What You Get

     Real Life Israel strives to deliver Israel in all its many facets. Below is a list of the main features* of the program.

The Basics

Housing – Apartment Living

• Fully Furnished Apartment shared with other participants in a centrally located Jerusalem neighborhood. Apartments have wireless Internet.  Laundromats are located within easy walking distance of the apartments.
• Apartments are located in the central (and very cool) Nachlaot neighborhood. Apartments are within easy walking distance to the Machaneh Yehuda Outdoor market, the city center, the central bus station, an amazing and city large park as well as bars, restaurants and more!
• Participants can request to have their own room in the apartment. A a single-room supplement fee will be assessed as outlined on the Tuition & Scholarship page.

Personal Benefits

• Health Insurance coverage for the duration of the program.

Program Features

• Intensive private Hebrew Ulpan for all levels of knowledge
• Professional Advancement Internships
• Meaningful Volunteer Placements
• Trips throughout Israel
• Seminars and off-site weekends/Shabbatot
• Cultural Experiences – From informal Israeli ethnic cooking classes to participating in major cultural events, you'll get your share.
• Israel Life Skills Training – Such as professional Hebrew, surfing the web in Hebrew, and overcoming Israeli bureaucracy
• Interactive and dynamic sessions on the many aspects of Israel, Zionism, and Judaism.

Seminars

The Orientation Seminar – Welcome to Israel and Real Life! A three-day opportunity to get to know one another in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

[Fall Session Only] Yom Kippur in Perspective - A short pre-holiday seminar designed to provide make your Yom Kippur a more meaningful day. We will also explore how Yom Kippur is celebrated here and discuss the impact that the 1973 Yom Kippur War has on Israeli society.

The Business & Working in Israel Symposium – A three-day symposium dedicated to helping you envision your successful professional life in Israel. Participants will meet with top-level executives, visit the headquarters of major Israeli firms and organizations as well as meet with venture capitalists, investment bankers, economists and government officials. We'll visit hi-tech parks as well as areas of traditional industry, learn from highly successful sabra and immigrant professionals and gain insight to starting and running your own business or organization in Israel, and much more.

Politics and Society Summit – Politics plays an inordinate role in Israel. During this seminar, participants will delve into the thorniest issues while learning from top leaders, Members of Knesset, government functionaries and political players. We'll explore how governance is manifest by seeing first hand how Knesset decisions affects society and the daily lives of all Israelis whether they be Jews, Arabs or Druze, religious or secular, city-dwellers, kibbutzniks or settlers, rich or poor.

The Army in Israeli Society – Learn about the army, its structure, history and its role in society in this three-day seminar that will take place in the Negev and southern Israel.  We'll meet with top officers in Israel's officer training bases, hang out with today's elite fighting units, see the fighter airbases that keep Israel's enemies deterred.

Concluding Conference - Your Real Life – Next Steps.

Trips and Tiyulim Aside from being great fun, our trips are also an opportunity to see, learn about and explore other communities around Israel and meet the Olim and Israelis who live and work in them. By meeting real people in all areas of the country, you'll be better equipped to envision your own life in Israel — wherever you decide to live it. In addition, trips include some or all of the following: hiking, experiencing amazing historical and archeological sites, nature treks, outdoor activities, water walks, swimming, sleeping under the stars!

Overnight Trips – Trips of 2 – 4 days 

• Northern Israel: The entire northern expanse of Israel including the Galilee and the Golan Heights
• Eilat:  Israel's hottest resort, on the shores of the Red Sea
• The Negev and the Southern Israel
• Final Trip

Day Trips – Every week a one-day tiyul is planned. Area explored include: Jerusalem – Old City and New Tel Aviv – The city, the culture and the beach Coastal plains Judean Hills Dead Sea area Judean Desert

Special Shabbat/Holiday Events & Plans  

[Fall Session] First Shabbat in 

Jerusalem Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur free or with friends or family

Sukkot

• Chag Sukkot – Free or with families
• Intermediate Days of Sukkot - Trip or Seminar
• Shimini Atzeret/Simchat Torah – Free or with families
• Special Shabbat in the Old City of Jerusalem
  
• Shabbat on a Golan Heights Kibbutz Hanukkah - Trip to Eilat Final Shabbat of Program Together on Kibbutz/Guesthouse
  
• Special Shabbat/Holiday Events & Plans 

[Spring Session]

• First Shabbat in Kfar Alon Tu B'Shvat – Special "Seder" of Israeli wine and fruits from the Land 
• Shushan Purim (Jerusalem's Purim

Passover/Pesach

1. Seder Pesach - Free or with families
2. Intermediate Days of Pesach – Trip or Seminar
3. Last Day Chag - Free or with families

• Special Shabbat in the Old City of Jerusalem
  
• Shabbat on a Golan Heights Kibbutz
  
• Israel Memorial Day – Special activity
  
• Israeli Independence Day - Free
  
• Jerusalem Day – Celebrating in Jerusalem
  
• Shavout - Late night walk to Kotel (Western Wall) w/100,000 other Jews
  
• Final Shabbat of Program Together on Kibbutz/Guesthouse

*Features and program are subject to change.