Tivnu Blog

Tivnu Gap Year $2,000 savings for applications received by February 15, 2016. Apply online now!...

A few weeks ago, I spoke at my mom’s shul about my experiences as an AVODAH corps member and as an employee of Tivnu. I spoke some about my own Jewish journey: about my childhood in the Jewish community of the Greater Chicago Area, about my early interest in social change, including my role as my high school youth group’s Social Action Vice President....

I am learning many new things at Tivnu. I am learning a lot about wealth and poverty in the U.S. through all of our educational sessions. For example, I got to tour Dignity Village, a community for people experiencing homeless....

After building a beautiful sukkah in our backyard using lumber lent to us by the ReBuilding Center and helping both Havurah Shalom (Portland’s Reconstructionist Synagogue) and Chabad build their sukkot, we dumped our stuff in the trunk and piled into the van....

Portland offers so much creativity – both in the compelling arts and intellectual events we can enjoy, and in the creative solutions to the environmental, housing, transportation, and poverty challenges we learn about in our work....

Here are five things I’ve learned in these first few months of the Tivnu gap year program. They range from pretty concrete tips to bigger life lessons - and I’m surprised by how often the two are related....

Tivnu has had a fun and busy two weeks! We had our first full work week. I started off my week by going to Saint André Bessette, a homeless shelter that provides food, clothes, blankets, and sanitary supplies to people experiencing homelessness- all done with a smile....

New York Times best-selling author William Deresiewicz wrote a great piece about Tivnu in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Check it out for inside information about founder Steve Eisenbach-Budner, past and present participants, and our gap year program in Portland, Oregon connecting Judaism and social justice....

Hey! My name is Nadav, I'm from Newton Massachusetts, and I’ve spent the past four weeks living the Tivnu life! Friendships have been formed, beds have been built, and the great outdoors have been explored. ...

Tivnu is excited to welcome two new staff members! Adinah Miller has been hired as our new Program Director. She has been the Dean of Jewish Life for the last 6 years at the American Hebrew Academy, the Jewish boarding school in North Carolina....