Summer Program
Applications Now Open for JASS 2025: Skills for Jewish Activists and Community Professionals!
Are you ready to enhance your skills, expand your network, and make a meaningful impact? Applications for JASS 2025 are now open, with a deadline to apply by April 30st, 2025.
JASS accepts activists, students and professionals over the age of 18 from any background and country. JASS is designed for young adults, but is open to everyone, pending application. The application form can be found here.
-
Dates: July 28th to August 17th, 2025
-
Location: Berlin & Potsdam, hosted at CIEE Berlin
At JASS, you will learn from some of the brightest, most creative, effective, innovative and dedicated scholars and activists in the world. You will be immersed in a combination of courses, workshops, and excursions to local organizations, giving you new insights and skills to take back home to your own communities and initiatives. An international cadre of invited effective and innovative scholars, activists, practitioners and spiritual leaders teach and guide participants.
JASS 2025 is a transformative summer program designed for Jewish activists and community professionals to navigate today’s challenges. This year’s focus is on providing tools and frameworks to respond to global conflicts, antisemitism, and socio-political complexities.
Our program consists of four main components:
-
"The Conflict": Trying to Make Sense of it All
Explore the complexities of the current geopolitical situation and its implications for Jewish activism. -
The Jews and the Left After October 7th
Address the position of Progressive Jews and Israelis today and discuss actionable steps forward. -
The New Levantinism
Investigate themes of Jewish belonging in the Eastern Mediterranean and how they influence identity and activism. -
Skills and Resources for the Current Moment
Equip participants with practical tools, methodologies, and strategies to tackle contemporary challenges effectively.
Location
The city of Berlin provides the ideal background for our summer program. Steeped in a history of conflict, rebellion and defiance, Berlin has become home to a thriving activist scene that participants get to experience firsthand. By visiting local initiatives, historical sites and enjoying free time to explore the city on their own, participants become immersed in the unique spirit of this diverse and energetic city.
Schedule
The 3-week JASS program combines seminars, workshops and the study of Jewish texts from Monday through Friday. Visits to local activist initiatives take place on various days during the late afternoon sessions. Optional programming includes Jewish cultural activities and religious services during Shabbat.
Accommodations
JASS 2025 will be hosted at CIEE Berlin, where participants will also be accommodated in shared rooms for the duration of the program.
CIEE Berlin has its own campus in the heart of Kreuzberg, featuring eight classrooms, a 214+ bed dormitory, student lounges, a lobby with a café, and event spaces.
For those who live in Berlin or Brandenburg and do not require accommodation, the cost of the program is €400 without housing.
Credits
Students at the undergraduate level will have the option to gain 4 credit points for the entire program that will be transferable to their home universities. Please contact us for more detailed information.
Fees & Scholarship
-
Cost: €1,300 (covers all activities, classes, and shared accommodations). Meals and travel expenses are not included. Some financial assistance will be available.
-
Local participants: For participants who reside in Berlin or Brandenburg and do not require accommodation, the full program fee is €400. We will also make select sessions open to local participants.
Alumni
JASS participants become part of a growing network of international activists. JASS alumni have gone on to:
-
Found a journal of Jewish culture and politics (Protocols)
-
Develop popular education tools focused on climate policy with Ellery Studio (Berlin)
-
Serve as a Resident in Art Writing at the Contemporary Art Stavanger (Norway)
-
Work as Partnerships Manager at Insights.US, which helps organizations become customer-centric through advisory boards and civic engagement
-
Attend Yale Law School, serving as editor of the Yale Law and Policy Review, and working with the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project
-
Work as Director of Communication at Cadena, Mexico
-
Work as Project Coordinator at The Urban Clinic, the Hebrew University (Jerusalem)
-
Co-found Judaism in Our Own Terms, which helps foster democratic, student-led communities across North America
-
Write about Jewish women anti-Nazi partisans in Lithuania (Uppsala University)
