MASA Gala Launch Event May 29, 2005

Photo Gallery and Story

In June 2003, The Coordinating Committee of the Government of Israel and The Jewish Agency for Israel met to explore new ways to reach Jewish youth around the world, reinforce their Jewish identity and strengthen their ties to Israel and to their communities. It was here that the idea for MASA: The Gateway to Long Term Israel Programs was born.

In its first year, 98 programs officially affiliated with MASA after meeting its educational and program standards. These programs showed an increase of more than 1600 participants when compared to their 2003-2004 totals. It is expected that in 2005-2006 will see 8,000 participants in more than 120 long term programs.

MASA's mandate is to have twenty thousand young people each year attending a variety of semester to one-year programs by 2010.

For information on MASA-affiliated programs and scholarship opportunities, write us at masainfo@masaisrael.org