The Israel Division of Hillel, or the Hativa in Hebrew, is facilitating a Jewish renaissance in student life throughout Israel and in many parts of the world. While based in Israel and supervising Hillel activity throughout the country, the Division also serves as a catalyst for groups of North American students, introducing them to Israel and engaging them to define, explore, and celebrate their Jewish identity.

Support Hillel Israel.


Hillel impacts upon thousands of Israeli, new immigrant, and overseas students, providing a unique vehicle for Jewish experiences, culture, and social change in Israeli society. Through the Hillel Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, the Technion, Haifa University, the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Sapir College in Sderot, Tel Hai College in Kiryat Shmonah, and Emek Yezreel College in Afula, Hillel provides a variety of opportunities for Jewish students to explore and celebrate their Jewish identities and take ownership of their individual Jewish journeys.

The Israel Division of the Hillel International Center is located at Beit Hillel, on the Mt. Scopus campus of the Hebrew University. Headed by Associate Vice President Rabbi Yossie Goldman, the Hativa oversees all of the Hillel centers in Israel. Hativa staff members serve as mentors for Hillel directors at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Ellin Mitchell Hillel Program in Tel Aviv, and the Hillel center in Ben Gurion University of the Negev. The Division trains, coaches, and supervises Hillel professionals and students, provides the financial and administrative framework for Hillel programs, coordinates programs between Hillel centers, fundraises for the Hillel Israel network, and implements Hillel International programs that take place in Israel.

For over 20 years, Rabbi Yossie Goldman has been working with Hillel Israel, currently serving as its Director General. During that time, he has opened over 30 Hillel centers in the FSU and in Israel. Hillel Israel currently has a presence on nine Israeli campuses in the center and the periphery of the country.

In November 2008, Jerusalem hosted the General Assembly (GA) of the United Jewish Communities (UJC) - a major convention of North American Jewish organizations. Young adults from Israel and abroad participated in the GA through the NEXTGen program, which included site visits around Jerusalem, discussions on relevant topics, and meetings with leading Jewish figures. Hillel Israel played a major role in the NEXTGen and GA programs, with a 300-student delegation to the convention, involvement in panels and plenary sessions, and participation in the GA sessions.

As part of the GA program, delegates visited the Hillel centers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Sapir College in Sderot. Visitors were impressed with the many forward-looking programs at Hillel Israel. Among them is Sapir Hillel's Sharing G'mach, at which people around the country contribute used clothes and household goods to be recycled as something new for a Sderot-area resident. For more about this program, click here.

In the spirit of lilmod ul'lamed, to learn and to teach, Hillel Israel maintains partnerships with various Jewish communities around the world. Students often host visiting delegations and also travel to their partner cities. For example, a student delegation from Hebrew University Hillel visited New York City to meet with their partners in a student initiative project that is run in both locations. The New York group returned the visit by coming to Jerusalem later in the year. Similarly, Hillel at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has a partnership with Montreal, Canada, and Hillel at Tel Aviv University has a close relationship with the Jewish community of Los Angeles. Delegation visits take place during university vacations.


From the ancient stones in Jerusalem to the beaches of Tel Aviv, Hillel's Taglit-birthright israel trip offers phenomenal recreational and educational opportunities. Each year several hundred Hillel students sign up for this amazing trip of a lifetime, coming to Israel for ten action-packed days of touring, discussions, and fun, while getting to know about their Jewish heritage.
Click here for more about Hillel's birthright trip
Click here for more about Taglit - birthright israel


The Hillel-Pardes Summer Learning Institute is a special opportunity for Hillel professionals with two or more years of employment with Hillel to spend three weeks in intensive Jewish enrichment which will be integrated with their programming responsibilities. Study includes learning about Jewish rituals, the Jewish life cycle, and Jewish themes that correspond to the school calendar year. This program enables Hillel professionals to embark on a lifelong journey of Jewish exploration for themselves, and gives them the ability to share their knowledge with the students they work with.

For more details, go to: Hillel-Pardes Summer Learning Institute

Israel Fellows are Israeli students who are trained by the Jewish Agency for Israel to spend a year working at Hillel centers on college campuses throughout North America to engage Jewish university students to explore and celebrate their Jewishness. The Fellows also provide relevant information about Israel and empower students to become informed advocates for Israel.

Hillel's Student Leadership Missions to Israel each winter offer North American students a variety of tracks in which to experience Israel. Tracks usually include: 1) Hillel-AIPAC Advanced Israel Advocacy, 2) Jewish Pluralism and Learning, and 3) Tzedek (Social Justice). Students from the various tracks of Hillel's Israel Mission join students from Africa, Australia and Europe for a day and night of exciting programs and fun. The participants also attend a Shabbaton, where students from all the tracks gathered on a Kibbutz in northern Israel on the Kinneret.

To read a Jerusalem Post columnist's thoughts about one of Hillel's missions, click here