many projects like it is provided by the state of Israel and the Jewish Agency for Israel. It is available for Jewish students looking for pre-College gap-year and post-baccalaureate Israel experiences.
It was really interesting to see this gap year program and learn how any different learning and service opportunities suffused with Jewish connection Israel can provide.
Some questions we asked of students in the program:
Q: Why did you decide to do a gap year in Israel?
A: People choose to do gap years for many reasons. A common reason is because it is a chance to feel a closer connection to Judaism along with exploring yourself and a completely different culture.
Q: Why did you decide to do the Eco-Israel program?
A: Many of the students visited the program on Taglit-Birthright
and immediately felt a strong connection to it. They joined the program to further their learning and self-exploration.
Q: How do you plan to use what you’ve learned through Eco-Israel?
A: I do not plan to go into agriculture or ecology as a profession. But I learned that I am able to depend on myself for food if needed and be more Eco-friendly with recycling and composting in response to the increasing threat of global warming.