Stichting Vrienden van de Tzofim

The Israeli scouts movement was established in the year of 1919 by the youth sport association. It is the first and the biggest youth movement in Israel, with more than 80,000 members and 200 ‘tribes’ around Israel. The Israeli scouts leads in informal youth education, emphasizing team work and team building as well as contribution to the community. Volunteering is a key value. Education is the focus of the Israeli scouts. The content, the format and guidance by teenagers. In the Israeli scouts we believe that when youth guide youth it is possible to achieve great results! The role model of the guide and the fact that he is close in age to his students enable strong connection to the group which is extremely valuable. In addition, as part of the Israeli scouts in Israel, it was decided to establish an Israeli scouts format outside of Israel which is called ‘Zabbar’. Zabbar has scouts chapters in North America, Western Europe, Australia and even in Hong Kong. The activities are held weekly, and offered in Hebrew only. One of the goals of Zabbar is maintaining the connection between Israeli children abroad to Israel and the activities are carried with similar content to the activities in Israel, such as scouting, group games in Hebrew, ceremonies etc. Students and guides attending the scouts are wearing Israeli scouts uniforms with the relevant badge to each age group. The Shavshevet chapter opened in 2011 in the Netherlands and has been conducting ever since weekly scouting activities in Hebrew in the green Neighbourhood of Amstelveen for children between 6-18 years old, while operating a family club for the rest of the family members. Additionally, the chapter organizes three weekend camps a year and special events such as family trips, celebration and ceremonies in cooperation with other Jewish-Israeli organizations. Stichting Vrienden van de Tzofim has been established in 2012 to formally represent the Israeli scouting activities in the Netehrlands.