Kivunim’s central goal is the active study and interpretation of the past to enhance our understanding of the present, and build a more just and peaceful future.
Kivunim offers a positive and hopeful understanding of Jewish life rooted in shared traditions and history, expressed through mutual respect and openness.
We provide our students the opportunity to build a powerful connection to the Jewish people and the State of Israel, one that coexists with a love for all humankind and reflects a strong commitment to diversity and peaceful co-existence across the globe.
Kivunim’s programs seek to re-establish the lost link to the history of the Jewish people throughout the world by discovering and sharing the noble and creative. story of Jewish life around the globe. Jewish education for the 21st century must help to minimize fears and maximize comfort with people, cultures and religions that are different than our own, both as Americans and as Jews.
The Kivunim Mission
The KIVUNIM Institute believes that education, and particularly Jewish education, must take place within a context of lofty goals and aspirations filled with optimism, tempered by reality and encouraged by the understanding that words have power and that betterment of the world is the central goal of the Jewish people and its religious and national tradition. Programs of The KIVUNIM Institute have as their central goal the active interpretation of the past and understanding of the present in order to build and insure the future.
To accomplish this goal The KIVUNIM Institute’s programs seek to re-establish the lost link to the history of the Jewish people throughout the world by discovering and sharing the noble and creative. story of Jewish life around the globe. Jewish education for the 21st century must help to minimize fears and maximize comfort with people, cultures and religions that are different than our own, both as Americans and as Jews. Sadly, many contemporary institutions and programs often educate to the opposite.
The KIVUNIM Institute inspires its program participants to forge a lifelong relationship with Israel and the Jewish People through travel across the world - gaining understanding of Jewish life and history together with that of the many cultures, religions and worldviews amongst whom the Jewish people grew in its 2000 year Diaspora. Our international travels build and deepen Jewish identity within the context of an emerging sense of “world-consciousness” both as Jews and as citizens of the world. We welcome participants from all backgrounds in the belief that mutual understanding can only enhance the possibilities for greater peace and justice across the globe.
The KIVUNIM Institute is based in Jerusalem where we encounter Israel openly: appreciating its grand and historic achievements together with its unfulfilled goals and aspirations. We encourage a perception on the part of our participants that there is work yet to be done and that they have a role to play in the fulfillment of the Zionist promise, the national ideology of the Jewish People.
The KIVUNIM Institute is expanding that ideology from its current inwardness to a greater outerdirectedness actively seeking improvement of the world’s tolerance, mutual respect, commitment to human rights and human dignity, in a more just and more peaceful world: giving life to the words of the Hebrew Prophets in modern times.
We introduce our participants to the world of Arab-Jewish co-existence, perhaps the greatest challenge to the State of Israel and the Jewish People in our time. We encourage them to return to their homes (on college campuses, in emerging families, and within expansive communities) and their future lives with the capacity for and commitment to building dialogue in place of confrontation and of becoming living representations of the words of the founder of the Zionist Movement, Theodor Herzl:
"IF YOU WILL IT, IT IS NOT (WILL NOT BE JUST) A DREAM."
D I S C O V E R M O R E
The Morocco Experience
Sample Itinerary
Details and Fees
Reflections from Fellows
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Cultivate a Lifelong Relationship With Israel
We explore Israel's magnificent archeology and meet Israeli artists, journalists, writers, musicians, politicians, religious leaders, scholars and philosophers. Through integrated classroom discourse and cultural immersion, students gain a deeper appreciation for Jewish history and the State of Israel, and claim their Jewish identity with a sense of pride, personalization and purpose.
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Explore the Jewish Diaspora in up to 12 Countries
Kivunim is on and off the beaten path. We see the major sites wherever we go, but we also study and visit places the typical tourist will never see. Our fully accredited academic courses build cultural awareness and literacy by exploring world religions, art and musical cultures, histories and traditions, together with the Jewish experience within all of them. We meet some of the most distinguished thinkers, writers, artists, musicians, political & religious leaders both in Israel and in the countries of our annual travels.
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Volunteer Work in Israel
Through our Social Responsibility program we dedicate a significant portion of each week in Israel to giving back and making a difference. We study and see first-hand the challenges to many in Israeli society and consider how our contribution can make a difference. Our program builds character and fosters a commitment to bring more kindness and compassion to the world.
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Make Meaningful Connections
We approach our studies and experiences with an optimistic worldview. Throughout the year, we explore issues that unite and divide. We emphasize the bright spots in both our past and present, to remind us of our collective humanity. At each stage of our year-long journey, our students are encouraged to find points of commonality, engage in open dialogue and build bridges with other countries and cultures.