Tzoeret HaAretz (Young Communities)

Tzoeret HaAretz (Hebrew: תוצרת הארץ, literally “Produced in the Land” or “Local Produce”) is the public name of the nonprofit association officially registered as “Pioneering Students for Israel” (סטודנטים חלוצים למען ישראל). It began in 2011 as the Student Community in Lod (קהילת הסטודנטים בלוד), a project initiated by the National Union of Israeli Students together with Mifal HaPais, the Ministry of Education and additional philanthropic and business partners. The organization’s mission is to encourage young communal settlement in Israel’s periphery and development towns by placing students and young adults in rented apartments in target cities, where they commit to weekly social and community activity in exchange for scholarships and subsidized rent. The model was first piloted in Lod, a mixed Jewish-Arab city in central Israel that organizers chose both because of its social challenges and its central location, transport links and historical heritage. Students from 23 higher-education institutions in the center of the country moved to Lod, rented apartments in its neighborhoods and launched educational, cultural and welfare initiatives. In return, each participating student received an annual study scholarship of 10,000 NIS and a 250 NIS monthly rent subsidy, while contributing about seven hours per week of community work. Over the years more than 350 students took part in the Lod program, roughly half of them residents of the city, both Jewish and Arab, who stayed and joined the initiative. By 2015 the city hosted 13 student communities, three of them “graduate” communities whose members had completed the student model and remained in Lod without a scholarship. From this Lod base the organization expanded into a national movement of young communities. Its website describes it as “the young communities movement of Israel,” operating for more than a decade and establishing mission-driven communities in cities and towns including Kiryat Shmona, Katzrin-Golan, Hatzor HaGlilit, Safed, Tiberias, Nof HaGalil, Pardes Katz, Lod, Jerusalem, Kiryat Malakhi, Sderot, Nir Am, Netivot, Rahat and Dimona. As of 2025 the association reported activity in 16 localities across Israel. Its stated values are love of the land and its people, the belief that every person can drive change, community life as a solution to social fragmentation, and activism as a common good rather than the preserve of self-declared activists. The organization is funded and supported pedagogically by governmental and private bodies, led by the National Union of Israeli Students, the Ministry of Education, Mifal HaPais, Bezeq and the Shachaf association, among many others. It is a registered nonprofit (עמותה) and is not a commercial company; it operates as a civil-society brand promoting communal living, entrepreneurship and social resilience in Israel’s periphery.

The organization now known as Tzoeret HaAretz began in 2011 as the Student Community in Lod (קהילת הסטודנטים בלוד), a project founded by the National Union of Israeli Students in partnership with Mifal HaPais, the Ministry of Education and additional philanthropic and business organizations. Its registered legal name is “Pioneering Students for Israel” (סטודנטים חלוצים למען ישראל). The choice of Lod was deliberate: organizers cited both the city’s social challenges and its potential, noting its central location, transport connections and historical heritage, and arguing that Lod offered opportunities in housing, culture and communal fulfillment. The original model recruited students from 23 higher-education institutions in central Israel. Participants moved to Lod, rented apartments in the city’s neighborhoods and began community activity. The association combined student residence with meaningful social work in education, culture and welfare. Students were expected to live, work and initiate projects in the city, with the hope that they would choose Lod as their long-term home. The main goal was to change the city’s image and attract students and young people to live and act there. In parallel, the association worked with the Lod municipality to provide a holistic response to student needs such as transportation and employment, and to encourage entrepreneurship, culture and art. The model was designed to offer flexibility for students who wanted to live in the city and for those who wanted to integrate gradually into social activity. Participants came from across the Israeli social spectrum. Each joining student received an annual study scholarship of 10,000 NIS and a 250 NIS monthly rent subsidy, in exchange for about seven hours per week of social and community activity. Over the years more than 350 students took part in the Lod framework. About 50% of them were residents of Lod, Jewish and Arab, who stayed in the city and joined the program. By 2015, 13 student communities were scattered across the city, three of them graduate communities whose members had completed the student model and remained in Lod to live and work without a scholarship. From this Lod base, the initiative expanded and rebranded as Tzoeret HaAretz, described on its website as “the young communities movement of Israel.” The movement states that for 13–14 years it has been establishing mission-driven communities across the country and working for the future of the State of Israel. Its website lists communities in Kiryat Shmona, Katzrin-Golan, Hatzor HaGlilit, Safed, Tiberias, Nof HaGalil, Pardes Katz, Lod, Jerusalem, Kiryat Malakhi, Sderot, Nir Am, Netivot, Rahat and Dimona. As of 2025 the association reported operating in 16 localities across Israel. The organization is supported financially and pedagogically by governmental and private bodies, led by the National Union of Israeli Students, the Ministry of Education, Mifal HaPais, Bezeq and the Shachaf association, among many others. Its stated values include love of the land and its people, the belief that every person can influence and improve reality, community life as the path to deep social change, and activism as a common good. The movement frames its work as a response to what it describes as a crisis in Israeli society—loneliness, alienation and deepening social gaps—and presents communal living as the way to rebuild social resilience.

• 2025

  Organization reports activity in 16 localities across Israel.

• 2015

  13 student communities active in Lod, including 3 graduate communities.

• 2011

  Founded as the Student Community in Lod by the National Union of Israeli Students with Mifal HaPais, the Ministry of Education and other partners.

Nonprofit social movement promoting communal living and young settlement in Israel's periphery.

Product categories. Student community programs · Scholarships and rent subsidies for student volunteers · Community building in peripheral cities · Educational, cultural and welfare initiatives

1. 1תוצרת הארץ | תנועת קהילות הצעירים של ישראלtozerethaarez.org.il
2. 2מי אנחנו | תוצרת הארץtozerethaarez.org.il
3. 3קהילות צעירים תוצרת הארץhe.wikipedia.org
4. 4Wikidata Q25491309wikidata.org