With the support of the David and Meredith Kaplan Foundation, 650 Taglit Birthright Israel volunteers are helping create eight community gardens across four educational institutions.
Perched high on the slopes of Mount Hermon, Majdal Shams is a historic Druze village near Israel’s northern border. In July 2024, a Hezbollah rocket struck the village’s football pitch, killing 12 children and teenagers. The attack shocked the whole country and devastated the community. Two years later, Taglit Birthright Israel volunteers have come from around the world to support the community’s recovery by creating green spaces across its educational institutions.
As part of a Taglit Birthright Israel initiative to support the recovery of northern communities, around 650 volunteers will build eight community gardens in Majdal Shams. The project, which is already underway and will continue for about a month, will focus primarily on schools and educational institutions throughout the village. Its aim is to bring more greenery into public and educational spaces, create a pleasant and welcoming environment for residents and students, and revitalize the village through volunteering and meaningful action.
The first group, from Florida, began by planting traditional Druze plants around a memorial and outdoor classroom dedicated to the 12 victims. Their work offers an early glimpse of what the project will create across Majdal Shams: green, welcoming spaces designed to remain part of the village’s daily life.
The project is being carried out in close partnership with Majdal Shams’s educational institutions, the regional council’s education department, and the local Druze community. It brings together Taglit Birthright Israel’s ability to mobilize volunteers from Jewish communities around the world with local knowledge and priorities, turning that partnership into coordinated action on the ground.
The Majdal Shams initiative is one of Taglit Birthright Israel’s flagship recovery projects. It is part of the organization’s commitment to communities affected by the war and to the long-term strengthening of northern Israel and the Gaza envelope. Jihan Safadi, the school principal who lost six of her students in the attack, welcomed the first group and spoke about the significance of Taglit Birthright Israel choosing to volunteer in Majdal Shams. “Hundreds of volunteers from around the world will work here throughout the summer dedicating their time and energy to support the recovery of Majdal Shams,” said CEO Gidi Mark. “For them, this is an opportunity to get to know the community firsthand and take part in rebuilding it.”
Other war-affected communities across Israel still need your support! With your partnership, Taglit Birthright Israel can continue bringing young Jewish volunteers to Israel and responding to these communities’ urgent needs through meaningful action on the ground.
