Keren Kolot - Education/Tourism

Keren Kolot is an educational institution dedicated to the development of new avenues for Jewish learning and expression. Our staff plans educational modules and longer programs for various populations. We are located at Kibbutz Ketura in the Southern Arava.

What follows is a sample of the programs we offer:

We provide 5-7 day modules that combine nature hikes, kibbutz experience, informal education, home hospitality, evening activities and a visit to Eilat. Programs that we offer youth groups and students from Israel and from abroad include: “Lech Lecha: The Never Ending Story of the Jews and their Land”, Desert Responses: Jewish and Zionist Perspectives,” “Pluralism, Tradition and the Kibbutz Community,” “Freedom and Responsibility,” and “Judaism and the Environment.”

We have designed and implemented an “Introduction to Judaism and Zionism” for immigrants with a basic command of Hebrew. The program consists of one study day a week over the course of two months. In addition, groups of immigrants from Ethiopia and the C.I.S. come for weekend visits. The participants are introduced to issues of Jewish expression, Zionism and Kibbutz life.

A seminar for youth movement madrichim from Israel and abroad.

Israeli youth groups and incoming tourists visit the Kibbutz Ketura experimental orchards for a tour and an activity.

We help plan and coordinate creative Bar and Bat Mitvah Ceremonies for guests interested in celebrating their simcha in an intimate, meaningful non conventional way. Such ceremonies can take place in the kibbutz synagogue or in the desert and can be complimented by other components of our guest and educational services.

For tourists from Israel and abroad “on the way to Eilat”: We have developed a number of activities appropriate for visitors from abroad and for youth groups. The unique activity and accompanies the kibbutz tour presents the democratic process on kibbutz and requires the participant to come to terms with issues of ideology and Jewish identity. We have conducted this half-day module for tens of thousands of youth and adults in the past few years.

The Keren Kolot Educational Staff specializes in designing seminars on Judaism, Desert and Kibbutz. We would be happy to offer and seminar that relates to your specific needs.

Text studies (traditional sources and modern thinkers), group activities, home hospitality, desert nature hikes and regional trips. Kibbutz Ketura provides kosher meals, rooms, and study space in the kibbutz’s cultural center. We plan every seminar together with the educators accompanying the group in order to answer to the specific group’s needs, including hikes in the Northern Negev, the Judean Desert, the Eilat Mountains and the city of Eilat.

We are happy to host organized groups interested in spending a night or several days with us without and accompanying seminar. We also offer packed lunches for hikes, barbecues by the pool and picnics.

For more information, contact Leah Kayman at Keren Kolot, Kibbutz Ketura, D. N. Elot, 88840, 08-6356658/9 (tel.) 08-6356465 (fax) or by email: Kerenkolot@ketura.ardom.co.il

For more information visit our web site at www.keren-kolot-israel.co.il