The unique Yachad initiative provides dynamic and engaging leaders to communities throughout Israel with the aim of promoting national unity and heritage awareness amongst Israelis of all ages and backgrounds. By exposing the richness and relevance of Jewish culture and history to all Jews in a warm and non-coercive environment, Yachad fellows are encouraging unaffiliated or disenfranchised Israelis to explore and reclaim their Jewish heritage on terms that are comfortable and meaningful.

In today's Israeli society, many Jews feel deeply alienated from their own cultural roots and heritage, which has in many cases led to a sense of disenfranchisement - or even worse, a resentment - toward all things Jewish.  The average State School has turned the teaching and studying of Judaism into nothing more than a boring obligation; this is compounded by the fact that the country's Chief Rabbinate is perceived as coercive, imposing, irrelevant and even corrupt. 

The Yachad initiative was established in a bid to empower this population by encouraging them to explore, reclaim and cherish their heritage in warm and non-coercive environments. The program trains and places dynamic, engaging Jewish Cultural Facilitators in community centers throughout Israel, where they coordinate projects promoting Jewish values, national unity and heritage-awareness amongst participants of all ages and backgrounds. By revealing the richness and relevance of Judaism, Yachad facilitators are encouraging unaffiliated or disenfranchised Israelis to take ownership of their Jewish heritage and incorporate it into their daily life, in their own language and on their own terms. The program's ultimate goal is to make Jewish culture significant, interesting and gratifying - a source of pride, meaning and guidance - shattering stereotypes, reconnecting Israelis with their roots, and alleviating some of the strident friction that exists between observant and secular in Israel.

"I never had any use for religion, but our facilitator reveals Judaism as living, breathing and evolving... it turns out that Judaism is in many ways very relevant to my life in the modern world today."
- Katya Freiman, 32

It is impossible to overstate the impact that the facilitators are making on Israeli society. Thousands of unaffiliated Israeli Jews are now establishing new, meaningful relationships with Judaism, thanks to appealing, informal activities in open, embracing environments.  In distressed areas like Ramle and Lod and mixed communities like Petach Tikva and Ramat Gan, from Katzrin in the North to Arad in the South, and in secular bastions such as Herzlia and Tel Aviv, the Yachad Jewish Renewal Facilitator is affording the secular Israeli family the opportunity to develop a significant and beneficial relationship with Judaism and a love of Jewish life, piercing feelings of bitterness or antagonism and replacing them with profound dedication and commitment to Jewish identity and existence. They are exposing Judaism as a source of pride, meaning and guidance and revealing the relevance and significance of Judaism and Jewish values to daily life.