Hillel Blog

MASA Israel Journey offers graduates and young professionals a range of transformative career development, internship, community service and graduate academic experiences in Israel. Become immersed in the culture of another country and add a valuable dimension to your professional and academic experience.

Choose from a variety of internship opportunities and gain the knowledge, skills and experience you need to be competitive in today's economy. Take action through community service and develop skills as you explore your passions in a place where 3,000 years of history come together with global leadership in technology, business, green energy, scientific research and the environment. Plus, receive up to $7,500 in grants and scholarships!

For more information, visit MASA's Facebook page or contact Marci Fiedler, Chicago MASA Representative at marcif@masaisrael.org / (312) 357-4965.

by Coby Engelhart

This is a photo of the Lainer fellows with Mark Lainer (bottom row, 4th from the left), the sponsor of the program.

On November 4th I had the opportunity to attend the JFNA General Assembly in Denver Colorado. While there, I was able to take advantage of many networking opportunities with influential people in the field of Jewish education, a field I plan to enter upon graduating this December. I had a chance to attend a forum with Natan Sharansky on the state of MASA programming and the Jewish Agency’s campus shaliach program. I attended a number of presentations whose focus was the field of innovation in Jewish education, and I had the opportunity to lead a session and facilitate a discussion with one such innovator. I was able to be a part of the Lainer-Masa shabbaton, hosted by the Jewish Educational Services of North America (JESNA) with my Lainer Fellowship cohort. Most significantly I made contact with an organization that creates volunteer opportunities for groups in Israel. The hope is that the Illini in Israel program will be able to work with them throughout this coming Spring semester.

While in Denver I had the unexpected opportunity to recruit for the University of Illinois, when I met a high school student who was in the midst of applying to Universities (U of I was his number one choice) and to gap-year programs. Both happen to be fields that I am very knowledgeable about and I sat with him and his mother for about 45 minutes, discussing with them their options. I saw them again a week ago when they came out to Champaign to visit the campus and the Hillel.

The Hillel at Loyola Israel/Culture Committee created an "Isreality" display/information table in the Loyola Student Union. With an Israeli flag as the table banner, the focus of the display was a poster-sized "Welcome Home, Gilad!" card that is being sent to the Shalit family in Israel in celebration of the return of Gilad Shalit after 5 years in captivity. At the "Isreality" Table, In addition to Israel information, students served Israeli tea with fresh mint and gave out little bags of Bamba and Bissili. Students, faculty and staff from throughout the university came to sign the "Welcome Home, Gilad!" card.

The poster/card was displayed again, and Loyola student athletes and fraternity members added their names, when they participated in making sandwiches for Hillel's annual PBJam for Loyola's Hunger Week. The final display of the card was at Hillel's Kristallnacht program, when Holocaust survivor, Mr. Israel Starck, signed his name after speaking to a large university gathering. A picture of Gilad Shalit and information about his captivity has been posted in Loyola Hillel since the time of his capture, and it was wonderful to replace that with the the "Welcome Home, Gilad!" card.