What is an Alternative Break trip?
Alternative Break trips are an opportunity to examine relevant social issues, volunteer with inspiring service partners and travel with friends. The Brody Jewish Center has coordinated both international and domestic experiences for Jewish students to have fun while learning about our shared world. Alternative Fall and Spring Breaks are an impactful experience that cultivates increased awareness and connection while making lifelong friendships!
Past Alternative Break Experiences
Spring 2019: Germany Close Up Round #2
We loved Germany Close Up so much, we had to go back again! Students and our Assistant Director travelled to Berlin to learn about the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, Jewish life in Germany following WWII, German-Israeli relations, and immigration politics. Students were able to explore Berlin through museums and night life and even attended a Jewish youth conference to see what Jewish young adult life is like in Germany.
Spring 2018: Service Trip in Petersfield, Jamaica with Amizade
The ASB trip to rural Jamaica was a service learning trip - part volunteering in a local school/doing some light construction, part learning about and engaging with the local community, and part exploring and enjoying Jamaica! We stayed in homestays, living with Jamaican families for the week, having a truly local experience. During the trip, we had many conversations about Judaism, social justice and the impact of volunteering in foreign countries. Read more about the trip on our blog.
Spring 2017: Understanding Germany's Past and Present
Brody Jewish Center, Hillel at UVA partnered with the Germany Close Up Fellowship to provide a meaningful look at modern Germany.
Throughout the week in Germany, participants explored:
→ Jewish life in Berlin, past and present
→ German-Israeli relations
→ The Holocaust and the Nazi era
→ Berlin today/a reunited Germany in the heart of Europe
→ Immigration and diversity
→ current German Politics
Read about students' travel through Germany on our blog.
Throughout the week in Germany, participants explored:
→ Jewish life in Berlin, past and present
→ German-Israeli relations
→ The Holocaust and the Nazi era
→ Berlin today/a reunited Germany in the heart of Europe
→ Immigration and diversity
→ current German Politics
Read about students' travel through Germany on our blog.
Spring 2016: Exploring Navajo Nation in Tuba City, Arizona
The Brody Jewish Center partnered with the Wesley Foundation for an Alternative Spring Break in the Navajo Nation. Throughout the week-long trip, students learned from the Navajo population and explored issues pertaining to education and economic development, as well as challenges regarding sustaining cultural identity. Hands-on service projects included light construction and maintenance.
Additionally, students participated in cultural activities, such as a sweat lodge. They also visited the Grand Canyon and other sites significant to the Navajo people.
The Brody Jewish Center partnered with the Wesley Foundation for an Alternative Spring Break in the Navajo Nation. Throughout the week-long trip, students learned from the Navajo population and explored issues pertaining to education and economic development, as well as challenges regarding sustaining cultural identity. Hands-on service projects included light construction and maintenance.
Additionally, students participated in cultural activities, such as a sweat lodge. They also visited the Grand Canyon and other sites significant to the Navajo people.
Spring 2015: Institute for Southern Jewish Life
University of Virginia students traveled to the Mississippi Delta to examine issues pertaining to food insecurity and race relations. The group volunteered with MEGA (Mississippians Engaged in Greener Agriculture). During the week they contributed to the operations of a community garden that provides the only source of fresh produce for the county.
While in Mississippi, UVa also met with leaders of the Delta Jewish community, toured local synagogues and learned about Jewish life in the South.
University of Virginia students traveled to the Mississippi Delta to examine issues pertaining to food insecurity and race relations. The group volunteered with MEGA (Mississippians Engaged in Greener Agriculture). During the week they contributed to the operations of a community garden that provides the only source of fresh produce for the county.
While in Mississippi, UVa also met with leaders of the Delta Jewish community, toured local synagogues and learned about Jewish life in the South.
Spring 2014: Opportunities Domestic and Abroad
Volunteer in North Carolina with an Interfaith Group
Students volunteered in Appalachia, North Carolina as part of an interfaith service trip in partnership with the Wesley Foundation at the University of Virginia.
Travel to Argentina with JDC Entwine Insider
Students traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina on a JDC Entwine Insider service trip with the Brody Jewish Center. JDC Short-Term Service Programs are connecting North American young adults to the global Jewish community through volunteer programs in a Jewish community overseas.
The experience provided a firsthand understanding of the challenges facing the Buenos Aires Jewish community how JDC is addressing community needs.
All JDC experiences aim to:
LEND A HAND by performing service work in the Argentinian Jewish community with elderly, children, and teens
CONNECT with Argentinian college-aged peers and with your fellow UVa students
LEARN about the history of Jewish life in Argentina and Latin America
GET TO KNOW today’s Argentinian Jewish community and what it takes to recover from the devastating economic crisis in 2001
Inside Argentina with UVa Information Sheet
Volunteer in North Carolina with an Interfaith Group
Students volunteered in Appalachia, North Carolina as part of an interfaith service trip in partnership with the Wesley Foundation at the University of Virginia.
Travel to Argentina with JDC Entwine Insider
Students traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina on a JDC Entwine Insider service trip with the Brody Jewish Center. JDC Short-Term Service Programs are connecting North American young adults to the global Jewish community through volunteer programs in a Jewish community overseas.
The experience provided a firsthand understanding of the challenges facing the Buenos Aires Jewish community how JDC is addressing community needs.
All JDC experiences aim to:
LEND A HAND by performing service work in the Argentinian Jewish community with elderly, children, and teens
CONNECT with Argentinian college-aged peers and with your fellow UVa students
LEARN about the history of Jewish life in Argentina and Latin America
GET TO KNOW today’s Argentinian Jewish community and what it takes to recover from the devastating economic crisis in 2001
Inside Argentina with UVa Information Sheet
Spring 2013: Travels to Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine
A group of UVa students traveled to Ukraine on a JDC Entwine short-term service trip with the Brody Jewish Center. The trip strives to connect North American young adults to the global Jewish community through volunteer programs in a Jewish community overseas.
A group of UVa students traveled to Ukraine on a JDC Entwine short-term service trip with the Brody Jewish Center. The trip strives to connect North American young adults to the global Jewish community through volunteer programs in a Jewish community overseas.