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BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY & THE INTERDISCIPLINARY CENTER JOIN MASA INSTITUTE, PROVIDING OVERSEAS STUDENTS WITH TOOLS FOR SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT The Masa Institute for World Student Involvement, run by the Jewish Agency's Department for Jewish-Zionist Education, is expanding its activities at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan and at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. This year for the first time, students participating in the program will also be able to attend these institutions. Masa Institute operates in conjunction with Israel's institutions of higher education, preparing overseas students from throughout the world for social and community involvement in their own countries and strengthening ties with the State of Israel. Several hundred students come to Israel annually to learn about Israel and Israeli society. They are scattered among the country's colleges and universities and combine higher education in one semester of Israeli education enrichment. The Institute's activities have so far reached the University of Haifa, Tel-Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University, as well as the Hebrew University and the Technion. Masa is unique in that it conducts educational programs suited to each sector. Thus, alongside the institute's activities at various Israeli universities, there are also monthly activities at yeshivas and seminars for religious students. It conducts a variety of activities, through which students acquire educational tools training them for work in the community or on campus at a later stage. During the semester, participants enjoy a series of academic lectures, in an effort to become familiar with the multi-faceted nature of Israeli society. Later, there are meetings between the overseas and Israeli students, where social issues are discussed. Practical community involvement is an integral part of the training, meant to provide participants with organizational and administrative experience that would enable them to serve as leaders in their own communities later on. To this end, a "community" program has been added this year, in which participants are to meet with community representatives in Israel and learn how to initiate processes within the community. Another important aspect of Masa programs is familiarization with Israeli culture, achieved through lectures by artists and leading cultural figures. Despite the Jewish and Israeli nature of the program, not all program participants are Jewish. The program emphasizes the social-communal aspect of life and worldwide curiosity about Israel, often attracting students lacking previous attachment or commitment to Judaism or Israel. |
