Masa Israel Journey Blog

Masa Shabbaton: Leaving the American Bubble

Published : February 02, 2012

By Zoe Goldstein-McKay, Medford, NJ, Young Judaea Year Course

This past weekend, I was invited to a Shabbaton by Masa. The idea was to bring American and Israeli teens together to get to know and discuss with each other about issues pertaining to Israel.

The weekend started with a friendly game of paintball. As I was running around in a red jumpsuit with orange paint being shot at me, I worried about whether or not I would have anything to say to the Israeli teens. I wasn’t so sure if we had anything in common. It turned out that I shouldn’t have worried for a moment. I started talking to a group of Israelis during lunch and realized that though we lived miles away from each other and shared different cultures, our wants, worries, and excitements were similar, if not, in some cases, the exact same....

Masa project and the Partnership Department

Published : February 01, 2012

By Shiran Bittan, Israeli participant in Masa Israel'Community's Mifgashim initiative

Hi, my name is Shiran Bittan, 22 years old from Sedot Negev regional council, 4 years active in the Partnership. I would like to share with you my last experience in a joint program between various Partnerships youth and Masa project participants. Masa is the parent organization for all long-term projects of young adults from abroad.

The program included three meetings. The first seminar was conducted in Beit Shean, where we met with 60 Masa participants and 40 Partnership activists from all over Israel. Ten young adults from Netivot-Sedot Negev region, active in our Partnership, participated in these meetings. During the weekend, hand-in-hand with experiential activities, we learned to know each other, similarities and differences between...