Special programs

“Special Sound” is a unique program for integrating youth, with and without special needs, through music and shared playing of musical instruments. The “Special Sound” program brings together 500 children and youth each week in sixteen branches in both the Jewish and Arab sectors. The program operates a musical educational framework that is social, warm, inclusive, empowering, and accepting in which youth educate other youth through music. Music is the ideal mediator – it is used as a common language in places where there is difficulty in communicating. It enters everyone’s heart and creates a true and courageous connection, between teens and other teens, regardless of any limitations or difficulties.

“Mother Nature” is a community ecological farm located in a boarding school for at-risk youth in Gan Yavne, that was established out of a deep belief in the ability of human beings to create change in the reality of their lives. The goal in “Together with Nature” is to provide all those who come to the farm with the tools to create a world worth living in. The farm is an urban center for cultivating a lifestyle of environmental responsibility, social partnership, social-business entrepreneurship, community connections and deepens the connection between people and the landscape in which they were born. The youth who are active at the farm create a culture of environmental responsibility for other youth and the entire community.

This program includes groups of youth in Arab and Jewish society. The groups are formed and then meet together socially to design a mutual artistic creation that is then presented to the community and to other youth. The program trains the teens to have the tools for social involvement and taking responsibility for culture in the environment in which we live. The groups operate in Haifa, Ein Mahel, the village of Mashhad and Nof Hagalil.

The Year of Volunteer Service in the cultural institutions track was established in order to help to rejuvenate cultural institutions in the periphery after the severe negative impact that the Corona pandemic exacted on the world of culture in Israel. The Year of Volunteer Service includes 150 high-school graduates who volunteer in cultural institutions in the Negev and the Galilee each year. The cultural Year of Volunteer Service is spent together as a core group of eight to twelve participants in each city who meet throughout the year for meetings and seminars with other Year of Volunteer Service groups from all over the country.

“Riyada” is a leadership institute is a training program for Arab young adults (ages 18-19). It was founded out of a desire to create a connection and sense of belonging among participants to the their local community and Israeli society. In “Riyadh”, 32 young men and women from the Kfar Kanna area participate in daily activities of conceptual, experiential and professional learning. Studying at the Institute includes entrepreneurship, culture, art, leadership, social economics, preparation for the world of employment and academia, Hebrew as a second language and hands-on experience in teaching in Tarbut’s youth centers. The program has 50 graduates since its establishment in 2018.

“Avot Tarbut” (translated “cultural foundations”) is a program established by the Tarbut Movement in 2019, which aims to place the population of older adults in a more significant role in the local community and in Israeli culture. Currently, the program operates in five municipalities with over 800 seniors. This intensive intervention approach in the field of arts and culture is intended for local authorities and provides a tailored response to senior citizens with diverse needs who are living specific area. Community artists who have undergone unique training for social and documentary activities with senior citizens are integrated into existing welfare and community organizations in each local municipality. The program currently operates in the Jerusalem Municipality, and the goal of the program is to expand existing activities in the city of Jerusalem and to replicate the program to another local authority in the periphery.

The Creative Center network consists of 34 centers of art and culture for youth and children in Israel established by Tarbut Movement, providing access to arts and culture, artistic training, leadership and community engagement. There are 34 Creative Centers nationwide in villages, moshavim and cities from the north to the south. Today, there are over 4,000 participants in the Creative Centers – youth and children (grades 3-12), who participate in activities during after-school hours every week.

Every year we hold camps, trips and nationwide events for teens ages thirteen and up. The nationwide events are an opportunity to meet and get to know young people from all over the country, to experience new and surprising cultural experiences and to create art in a variety of fields.

“The Culture Hub” is a local community program, which distributes pluralistic Jewish learning and modern interpretation to Jewish customs within underserved communities across Israel. By utilizing the widespread network of Tarbut artists who are deeply embedded in these communities across Israel, The Culture Hub provides access to holiday festivities and Jewish learning to thousands of participants each year. The program spreads the understanding of pluralistic Jewish culture to new audiences previously not reached, and uses culture as a vehicle for community organizing and learning.

Seven years ago, we established the School Artists program – a model that combines artists and the arts in learning core subjects in the public education system. Today, the model operates in fifteen schools across the country and is operated by 30 school artists who meet each year with thousands of students from elementary school to high school.

Creative learning, which combines individual and group work alongside involvement in school culture, allows students to express a variety of abilities within school and contributes to very meaningful social processes during the adolescence years. In addition to the learning processes, the model works to strengthen the school community and connect formal and informal education activities in afternoon settings.

Here are two major models:

Dialogui – Hebrew as a Second Language is a unique initiative that combines teaching Hebrew and theater. It was created following the identification of the language barrier as a major problem that creates inequality of opportunity and social exclusion for the Arab sector in Israel. Today, the program operates in 30 elementary schools in the Arab sector. The program offers an innovative intervention based on improving the processes of acquiring a spoken language and teaching it through repetitive, multi-sensory expression, while connecting to the student’s emotional, social and cultural identification. The method combines original actions, stories and dialogues adapted to the age, interests and personal abilities of the learners. The method was developed by Adi Segev, an educator and theater professional and Roberto Chernitzky, an expert in curriculum development and educational technology which has been operating since 2006.

The Traveling Museum: An interactive museum that combines theater performances and art exhibits with history curriculum for junior high and high school students. The museum follows Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement, to discover the essential role of Zionism then and today. It is an interactive space built within the school in just a few hours, which combines multi-media, live actors, and guides who bring the historic story to life, while connecting it to currents issues. The museum operates in 30 schools and meets with 7,000 children every year.