Page 10 - ISRAEL ENGAGEMENT

ISRAEL UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: BRINGING YOU TO ISRAEL

ISRAEL EXPERIENCES

Academic studies have shown repeatedly that visiting Israel has a powerful and long-lasting impact on the Jewish
identities of young Jews, and the more frequent the visits, and the longer the visits, the more impact they have.
Participants return to their communities with an increased desire to engage in communal life.

Taglit-Birthright Israel provides 10-day educational Israel experiences to thousands of Jews, aged 18 to 26, from
around the world, completely free of charge. In addition to providing general funding for Taglit-Birthright, The Jewish
Agency is directly involved in bringing thousands of participants each year, from around the globe, with a special focus
on facilitating Taglit-Birthright experiences and related programming for communities in Eastern Europe and South
America, and for Russian-speaking Jews in the former Soviet Union and Germany.

Masa Israel Journey leads international experiences in Israel for Jews aged 18-30, providing an innovative educational
platform to program operators and offering every eligible participant a grant of $200-$9100 toward the cost of his or
her program. The hundreds of programs that lie within the Masa Israel umbrella include
• Gap year programs: Jewish studies, Zionist youth movement programs, internships, and volunteering
• Academic semesters / years abroad
• Career development programs: internship and volunteer opportunities,with a focus on high-tech career development
• Teaching fellowships
• Volunteer programs
• Pre-Aliyah career development: For participants from the FSU or France who are seriously considering changing

their status from “tourist” to “immigrant,” the types of programs above are supplemented with vocational or
professional training or retraining.

Since its founding by The Jewish Agency and the Government of Israel in 2004, some 120,000 alumni have enjoyed
Masa’s programs of 5-12 months. It recently expanded to include mid-length programs of 6 – 10 weeks.

Israel Tech Challenge was established in cooperation with The Jewish Agency and the Israeli National Cyber Bureau.
This tech hub offers top training and internships in Tel Aviv for talented young Jewish individuals from around the
world, helping gifted computer science students and programmers launch their careers through one of three experiences:
Tech Interns (summer experiences), CTO Boot Camp (5 months), and Tech Challenge Fellows (10 months).

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