Masa Israel Journey Blog

"Strong Bananas"

December 28, 2006

By Eliza Croen, Israel Service Corps (ie Oranim Community Involvement)

Living and volunteering in Ramla as Israel Service Corps’ pioneer group has been a challenging and rewarding 5-month experience. We have had the opportunity to design our own projects while immersing ourselves within this welcoming Israeli community. Koach Bananot started just like any other project: as an idea. It was a thought shared between my roommate, Gabi, and myself about how we could incorporate our passions for women’s empowerment while we were here in Ramla. Gabi’s work with the Vagina Monologues and her strong background in theatre coupled with my work in Women’s Studies and women’s rights activism in college prepared us for our empowerment project.

We wanted to...

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A New Communal Norm

December 12, 2006

"Long-term programs address an aspect of Jewish identity that American Jewry is less capable of strengthening outside of Israel: the notion of peoplehood."

By Rabbi Lee Buckman

Birthright Israel is about to reach its 100,000th participant on their 10-day free Israel trips designed for 18-25 year olds. This is a spectacular accomplishment for Israel and the Jewish people.

Anyone who has been to Israel knows how transformational the experience can be. The 730 participants on the Federation Mission can attest to that. Imagine the impact on 100,000 college students who had never been on a peer-based Israel trip.

Now the State of Israel is going one step further. They have created an annual fund of $100 million, administered by a company called Masa, to double the number of...