Masa Israel Journey Blog

New Yorker lays foundation for architecture career through Israel internship

Published : September 20, 2010

Graduating with a Masters degree in architecture from Tulane University in 2008, Jesse Zryb entered a terrible economy. After losing his job in New York City, he decided to enroll in Masa Israel’s Career Israel. “I could have stayed at home and experienced five months of uncertainty. But instead, I decided to participate in a program that would allow me to gain valuable work experience and further explore Israel,” says Jesse.

Since his Birthright trip to Israel during college, Jesse had wanted to return. “I was really impressed by the modernity of Israel, and the mix of the old and the new,” says Jesse.

Through Career Israel, Jesse interned at Stav Architecture, a midsized firm in Ramat Gan. “I lack a native speaker’s Hebrew skills, but I was able...

The Chagim Chronicles: Shana Tova

Published : September 19, 2010

By Lena Glaser, Career Israel

Rosh Hashana in Israel…definitely not what a normal American Jew is used to. However; due to my secular/hippie take on Judaism upbringing, I was ready for it!

I spent the first night at my friend Adar’s family’s Kibbutz, Kibbutz Ruhama. I have never been to a Kibbutz before, so the experience was doubly exciting. After a tour of the kibbutz by Adar, and a quick history lesson from one of her grandfathers (the Kibbutz was privatized in the early 90′s, so it is not what one would think of as a traditional Kibbutz, it’s more like a gated all-inclusive community), we arrived at her aunt’s house for one of the most amazing meals of my life. I was not prepared, and didn’t have my camera on me to take a picture of the heaps of food on my plate, very reminiscent of holidays...