First Home in the Homeland

First Home in the Homeland provides your young family with a warm home on a kibbutz for your first 6 or 12 months in Israel.

The Jewish Agency will carefully match you with one of the 30 participating kibbutzim in the Negev and the Galilee, where you will be assigned a coordinator who will introduce you to your new community and help you get settled.

For the first six months, you will study in ulpan either three or five mornings weekly, while your children attend schools on the kibbutz or nearby.

After completing ulpan, you will have the option to extend your stay another half-year; most olim use that time to find employment in the area, continue in advanced ulpan, or join vocational courses.

Each kibbutz also provides after-school care for school-age children six days a week and on holidays. Additionally, local recreation centers offer after-school sports, music, ballet, and the like.

Throughout your stay, your coordinator will be there to assist you. Following your absorption through First Home in the Homeland, most kibbutzim will give you the option to stay on as residents, or to apply for kibbutz membership.

ELIGIBILITY

First Home in the Homeland is open families with children ages 6 months to 15 years, and adult couples up to age 45 who:

  1. have visited Israel at least once in the past,
  2. have clean bills of health, both physically and mentally, and
  3. hold a bagrut-level high school diploma (e.g. the IB, Abitur, or GCSE + A-levels) OR hold an Education Ministry-recognized undergraduate degree.

ACCOMMODATIONS

  1. Accommodations are simple apartments or caravans with basic furnishings and kitchenettes.
  2. You will have access to kibbutz resources such as the health clinic, grocery store, and laundry service. Some kibbutzim also offer a dining room with reasonably-priced breakfasts and lunches, a pool, or a library.
  3. You will also receive municipal services such as access to local medical care, sports fields, playgrounds, pools, etc., and participate in social and recreational activities with kibbutz members.

COST: Prices are subject to the number of children and the schools and activities in which they enroll.

START DATES: vary by region and are available throughout the year.