Masa Israel Journey | The Jewish Agency - U.S.

Every year, thousands of young Jews embark on Masa Israel Journey programs, traveling to Israel from around the globe to learn, volunteer, intern and live in the country like a local.

With many lockdowns and changing COVID-related restrictions throughout 2020, Masa participants had a year like no other. Masa Israel Journey was the first and only program whose participants—non-Israeli citizens—were allowed by the State of Israel to enter the country when it was on lockdown. More than that, Masa actually saw a significant increase in demand for its programs as Israel emerged as a top destination for teens and 20-somethings looking for meaningful experiences despite COVID.

During the pandemic, Masa reported a 36% increase in registration for its Masa Career program and a 40% increase for its MasaGap program compared to 2019.

When Gili, 30, from Melbourne, Australia, discovered the Masa Israel Teaching Fellows (MITF) program online, he knew he found the perfect opportunity to try something new in Israel. But three months after arriving in Haifa, COVID hit the country.

“I really wanted to finish the mission here and complete the teaching fellowship,” said Gili, about why he chose to remain in Israel throughout the pandemic.

“We didn’t even know if it was going to continue, but I rode that wave… and just embraced the moment.”

Read more about Gili’s experience on MITF >

Photo courtesy of Gili Bar / Masa Israel Teaching Fellows with Israel Experience
Photo courtesy of Gili Bar / Masa Israel Teaching Fellows with Israel Experience

Many students who had intended to start college in the fall of 2020 opted to instead defer their freshman year once they found out it would only be virtual. With Israel open to Masa participants, many took the opportunity to enroll in a gap year in Israel, like Alexa, 18, from New Jersey, who deferred attending the University of Pennsylvania. Her search for alternatives led her to a Masa gap-year program that provides participants with opportunities to volunteer, study, and gain valuable life skills and experience while also developing their Jewish identities.

Alexa shared: “Masa’s amazing gap year program checked every box for me. I started in Tel Aviv with an internship working at a venture capital firm, and then in the second half of the year, I took classes in Jerusalem. It was definitely a year of discovery and independence.”

“I gained a new perspective and broadened my horizons, emerging with a stronger set of values having learned a lot about Israel, Judaism and myself.”

Read more about Alexa’s gap-year experience during COVID >

Alexa (middle) with her Year Course roommates | Photo courtesy of Alexa
Alexa (middle) with her Year Course roommates | Photo courtesy of Alexa

And Masa isn’t only for college students. With so many workplaces around the globe going virtual, Masa developed a new way to spend quality time in Israel. Masa Remote Work kicked off in August 2020 for post-college grads under the age of 30. The program allows young professionals to relocate to Israel for a period of four or more months, keeping their job and salary while working as a digital nomad and living in the heart of Tel Aviv.

David Salem / Zoog Productions for The Jewish Agency for Israel
David Salem / Zoog Productions for The Jewish Agency for Israel

In Masa Remote Work's first cohort,

55 young professionals were able to work remotely from Tel Aviv while enjoying living in Israel.

Making their Masa Israel experiences even more meaningful during COVID, participants on Masa programs packaged food, volunteered in soup kitchens to ensure vulnerable populations were fed, worked in fruit orchards to pick crops when regular workers couldn’t and packed COVID PPE, medical supplies and testing kits.

David Salem / Zoog Productions for The Jewish Agency for Israel
David Salem / Zoog Productions for The Jewish Agency for Israel

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