Israel Scholarships

Israel Scholarship Information - Accepting Applications

The Jewish Federation Israel Scholarship Program enables young people with a financial need to participate in an Israel Experience to develop and enrich their Jewish education and reinforce Jewish identity.

Israel scholarships are made possible by the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, the Samuel Israel Foundation and other donors. Applications are reviewed by the Israel Scholarship Committee.

Please note the following:

  • Scholarships cannot be awarded on a retroactive basis.
  • Scholarship recipients are required to complete volunteer service at the Jewish Federation upon the conclusion of their Israel program (see application packet for details).
  • Scholarship recipients must write one blog post and send at least five pictures for every three weeks of their program.

Funding Your Israel Experience

Few experiences are as transformative and fulfilling as one's first trip to Israel. However, such trips are expensive, and advance planning is advised in order to be able to pay for them. Here are some ideas:

  • Start saving now! Plan to pay for at least half of the cost of an Israel program. To help this cost, open a special Israel savings account and put in a few hundred dollars each year, as today a summer program costs $7,000 and a gap year program costs $25,000. Ask your child to put a portion of their birthday or bar/bat mitzvah money into this account each year. These few extra thousand dollars will make the trip much more affordable.
  • Plan realistically. Choose a program within your financial reach. Federation scholarships average between $1,000 and $3,000 and may go slightly higher in exceptional circumstances.
  • Get a MASA Israel grant. MASA, a project of the Jewish Agency for Israel, gives grants to every post-high school student who participates in an approved, long-term program in Israel for the first time! Some programs are 100 percent free. Click here to submit your application.
  • Seek additional sources of funding. Plan to apply for scholarships from your synagogue, the selected program and from other sources before you apply to the Federation. This allows us to make the best use of our funds and help send more young people to Israel. For a list of additional sources of funding, click here.
  • Apply for a scholarship from the Jewish Federation. Please ask only for what you truly need in order to make your trip to Israel possible. This helps us to bring as many young people to Israel as we can.

Teens

To be eligible for a Teen Israel Scholarship, you must:

  • Be a permanent resident of Washington State.
  • Participate in an Israel program that starts from the summer after ninth grade through high school graduation.
  • Select an Israel program that is an educational youth/peer program (adventure travel, community service, volunteer work, study).
  • Seek additional sources of scholarship funding from your synagogue (if you are affiliated) and your Israel program/sponsoring organization.

Israel Scholarship Application Deadline

July 12, 2013

Israel Scholarship Application for Teens

 

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Vouchers

If your child became Bar or Bat Mitzvah in Western Washington between September 1997 and September 2007, you are eligible to redeem his or her Bar/Bat Mitzvah voucher.

The application form for $500 Bar/Bat Mitzvah vouchers can be found in the table below. Please enclose proof of your child's Bar or Bat mitzvah (B'nai Mitzvah certificate or a letter from your synagogue) along with the application.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Voucher Application

 

Milk and Honey

If you opened a Milk and Honey Gift of Israel savings account for your child between September 1997 and September 2007, see table below for the redemption form. Remember, in order to be eligible for your $700 matched gift, you must provide proof that your child:

  • Became Bar or Bat Mitzvah at a Western Washington synagogue between September 1997 and September 2007.
  • Has been enrolled in a Jewish day school or supplementary school through grade 10.
  • Is participating in an Israel program that is an approved educational youth/peer program (adventure travel, community service, volunteer work, study) anytime between grade 10 and age 23.

Milk and Honey Application

 

NOTE: All applications must be received at least three months before the date of departure in order to be considered.

Questions should be directed to BenjaminaM@JewishInSeattle.org or 206.774.2227.

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