Shnat Hachshara is a year long educational and leadership program that is run for school leavers. The six Zionist youth movements of Australia run independent programs for their chanichim which consist of a variety of Jewish learning, leadership training, touring, hiking, kibbutz experiences, army training, community service and the list goes on.
Shnat Hachshara refers to a year of preparation. In the early days of the establishment of the State of Israel, this referred to preparation for the challenges of aliya including learning the required farming skills to be able to physically build the land of Israel. Shnat Hachshara today aims to prepare chanichim for a number of factors of which aliya is still included. The programs predominantly focus on leadership, ideological and educational development in order that chanichim are ready to take on the world, their respective Jewish communities and more specifically their youth movements, as competent, educated and passionate leaders.
The AZYC opens all the movements shnat programs with the AZYC Seminar. The seminar is a 5 day-long program encompassing touring, fun, hiking, inter-movement bonding and peulot which focus on being apart of a movement, Zionism, being on shnat and away from home for a year.
Furthermore, the AZYC works in conjunction with Machon L’Madrichei Chutz La’aretz (The institute for leaders from abroad) which currently runs the opening intensive educational component for 5 of the 6 movements (Netzer and Habonim Dror offer alternative educational programs as well as Machon, and Bnei Akiva partakes in the religious Machon). The Machon has been a core component in Australian shnat programs for decades and is highly reputable for its high level of leadership development and educational programs which focus on Israel, Zionism, Judaism, Hebrew and movement understanding. The program also offers a range of hikes, touring opportunities and volunteering experiences in a pluralistic, inter-movement environment located in Jerusalem.
The programs currently offered by the Zionist movements today are as follows:
Betar
- Machon
- Development town volunteering
- Betar Seminars
- Maarva (army program)
- Options period: includes Kibbutz and MDA and a variety of other options
Bnei Akiva
MTA:
- 9 months learning in a religious seminary
- Poland
- Kibbutz or Sarel (Army volunteering)
- Bnei Akiva Seminars
Tafnit/Limmud
- Machon Dati
- Religious Seminary
- Kibbutz
- Maarva or community volunteering
- Poland
Tafnit
- Kibbutz
- Maarva or MDA
- Machon Dati
- Religious Seminary
- Poland
- Volunteering
Habonim Dror
- Boneh/Machon
- Kibbutz Period
- Tiyul Haaretz
- Habonim Dror Seminars
- Poland
- Kaveret – volunteering and communal living experience
Hashomer Hatzair
- Educational Component
- Volunteering Component
- Kibbutz
- Hashomer Hatzair seminars and activities
Hineni
- Machon
- Religious learning seminar
- Kibbutz
- Volunteering and community service eg. MDA//teaching in Israeli schools/Maarva
- Hineni Seminars
Netzer
- Machon/Etgar
- Volunteering Period: includes options of overseas netzer youth camps/MDA/Maarva/Bedouin camps etc.
- Kibbutz
- Netzer seminars