Summer Program
Pre-Applications Now Open —
Deadline: 1 May 2026
Spots are limited. Apply early here
From the MENA Region to the World: Building Jewish Activist Networks for Democratic Futures
Dates: 27 July – 9 August 2026
Location: Berlin, hosted at bUm Berlin, Paul-Lincke-Ufer 21, Kreuzberg (www.bum.berlin)
Accommodation: Shared rooms at a local hostel in Berlin (to be confirmed)
About JASS 2026
What does it mean to act from Jewish values in a world where democracies are eroding, conflicts are deepening, and the need for cross-border solidarity has never been greater? JASS 2026 is built around that question — and around the conviction that the answer has to be collective, practical, and durable.
This two-week program in Berlin brings together activists, scholars, journalists, and community professionals from across the MENA region, Europe, and beyond. It moves from the specific to the structural: from the founding of a concrete new initiative responding to one of today’s most urgent crises, to the co-creation of a lasting international network capable of sustaining Jewish activism for democratic values across contexts, regions, and years.
The two phases of the program are not separate — they are two scales of the same work. What we build in the MENA region, we also build in the world.
This Year’s Program: Two Phases, One Arc
JASS 2026 is structured around two interconnected weeks, designed as a single, continuous journey — and we strongly encourage participants to join the full program. That said, each week also stands on its own, and you are welcome to apply for the one that speaks most directly to your work.
WEEK 1 — 27 JULY – 2 AUGUST
Founding the MENA Youth Solidarity Corps
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Co-create an independent volunteer organization sending young people from across the MENA region to support rebuilding in MENA region and beyond.
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Working sessions on organizational development, Design Thinking, Deep Democracy, and volunteer training
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Open to activists, community professionals, and young leaders (18+) from the MENA region, Europe, and beyond
WEEK 2 — 3–9 AUGUST
Building a Pan-European Jewish Activist Network
The final four days step back from the specific to ask the broader question: how does what we’ve built here travel? How do we sustain it, scale it, and connect it to the larger project of defending democratic values worldwide?
Drawing on JASS’s nearly decade-long history as a hub for Jewish activists and community professionals, this phase is dedicated to strengthening JASS as an international network — a living, growing community of practice — and to establishing a truly collaborative network of like-minded Jewish organizations across Europe and beyond. Such a network is needed today more than ever.
This is not a series of panels or lectures. It is a participatory, democratically structured working space where past JASS instructors, alumni, and new participants — bringing perspectives from Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East, and beyond — sit together as peers to co-build what this network looks like going forward: how it connects members across regions, what resources and support it offers to activists in their local contexts, and how it can sustain a global community of Jewish and allied activists over time.
The goal is not a one-time gathering but the consolidation of an ongoing, decentralized network with shared values and practical tools for the present and future.
Because the two phases are conceived as a single, continuous arc — from founding a concrete initiative to building the network that sustains it — we strongly encourage participants to join the complete program. Full participation is the best way to experience the depth of the work and contribute meaningfully to both dimensions of what we are building together.
Location
The city of Berlin provides the ideal backdrop for a program rooted in civic courage, democratic practice, and collective repair. Steeped in a history of conflict, resistance, and reinvention, Berlin has become home to a thriving activist scene that JASS participants get to experience firsthand.
JASS 2026 will be hosted at bUm Berlin (www.bum.berlin), a civic hub in the heart of Kreuzberg home to over 50 organizations working on political education, anti-discrimination, climate justice, arts, and community building — an ideal setting for JASS’s collaborative and activist spirit. The program will also include visits to local initiatives and historical sites across the city.
Program (Tentative)
The 2026 program will include:
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Deep Democracy — tools and methods for inclusive dialogue, collective decision-making, and engaging minority voices within groups and communities
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Design Thinking for Social Impact — human-centered approaches to building new initiatives and solving complex social problems
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Organizational Incubation Methodology — how to move from an idea to a functioning organization: governance, fundraising, recruitment, and stakeholder engagement
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Volunteer Training Frameworks — coexistence through action: communication, active listening, individual and collective self-awareness, and conflict management
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Structured co-creation sessions on the founding of the Gaza Youth Corps
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Network-building working sessions on the future of JASS as an international activist network
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Community visits and encounters with Berlin’s rich civil society ecosystem
Full program, faculty bios, and confirmed participants to be announced.
Who Should Apply?
JASS 2026 welcomes three types of participants across both weeks:
Activists & Organizers
If you are working on democracy, human rights, anti-discrimination, climate justice, or civic engagement — at the local, national, or European level — JASS is built for you. Both weeks offer practical tools, peer learning, and the connections that make sustained activism possible.
Academics & Researchers
Scholars in Jewish studies, political science, history, sociology, or related fields who want to connect their work to activist practice and real-world networks. The second week in particular offers a space to co-create research partnerships and connect academic knowledge with organizational needs.
Community & Organizational Leaders
Professionals leading Jewish organizations, NGOs, or community institutions are especially welcome in the second week, which is designed around the co-creation of a pan-European network. Your organization’s experience and perspective will help shape what this network looks like in practice.
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
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€800 — full program (both weeks, 27 July–9 August), including shared hostel accommodation
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€400 — single week (Week 1 or Week 2 only), including shared hostel accommodation
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Meals and travel are not included.
Alumni
JASS participants become part of a growing network of international activists. Meet the 2025 cohort JASS alumni have gone on to:
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Found a journal of Jewish culture and politics (Protocols)
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Develop popular education tools focused on climate policy with Ellery Studio (Berlin)
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Serve as a Resident in Art Writing at the Contemporary Art Stavanger (Norway)
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Work as Partnerships Manager at Insights.US, which helps organizations become customer-centric through advisory boards and civic engagement
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Attend Yale Law School, serving as editor of the Yale Law and Policy Review, and working with the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project
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Work as Director of Communication at Cadena, Mexico
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Work as Project Coordinator at The Urban Clinic, the Hebrew University (Jerusalem)
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Co-found Judaism in Our Own Terms, which helps foster democratic, student-led communities across North America
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Write about Jewish women anti-Nazi partisans in Lithuania (Uppsala University)
