Program Reviews

Having the opportunity to participate in the Masa Israel Teaching Fellows program through Israel Pathways was truly one of my greatest life experiences! Being able to live in Netanya, Israel, while teaching, traveling, and fully immersing myself in the daily life and cultural experiences of Israel was genuinely a journey that I will cherish with me for the rest of my life! From the food and people, to the music and scenery, Israel forever holds a place in my heart, and I will highly encourage anyone and everyone to have the opportunity to visit and/or participate in one of the many incredible Masa programs and experiences.

The stipend was not much and wasn't as advertised, however ITF is the only program with a stipend. With that said, as long as pay is properly advertised then there are no surprises.

Living facilities in Netanya should be changed. The location is great, but the conditions are sub-par. The building had more an more problems. While it might be good for a another year or so, the housing should be changed sooner, rather than later.

Ulpan - Ulpan in Netanya gave us no books and not so great teachers. Therefore, my suggestion would be to bus us to Tel Aviv or do better research on better teachers and DEFINITELY provide a book. I know other cities did not have this problem and this was specific to Netanya.

Madrichim- They were great, but I employ someone who has graduated college in order to have better fluidity for the program.

Overall experience - amazing. I would do it again and recommend ITF to future prospects. My experience was amazing because I took advantage of every Masa opportunity, and it was through Masa seminars that I met my life-long friends and also developed a network of people.

Hands down, Israel Teaching Fellows was the best year of my life so far. Living in Israel as a local, traveling and experiencing intimately, has changed the way I see the world and identify in many ways. Teaching gave meaning to my lengthy stay in Israel, and truly made me appreciative of the many opportunities I had to travel both domestically and internationally. I fell in love with the people and land, traveled nearly ever kilometer by foot, bus, bike, camel, and taxi--all the while learning so much about myself.

I look back fondly on my time in the program, but also will not allow nostalgia and the passage of time to cloud the very real drawbacks. I formed lifelong friendships, established a deep meaningful ratio ship to the people and land, and clarified many life priorities for myself. However, the stipend was not even remotely sufficient, while led to rather substantial problems (e.g. I rarely had enough money for three meals a day and had to skip breakfast and usually a snack at school as well, causing me to become cranky and unfocused with my students).

My experience in the first group of ITF beit shean was a truly amazing experience. I was immersed in Israeli culture every day! Being in a city further away from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem made this immersion more true, but it also made travel more difficult.

My days were filled wth teaching, volunteer work, and spending time with my host family. Many times I would go to weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, and other parties with my host family and friends from the school. I would also often travel to different places on the weekend so that I could see more if the country.

In addressing the ratings I gave many of the categories on the previous page, I am going to be quite negative, as those specific areas need a lot of improvement. I would, however, like to say that I had a fantastic experience during my time in Netanya as an Israel Teaching Fellow. The program staff was friendly and nice, I made AMAZING friends, and lived like a local. Our proximity to the beach was mind-blowing and some of our seminars really made an impact. I know that the program is young and it has SO much potential.
I felt that the housing was an interesting choice to say the least. Our group was placed to live one floor above some kind of mental institution (not joking or exaggerating). It never posed much of a major problem but was, as I said, an interesting choice...
Our apartments constantly had problems with electricity, water heating, and overall maintenance and upkeep. The maintenance staff was sloppy, inattentive, and showed many levels of incompetency. Our program staff seemed to do little to rectify this throughout the 10 months we were in Netanya.
The social scene in the city was great, but the social scene set among the 30 of us Americans on the trip was lacking. Our program staff did little to acquaint everyone and made it quite obvious who their favorite fellows were. This type of favoritism, among other variables created a hostile environment. The low level of professionalism exhibited by our program staff contributed to some members of our group feeling like social outcasts. I do not believe I ever felt this way but I heard a lot of complaints and witnessed various scenarios which made me feel sympathy toward these select members.

I loved my time spent in Israel. The staff put a lot of time and effort into our programming trips, and I met some great people in my group and through other programs I participated in. I think the teaching program could have been a bit better put together, it was hard teaching hebrew without really knowing it too well, but it was a pilot program, so hopefully the next year things went more smoothly.

ITF Netanya changed my life. Before Masa I did not have a clear set of values, no idea of the future, no passion for living, and most of all, no Jewish identity. After Masa, I had it all.

I went on a personal journey to Israel hoping to come back a changed man. I left everything behind in the states. All judgement, worries, stresses, and problems to focus on Israel and the 10 months ahead of me. My mind, my eyes, and my heart were wide open, and Israel was about to fill it all.

Israel Teaching Fellows was incredible. From the first day of being there it felt like home. My Madricha (trip leader) was there to welcome 30+ individuals from all over the states. She personally showed us to our sweet little apartments in the heart of downtown Netanya (even if it was only one main street).

We were given a month to acclimate ourselves to the area, get training for teaching in Israel, have fun (go to the beach) and learn some Hebrew before starting at the schools.

We were assigned another fellow to teach with at the schools and then it started. The crazy, fun, exciting, and amazing experience of teaching in an Israeli school. I made friends with the kids, the teachers, and even the guard outside the school. Those are memories I will never forget. My schedule was the best part: teaching from 8am-2pm Mon-Thur w/ the occasional Fri, and then beach...Oh the beach!

We went on one big trip as a group each month. If you focus on the land, your surroundings, the culture, and the people, these trips are breathtaking. I sailed on the Kineret, floated in the dead sea, hiked the Negev, and explored the diverse culture of Tel Aviv. Truly incredible.

Masa holds these huge opening and closing events in Jerusalem with are so cool! They bring in big Israeli performers, food, and about 4000 other Masa participants. You must go to these!

Learning the language was fun, getting lost on the buses was fun, and going to the Shuk (market) was crazy fun.

You will meet people from all walks of life and make friends that will last a life time. I have a part of me that will always be in Israel now, and to be honest, not a day has gone by where I do not feel like Israel is my home. Before Israel I had no connection to my Jewish Identity...Now it is indescribable. My desire to feel connected to Israel and the Jewish people is like never before. Masa and the experience I was able to have is the reason.

If what you are missing in your life is a connection to something, someone or some place, then Masa and Israel Teaching Fellows is right for you. You will be taken out of your element, outside the box, and into a whole new world where you may actually begin to see clearer. The people of Israel need to know we support them. What better of a way to do that then volunteering your time with your boots on the ground.

My time as a Masa Israel Teaching Fellow was the most transformative year of my life. I felt that I was learning everyday, about myself, Israel, and other Jewry. I felt extremely supported by the larger Masa community as well as my teachers and roommates. I made some of my best friends during this year and think about my time there extremely fondly.

Unfortunately, during my time there, the house we lived in was robbed, and we really had to fight with MASA to receive appropriate compensation. In addition, the host program OTZMA was often disorganized and difficult to work with.

That being said--there was an overwhelming wealth of opportunities that MASA provided--workshops, conferences, and shabbaton retreats that connected us with Israelis our age. All these workshops enriched my experience and deepened my appreciation and love for Israel. Since moving back to the States, I still feel like I am part of a larger community, and am still being offered ways to connect with Jews all over the country. My association with Masa allowed me to visit Poland which was a difficult but important experience; one that I know I could not have done without the financial and emotional support Masa provided.

Despite the hiccups, I would 100% encourage everyone to join this organization and participate in one of their many post grad/pre college programs!

There's really no other way to put it...Make the most of your time in MASA! There are opportunities left and right to make your experience in Israel productive and incredibly memorable.

Be'er Sheva (B7) gets a bad rap from people elsewhere in the country. While there are problems that are found in most Israeli cities, B7 was a very warm and welcoming place. B7 is home to Ben Gurion University, which means that I lived among thousands of Israeli college students. The University often hosted parties and concerts, which were great for me even though I wasn't a student. Some of the best friends I made in Be'er Sheva were University students that lived in my apartment building.

My Madrichim were amazing enough to make sure that everybody received a free bus pass for the entire year. This made travel to my school in the Ramot neighborhood a breeze.

Rechasim School was a great experience from start to finish. The school was very chaotic but I showed my chutzpah to command the respect of my students. Each and every day, I was surrounded by students giving me hi-fives and hugs. To your students, you're a rock star. They will fight just for the opportunity to work with you for a class period.

Many of the teachers were very accommodating to myself and Anna the other Teaching Fellow. Often times we were unable to work in the library or computer lab, so we would teach our students in the hallways. It's not pretty, but it was up to us to make sure the students were taught properly. Even after months of painful work with struggling students, the evidence became clear that they were starting to grasp the English language. The school year culminated in an English Day, in which about half of the students participated.

While I was not teaching, I traveled the country meeting Israeli friends and family. It's an amazing discovery to find out that you have family in Israel. On my first visit to some relatives in Netanya that I had never met before, I was welcomed to the first of many great Israeli Shabbat dinners.

I made friends from around the world at the Fall Mifgashim, Leadership Summit, and the Makom Fellowship. These events allowed me to see very remote regions of the country such as the Nitzana Youth Village and to meet MASA participants from at least 30 different countries. In addition to the leadership skills that I picked up, I also gained an understanding of Jewish life in other countries which I knew little of before. In the Makom Fellowship I learned much about the history and culture of Israel. I was also privileged to meet prominent Israelis and that are involved in the larger cultural and political conflicts that the country faces.

The motto of MASA is to "live it like a local." After a few months in the country, I experienced the joys of doing so. Participating in ITF Be'er Sheva motivated me to pursue teaching as a career in the US. It was an amazing life-changing experience.