Students & lone soldiers
Students, gap year and lone soldiers
The Gush is home to Yeshivat Har Etzion and Herzog College in Alon Shvut and a women's beit midrash in Migdal Oz, so many overseas students spend a year here. Efrat's council runs a young adults' department for ages 18-35, including support for soldiers and Sherut Leumi volunteers.
Students & lone soldiers
Start here
5 steps, in the order most people take them.
- 1
Starting army or national service
Efrat's young adults' department gives a gift to every resident who enlists or starts national service; register by email (mtseirim@efrat.muni.il).
Go - 2
Just released
The council has a coordinator for discharged soldiers and national-service volunteers who helps with rights, studies, work and subsidised courses (focusidf@efrat.muni.il).
Go - 3
Lone soldiers
Nefesh B'Nefesh runs a national Lone Soldiers Program; no Efrat-specific lone-soldier programme was found.
Go (opens in a new tab) - 4
Getting to base
Weekday buses leave Efrat for Jerusalem from early morning (line 360 about every 20 minutes), and line 409 goes to Beit Shemesh railway station.
Go - 5
Yeshivot and seminaries
See the yeshivot and batei midrash in the directory: Har Etzion, Herzog College, the Migdal Oz beit midrash and Efrat's yeshiva high schools.
Go
Guides
Read next
- Getting around Efrat and the GushWhich buses run from Efrat and the Gush yishuvim, how often, where the nearest train is, and how to check times.
- Shabbat and shuls in Efrat & the GushEfrat's candle-lighting custom, the eruv, how to find a shul and minyan times, mikvaot and kashrut, plus an honest note on what I still don't know about English-speaking shuls.
Good to know
- Efrat's young adults' department posts activities on Facebook and the Efrat app, per the council.
Community groups
Where people talk
- Efrat Local Council on FacebookFacebook · Efrat Local Council
- Efrat council Telegram channelTelegram · Efrat Local Council
- Efrat council updates: Dagan neighbourhood (WhatsApp)WhatsApp · Efrat Local Council
- Efrat council updates: Dekel neighbourhood (WhatsApp)WhatsApp · Efrat Local Council
- Efrat council updates: Gefen neighbourhood (WhatsApp)WhatsApp · Efrat Local Council
- Efrat council updates: Rimon neighbourhood (WhatsApp)WhatsApp · Efrat Local Council
Source
- Efrat council: young adults (18-35) (opens in a new tab)
- Efrat council: soldiers (opens in a new tab)
- Efrat council: discharged soldiers (opens in a new tab)
- Nefesh B'Nefesh Lone Soldiers Program (opens in a new tab)
- Ministry of Transport GTFS via Open Bus Stride (Hasadna), Tue 2026-10-06 (opens in a new tab)
This page was written for Efrat & Gush Etzion from the sources above.
