Jerusalem for seminary girls and yeshiva students
The gap year, practically: the visa, a phone and a Rav-Kav, Shabbos out, a doctor at midnight, sirens and shelters, and where every seminary and yeshiva is. For students, and for the parents back home.
Start here
In this order — each one assumes the one before it.
- 01 A Seminary or Yeshiva Year in Jerusalem: A Practical Guide for Students and Parents 8 min
- 02 Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem: Train, Bus, Taxi and Arriving on Shabbat 4 min
- 03 Mobile Phone Plans in Israel: Providers, eSIM and What a New Arrival Should Pick 3 min
- 04 Getting Around Jerusalem: Light Rail, Buses and the Rav-Kav 4 min
- 05 Is Jerusalem Safe? A Resident's Guide to Security, Sirens and Everyday Safety 4 min
- 06 Seeing a Doctor in Jerusalem: Clinics, Urgent Care and the ER 4 min
- 07 Hospitals in Jerusalem, and Pharmacies Open at Night and on Shabbat 3 min
- 08 Shabbat and Chagim in Jerusalem: What Closes, What Opens and How the Year Runs 4 min
- 09 The Old City and the Western Wall: A Practical Visitor's Guide 3 min
- 10 Supermarkets in Jerusalem: The Chains, the Shuk and Where Locals Actually Shop 4 min
- 11 Kashrut in Israel Explained: Rabbanut, Mehadrin, Badatz and What Matches the OU 8 min
- 12 How Mail and Parcels Work in Jerusalem: Israel Post, Lockers and Customs 3 min
- 13 Jerusalem at Night and for Free: Evenings Out and Things That Cost Nothing 3 min
- 14 Hikes Near Jerusalem: Springs, Forests and Half-Day Walks 4 min
- 15 Jerusalem Weather by Month: What to Expect and What to Pack 3 min
- 16 Hebrew Words You Need for Daily Life in Jerusalem 4 min
Sort these out
Things with a deadline, a rule, or an entitlement worth claiming.
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Get the A/2 student visa for the year
Yeshiva and seminary students need an A/2 student visa, valid for up to a year with multiple entries; it does not allow paid work. Apply at the Israeli mission where you live, or after arrival at a Population and Immigration Authority office, with the acceptance letter, proof of tuition payment, bank statements, a birth certificate and medical insurance. If the student is under 18, both parents must sign in front of the consul, and each mission sets its own passport-validity and document rules, so follow your local consulate's page.
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Board with a visa or an ETA-IL, never neither
Every traveller needs a valid Israeli visa or an approved ETA-IL before the journey starts. Students who already hold the A/2 do not need an ETA-IL; those who will get the visa after arrival through their yeshiva or seminary travel on an ETA-IL, which covers 90 days at most. Dual Israeli citizens do not apply for one, but must show the airline proof of Israeli citizenship.
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Settle your IDF status first if you are Israeli
Israeli citizens living abroad, including those born abroad to an Israeli parent, arrange their military status through the consulate from age 16 and four months, using Form 7202; there is no fee. The confirmation letter sets the conditions of 'child of immigrants' status, and a year of study in Israel can breach them, so check the limits with the consulate before you go. Israeli citizens do not get a student visa.
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Carry your Israeli passport, and watch 31 December 2026
Israeli citizens, including dual nationals, must enter and leave Israel on a valid Israeli passport. Until 31 December 2026 a valid foreign passport is accepted instead, but the Israeli one must still be carried, even if it has expired. Anyone flying home after that date should renew in good time unless the exception is extended.
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Request Masa funding before the year begins
Masa grants and need-based scholarships can only be requested up to the start date of your yeshiva or seminary year; later requests are not eligible. Scholarship documents are due within ten days of the start. Applicants must identify as Jewish, and Israeli citizens qualify only under narrow conditions.
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Have health insurance for the whole stay
Israeli missions list medical insurance among the documents for a student visa. Masa says insurance is included in most of its fees, but policies differ between organisers, so ask yours exactly what is covered and until when.
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Get a personal Rav-Kav and check which profile fits
A personal Rav-Kav can be issued against a passport and keeps your balance safe if the card is lost, which an anonymous card does not. The Young profile gives passengers aged 18 to 26 a third off monthly passes, but the Ministry of Transport's document list asks for an Israeli ID for it, so students on a foreign passport may be refused. The student profile is only for institutions on the Ministry of Transport's list, so check whether yours is on it before applying.
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Install the Home Front Command app and find your shelter
The official Home Front Command app gives real-time alerts for your location in English, Hebrew, Arabic and Russian. Find the nearest protected room or shared shelter at your dorm, apartment and study building in the first week. If there is none, a stairwell without windows or outside walls is the fallback.
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Register with your own government for the year
Americans can sign up for the State Department's free STEP service, which sends embassy alerts and helps the embassy reach you or your emergency contact. Canadians can use the free Registration of Canadians Abroad, and British travellers can sign up for FCDO travel advice email alerts.
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Save 101, 100 and 102, and know your nearest Terem
Call 101 for a Magen David Adom ambulance, 100 for police and 102 for fire. For urgent but not life-threatening problems, Terem's Romema clinic on Sarei Israel is open 24/7, Tayelet is open daily from 08:30 to midnight, and Pisgat Ze'ev is open evenings Sunday to Thursday and from 09:00 on Friday and Saturday. Ask your insurer before the year starts how Terem visits are paid.
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Send a new FPCA every January to vote from Israel
US citizens aged 18 or over living abroad use the Federal Post Card Application to register and request an absentee ballot for all federal elections in that calendar year. FVAP recommends a new one each January and whenever you move, and states must send ballots at least 45 days before a federal election. The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot is the backup if yours does not arrive.
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Ask about aliyah before you decide to stay
If you stay on after the year and make aliyah, the IDF can count your age of arrival from the day you first came, which affects length of service. Nefesh B'Nefesh can explain how the timing works before you change status.
Where to look
Where to go
All the plans
Gazelle Valley Park Parks & nature · Givat Mordechai / Katamonim A 260-dunam urban nature reserve in the middle of Jerusalem with a free-roaming herd of mountain gazelles, a lake, bird hides and a flat paved circuit. Entry is free and no booking is needed. No dogs are allowed anywhere in the park. Abraham Tours Jerusalem Free Tour (Old City) Historic sites & tours · Old City - meets outside Jaffa Gate A daily two-hour tips-based walking tour of the Old City's four quarters in English, meeting in the plaza outside Jaffa Gate, with viewpoints over the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Guides are licensed by Israel's Ministry of Tourism. Reserve online - free tours fill up, especially in spring and autumn. 
Old Jaffa and Jaffa Port Day trips from Jerusalem · Tel Aviv One of the oldest port cities in the world, an hour from Jerusalem, and a free day out. The municipality publishes an eleven-stop family walking route that starts in Abrasha Park at the stone gate, crosses the Wishing Bridge, drops to Jaffa Port, comes back up to the Ottoman clock tower and finishes in the flea market. Download the municipality's eleven-stop family route before you go — it has the stories for each stop, not just a map.