Avodah is a national network of Jewish leaders working to fight domestic poverty and promote social justice. In addition to service at leading non-profits, participants in our Jewish Service Corps live together as a community and engage in weekly educational programs to deepen their understanding of domestic poverty, Jewish identity, and how to stay in the work longterm.

Avodah is committed to building a service corps that inclusively represents the diverse Jewish Community. Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Jews of Color, people of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, LGBT2QIA people, and people who come from poor or working class backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please make sure to save your application often. When you save your application, you will receive an email with instructions on how to return to it. For essay questions, we suggest you draft them in an outside word processing program and then enter them here. We also recommend sending the reference form to your three recommenders as soon as you start the application.

The final deadline for the Jewish Service Corps before rolling admissions is March 30th. We strongly encouraging applying by this deadline for the best change of matching with a placement organization you are excited about. If you have any questions throughout the application process, contact Emily Becker at ebecker@avodah.net.

Personal Information

Applicant ID: You MUST complete this field before saving your application. This will serve as a unique identifier. It is composed of your date of birth plus the last four digits of your phone number. (Format: mmddyyyypppp).

First Name

Does not have to be your legal name.

Last Name

Email: You MUST complete this filed before saving your application

Date of Birth (MM/DD/YYYY)

Cell Phone

Secondary Phone

Gender

Pronouns

NOTE: You must be authorized to work in the United States to be eligible for the program. Are you authorized to work in the United States?

YesNo

Address

Permanent Address Line 1

Permanent Address Line 2

Permanent City

Permanent State

Permanent Zip Code

Permanent Country

City Preference

Each Jewish Service Corps candidate is considered for only one city. Please rate each Jewish Service Corps location according to your preference, indicating for each location whether it is a high, medium or low preference. You can give the same ranking to more than one location. You may also select no preference if you have no preference for which Jewish Service Corps city you are considered for.

Chicago

High	Medium
Low	No Preference

New Orleans

High	Medium
Low	No Preference

New York City

High	Medium
Low	No Preference

New York City - JOC Bayit

High	Medium
Low	No Preference

The Jews of Color Bayit (Communal House) is for self-identified Jews of Color. JOCs may include individuals who are African, African American, Black, Asian, Latinx, Middle Eastern, Native American, Sephardi, Mizrahi, and/or Multi-Racial. Note: Some Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews do not identify as Jews of Color. JOCs are encouraged to rank the JOC Bayit, but are welcome to apply to any city (including the NYC non-JOC Bayit). If you have any questions about the JOC Bayit and whether or not you qualify, please email our Manager of Racial Justice Initiatives Nate Looney at nlooney@avodah.net.

San Diego, CA

High	Medium
Low	No Preference

Washington, DC

High	Medium
Low	No Preference

If you have a strong preference for only one city, please select that city below.

We suggest that you write any short answers in a word processing program on your computer and then cut and paste them into the boxes in the application. Please make sure to save your application often.

References

Avodah requires applicants to submit three references. Your references should submit their reference forms as soon as possible. We will not review your application until we receive all references and completed applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until all positions are filled.

The following are acceptable individuals to use as a reference for at least 2 (and up to all 3) of your references:

Someone who supervised you when you held either a paid or volunteer position, such as any type of full-time or part-time job, a summer internship or internship during the school year, teaching assistant position, etc.
Someone who served in a leadership role such as short-term service trip leader or a professional who served as a student group advisor.

Additionally, one of your three references MAY fit the following criteria, either:

A professor or academic advisor, OR
A peer from work, volunteer roles or a big project.

The above can only only serve as one of your references. The following cannot serve as any of your references:

Family members or close family friends
Peers who have not worked with you on a major project, employment or volunteer work.

The link for submitting references is unique to you. You will receive this link in your email upon saving or submitting the application. We will not receive the reference if you do not use the correct link.

When all three reccomenders submit their references, we will send you an email. If you haven't received an email from us, your references are not complete. Please email apply@avodah.net if you have any questions about who has or hasn't submitted.

Education

No participant education level is required for Avodah's Jewish Service Corps. The information below helps us gain a better sense of you as an applicant. Please add your education history below which could include: high school, college/university, study abroad, graduate school, or other structured education experiences (i.e. internships, immersion programs, short-term study, etc.).

Institution Name

Institution Type

City

Country

State

Major

Social Justice Education/Training

List your formal education/training related to addressing poverty, economic justice, and general justice issues.

Education/Training

Location

Start Date

End Date

Please describe your social justice experience below (1,500 characters max):

Anti-Oppression Education/ Training

List your formal or informal education related to anti-oppression work (i.e. coalition building, multicultural awareness, anti-racism, ally or solidarity work etc.)

Training / Experience

Location

Start Date

End Date

Please describe your anti-oppression experience below (1,500 characters max):

Conflict Resolution, Mediation and Community-Building

List your formal or informal education related to any type of conflict resolution, mediation or other community-building skills.

Training / Class

Location

Start Date

End Date

Please describe your conflict resolution, mediation, and community building experience below (1,500 characters max):

We suggest that you write any short answers in a word processing program on your computer and then cut and paste them into the boxes in the application. Please make sure to save your application often.

Religious Background

Please Note: The questions below are optional. No particular religious background or level of religious knowledge is required for Avodah's Jewish Service Corps. The information below helps us gain a better sense of who is in our applicant pool. What experiences have you had thus far that have prepared you to actively engage in a faith-based program that incorporates Jewish learning and exploration? (1,500 characters max)

Formal Religious Education

Including religious school, day school, short-term or extended study programs, college classes, etc

School/Program

Location

Start Date

End Date

Experiential Cultural/ Religious Activities

Including youth groups, camps, educational trips, campus organizations, etc.

School/Program

Location

Start Date

End Date

We suggest that you write any short answers in a word processing program on your computer and then cut and paste them into the boxes in the application. Please make sure to save your application often.

Skills and Interests

Let us know what kind of work you’d like to do with Avodah and what you’ve done in the past. Briefly describe your experience, training/skills, and/or interest level in specific social justice issue areas where Avodah placements focus their work. (examples include: community organizing, criminal justice/mass incarceration, education, LGBTQI*, youth, legal assistance, environmental justice, housing, health, immigration, women’s issues, worker’s rights, etc. Note that not all of these issue areas may be available in every city.)(750 characters or less).

Briefly describe your experiences (if any) in positions of leadership, formal or informal (750 characters or less).

Whether or not you have held positions of leadership, what do you believe a leader's role is? What skills and talents do effective leaders possess? (750 characters or less)

Do you speak any language other than English?

Language

If other, what language?

Fluency Level

Limited: Understands some words, but cannot read the language or hold a conversation. Proficient: Intermediate written and reading knowledge, can hold a basic conversation. Fluent: Ability to read, write and speak the language with ease.

We suggest that you write any short answers in a word processing program on your computer and then cut and paste them into the boxes in the application. Please make sure to save your application often.

Social Justice and Placement Questions

Please answer the following in 3-4 brief sentences. Your answers will be sent to prospective placements. If you use Hebrew or other non-English words, please provide translation. (1,500 characters max for each question)

What motivates you to want to engage in social justice work?

In what ways do you make connections between social justice work and your personal beliefs and values?

Please describe a social justice activity you recently participated in and what was meaningful about the experience?

Communal Living

Please answer the following questions with brief essays (1,500 characters max for each question). We suggest that you write any short answers in a word processing program on your computer and then cut and paste them into the boxes in the application. Please make sure to save your application often.

What is your ideal communal living situation? What values would you want to share with housemates?

If you have already lived communally, describe a challenging situation and how you dealt with it. If you haven't lived communally, describe a time you navigated a tough interpersonal issue.

What do you hope to gain through communal living in a Jewish environment? How do you hope to contribute?

Resume

Please upload your resume ONLY AS A PDF FILE (.pdf). If you do not use this format, we will not be able to see your resume or send your application to interviewers. Instructions for saving a Word document as a PDF file can be found here. Please make sure to include the following information in your resume: Position held, Name of organization, Responsibilities, Dates of employment, Your name and address (please include this on each page if you have multiple pages), Work experience (include temporary positions, summer jobs, etc), Volunteer experience (on campus, with organizations, etc), Languages (indicate proficiency in speaking, reading, writing and understanding)

Please note that you will have to click "Submit" twice - first below and then on a confirmation page. The first click will take you to a page where you have the opportunity to review your answers. Once you've done so and are satisfied, you'll hit "Confirm" at the bottom of the confirmation page. Your submission is not complete until you've done so.

Alumni Recruitment Organizer (ARO) on my campus	Avodah Participant/Alum
Avodah staff person	Campus Chabad
Campus Hillel	Facebook
Friend/Family Member	Idealist
LinkedIn	Listserv
Online Advertisement	Panel/Career Fair (please specify which below)
Professor (please specify who below)	Student Organization
Synagogue/Rabbi	Other Online Job Posting
Other (please specify below)

Alumni Recruitment Organizer (ARO) on my campus	Avodah Participant/Alum
Avodah staff person	Campus Chabad
Campus Hillel	Facebook
Friend/Family Member	Idealist
LinkedIn	Listserv
Online Advertisement	Panel/Career Fair (please specify which below)
Professor (please specify who below)	Student Organization
Synagogue/Rabbi	Other Online Job Posting
Other (please specify below)

Demographic Information