AUJS Aviv
For more than a decade, AUJS has run this highly successful longer-term Israel program. AUJS Aviv is the perfect opportunity to experience living in Israel whilst on an ordered program. Aviv is based upon AUJS' pluralist, Jewish Zionist and activist framework. Aviv departs in late January 2010 and is a 5-month program with both a sound structure and generous room for individual input from participants. This longer-term program is suited to participants' aged school leaver to 21. The group has one Australian leader and one Israeli leader. The Aviv program is built with engaging and meaningful components and option periods. Participants experience a journey of personal development and enrichment. Through volunteering, participants are exposed to and contribute to the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam. Throughout the program are various volunteering opportunities, from short 1-day experiences, to longer 1 & 2 week option periods. By structured and informal learning, AUJS wants each participant to learn more about Zionism & Judaism as well as develop their own Hebrew skills. Additionally, participants learn about and interact with other cultures, religions and minorities within Israel. Important to the Aviv program is a group visit to Poland as part of an extended Holocaust learning experience. The Poland experience is based on the itinerary of the AUJS PHT program that travels to Poland in January. 
We visit every major city in Israel in detail, and do our best to cover as many smaller towns and villages along the way. Another centrepiece of AUJS Aviv is the presentation of Israel's incredible ecologies. From the desert to the seas, AUJS Aviv covers every corner of nature in Israel. Participants can walk the Sea to Sea trail, hike through Southern Negev desert, swim in all the different waters including the Dead Sea and the Kinneret, and visit the beautiful rivers which cover Israel's North. Whilst on program, the group celebrates Yom Ha'atzmaut and commemorates Yom Hazikaron. Shavuot is spent on the program and Pesach is spent away from the group on free time with friends and family. Input from participants during the program is vital to AUJS Aviv's success. We encourage our participants to be involved in the direction of the program and strive to create an open environment in which all participants can freely express their own personalities and individualities. Participants have extensive interaction with their Israeli counterparts through the Mifgash (Encounters) program, providing the opportunity to make Israeli friends and gaining invaluable insights into Israeli life. Lifestyle is an important part of AUJS Aviv. In addition to the city lifestyle, AUJS Aviv spends time on various kibbutzim around Israel including Sde Boker and Kibbutz Ketura. With a program that spans nearly half a year, participants really get to know and explore the whole country. Aviv is a perfectly rounded and relevant 5-month experience that is an opportunity not to be missed. For participants who are interested in the Magen David Adom or Ma'arva volunteering programs, we can facilitate these for you after the conclusion of the AUJS Aviv program. Details for these particular volunteering programs in Israel are still being finalised next year, so once these dates are released, we'll know more. Subsidy The AUJS Aviv program is MASA-approved and participants will therefore be eligible to apply for the scholarship. The amount that you receive, if anything, depends on your family income. Information & Itinerary
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The MASA scholarship is an individual means-tested scholarship provided to anyone between the ages of 18 and 30 (17 if the participant is a high school graduate) who wants to spend at least five months in Israel on a MASA-approved program.
