Looking for a quality year of growth and giving?
Want to experience community life?
Want to integrate into work with people with special needs?
Join us!
About 30 young volunteers from Israel and abroad join Kfar Rafael every year
for civil service and gap year
Gap year
After school and before university.
Civil Service
Serving the world while seeing the world.
Volunteering
In a unique community.
"...Giving is the best one can get..."
Creating a home together
Creating a home together In the households, each volunteer is responsible for a villager or a group of villagers and cares, guides them together with the house-parents and staff.
Work together
Each co-worker works with villager from other houses in one of ourworkshops: Weavery, bakery, laundry, food processing, candle making, paper recycling, organic bio-dynamic agriculture gardening and cooking.
Learning together
One evening a week co-workers are responsible for an activity for the villagers: sports, art, music, study. This is an opportunity to contribute for your gifts and skills to enrich our cultural life. One evening a week co-workers are responsible for an activity for the villagers: sports, art, music, study. This is an opportunity to contribute for your gifts and skills to enrich our cultural life.
Training as you work
Each volunteer participates in a weekly half-day seminar on subjects that are related to and support their work with the village residents, such as art and anthroposophy. The seminar enables them to better understand and become familiar with our special way of life. Each volunteer can shoose to join the seminar. In addition there is a possibility to join the choir and other artistic activities.
Healthy lifestyle
The village strives for a healthy way of life in multiple areas. The food served in the village is nutritious, varied, high quality, and as often as possible organically grown. Some of it comes from our own biodynamic crops. We use ecologically safe cleaning materials and recycle as much as possible. We live in a quiet rural environment that is blossoming with plants, trees, and flowers. We have connections with the animals that live with us and around us. We encourage physical activity and nature walks. Overall, we strive to maintain a clear, calm mindset.
Social Time
We provide volunteers with a communal staff room with internet service, a sports field, and access to the pool at the nearby Country Club. The volunteer staff is made up of Israelis who are completing a year of national service, alternative national service, post-military work service, and other types of volunteer work as well as young volunteers from Europe.
Creating a home together
Creating a home together In the households, each volunteer is responsible for a villager or a group of villagers and cares, guides them together with the house-parents and staff.
Live
Work together
Each co-worker works with villager from other houses in one of our workshops: Weavery, bakery, laundry, food processing, candle making, paper recycling, organic bio-dynamic agriculture gardening and cooking.
Work
Learning together
One evening a week co-workers are responsible for an activity for the villagers: sports, art, music, study. This is an opportunity to contribute for your gifts and skills to enrich our cultural life.
Learn
Training as you work
Each volunteer participates in a weekly half-day seminar on subjects that are related to and support their work with the village residents, such as art and anthroposophy. The seminar enables them to better understand and become familiar with our special way of life. In addition there is a possibility to join the choir and other artistic activities.
Training
Healthy lifestyle
The village strives for a healthy way of life in multiple areas. The food served in the village is nutritious, varied, high quality, and as often as possible organically grown. Some of it comes from our own biodynamic crops. We use ecologically safe cleaning materials and recycle as much as possible. We live in a quiet rural environment that is blossoming with plants, trees, and flowers. We have connections with the animals that live with us and around us. We encourage physical activity and nature walks. Overall, we strive to maintain a clear, calm mindset.
Healthy lifestyle
Social Time
We provide volunteers with a communal staff room with internet service, a sports field, and access to the pool at the nearby Country Club. The volunteer staff is made up of Israelis who are completing a year of national service, alternative national service, post-military work service, and other types of volunteer work as well as young volunteers from Europe.
Social time
When I look back on my time at the village, I am filled with a sense of awe. Many different types of people work together to create something truly special. I felt surrounded by creativity and human goodness. I dared to shed my shell and was not afraid to be reborn. I continue to be involved with village life, and still feel that sense of belonging. The experiences I had there continue to accompany me on my path through life.
I suddenly had a chance to be myself, away from old habbits that I had at home. Of course there was work to do, but I felt satisfied with what I did, how I did it. The work in Kfar Rafael was always rewarding. Anyway, no place on earth where there is no struggle. I had lots of it. Mostly with myself. Living together with people, mostly the same people you work with, lets you meet not only them, but yourself. I was challanged in new ways to meet myself.
It is always difficult to describe a great experience, and this is equally true for the experience of volunteering at Kfar Rafael. Life here encourages you to explore and expand your horizons. You will discover in yourself strengths and patience that you did not know you had. You will absorb the endless amounts of love the village residents give. At end of the day, you will find yourself still here, ready to continue working to best of your ability. As you fall asleep, you will ask yourself again and again: who is taking care of whom?
"...becaue the only things that belong to us are the things we do for others..."
Volunteers from Israel and abroad have always supported Kfar Rafael and have been an important part of our community. At present, about 25 volunteers live with us, some for a year, some stay longer. Young people from abroad, mostly from Western Europe, come for a Social Year, Civil Service or a Gap Year. They work alongside young Israeli volunteers in their pre-army Social year or Civil Service. The volunteers work in family households andin workshops . If you wish to volunteer and you have any questions, please check our Frequently Asked Questions page. You may also gain some insight from the experience of other volunteers that have spent a year with us. You can also contact us via our website below.
Contact details
- mitnadvim@krafael.org.il
- Phone: +972-86462302
- Fax: 08-6418102
- P.O.B 425 Be'er Sheva 8410301
