Petach Tikvah

Petach Tikvah Operated by OTZMA

About Us
For 26 years and counting, OTZMA has provided over 1,400 young adults with transformative 10-month cultural immersion and volunteer experiences in Israel. As a flagship program of the Jewish Federations of North America, OTZMA’s goal has always been to foster direct, first-hand experiences between young adults from North America and Israelis to engender in-depth understanding and knowledge about Israel and Israeli society. Our unrivaled expertise and straightforward goal – combined with the exciting teaching opportunities in the centrally-located city of Petach Tikvah (just a 35-minute bike ride to Tel Aviv’s beaches!) – makes OTZMA’s Israel Teaching Fellows the perfect option for educators and aspiring teachers as well as anyone wishing to work with Israelis in a supportive community.

OTZMA believes that teaching is perhaps the most influential and important form of leadership and that education can strengthen young Jewish leadership and empower communities in North America, Israel, and throughout the world. In Petach Tikvah, your work in helping the current generation of Israeli school children acquire proper English language skills ensures their ability to thrive in Israel’s burgeoning economy. In that respect, Petach Tikvah is an appropriate setting for Israel Teaching Fellows since the city is home to Israel’s largest technological park and some of Israel’s most successful global businesses!

OTZMA Israel Teaching Fellows serve in a variety of schools representative of Petach Tikvah’s diversity. For example, Fellows teach at a school of 900 upper-middle class children which won a world-wide competition sponsored by Microsoft for use of technology in the classroom. In contrast, Fellows also work at a school for 470 lower income children of Israelis and immigrants from Ethiopia and Russia. Fellows teach in other religious and secular schools as well, servicing children of veteran Israeli and immigrants from around the world who call Petach Tikvah home. When not teaching, you’ll enjoy comfortable living in a fully furnished apartment with wireless Internet in a typical Petach Tikvah neighborhood and have the chance to meet, socialize, and speak Hebrew with your Israeli neighbors and friends.

In addition to a great community and the ability to create change and make a real impact at school, OTZMA Israel Teaching Fellows also enjoy all of the benefits our classic OTZMA program together with participants of that program. Benefits include a rich educational component replete with numerous off-site/overnight seminars on a wide variety of fascinating topics, ongoing educational days, trips across the country, and, of course, Hebrew Ulpan. Fellows often visit their OTZMA friends in their communities throughout the country, providing an unparalleled opportunity for Fellows can get to know new areas of Israel in the company of friends.

Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of Israel Teaching Fellows with OTZMA is our Israeli Adoptive Family network. Throughout our history, OTZMA has paired each participant with an Israeli adoptive family who provides a warm “home away from home” for weekends and holidays – and an incomparable way to get to know Israelis from the inside. Our network includes hundreds of Israeli families who have hosted our participants over the past two and half decades. Not only is the “adoptive family” consistently a favorite aspect of the program, alumni have frequently reported that they are still in contact with their families – some even after 15 or 25 years! It is this type of strong, personal connection among the Jewish People that OTZMA strives to build.

Backed by OTZMA’s 26 years of success and Petach Tikvah’s unique setting and great teaching opportunities – as well as the added benefit of traveling and learning with participants of OTZMA’s classic program – Israel Teaching Fellows with OTZMA provides an unbeatable choice for young adults who want to make an impact and reap the personal and professional benefits.

About the City
Located just 6 miles east of Tel Aviv, Petach Tikvah (An Opening of Hope) was founded in 1878 and has the distinction in being Israel’s first modern Jewish agricultural settlement or moshav (communal farming village). Today, Petach Tikvah is home to a diverse population of 210,000 “salt-of-the-earth” Israelis including religious and secular Jews of Ashkenazi and Sephardi descent as well as immigrants from Russian, Ethiopia and around the world.

Petach Tikvah’s spaciousness and central location helped turn it into one of Israel’s largest business centers and top technology and bio-medical companies such as Intel, IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, and Teva maintain their Israeli headquarters here.

Our Fellows enjoy the Petach Tikvah’s laid back authenticity, amazing falafel and shawarma, and proximity to Tel Aviv’s non-stop action.

Why Choose Our Program?
1. OTZMA’s expertise and 26 years of success in running 10-month programs is unmatched and ensures that this once-in-a-lifetime experience is everything you want it to be and more.

2. Petach Tikvah encapsulates all that is unique in Israel today. The diverse population enjoys the relaxed pace of ‘old-style’ Israel, while the city itself is home to some of the Israel’s largest and most successful technology companies.

3. Petach Tikvah is the closest Israel Teaching Fellows city to Tel Aviv – easily accessible by bus and its sandy Mediterranean beaches are a fun 35 minute bike ride away!

4. The schools that you can teach in vary from the top in the country to some of the most disadvantaged. You can make create change and make a real difference in a setting that suits your talents, skills and personality. Not only are the schools are eager to work with volunteers, each has experience doing so – an important factor in ensuring your efforts are impactful.

5. Enjoy the added benefit of befriending participants of OTZMA’s classic program and visiting them in their volunteer placement sites all across Israel. You’ll also join them at high-level seminars and education days as well as on trips. Finally, you’ll also be assigned an Israeli adoptive family from OTZMA’s network of families.

6. Leverage your participation in the program to your professional advantage through OTZMA’s association with the Jewish Federations of North America.

Contact Us
Sherill Goldberg
sherill.goldberg@jewishfederations.org
212-284-6557
www.otzma.org