It’s impossible to learn a language if there isn’t a positive experience, if you don’t create a feeling of capability, of ‘I can learn English’. A child doesn’t learn when he is suffering. If a kid needs to learn a list of words and grammar, and it’s torture for him – he won’t learn. English has to be learned through a positive experience. The young fellows can provide this: to connect to the students, to make it feel like an ongoing summer camp that’s great fun. The fellows are less confined to a framework of tests and can give much more of the positive experience of language learning. They provide this added value and every thing they do is a net gain.

Both sides benefit from this: on the one hand the Israeli kids are learning from an authentic English-speaker. These are young people who the children can connect to and the children get to know Jews who live abroad. On the other hand, for the fellows who come to Israel, they gain by directly working in a community and in a school. Their connection is very warm and loving and is extremely important.

It is important to me that the children see people that come from different societies - that the children learn from them, understand them, and get to know their traditions and customs, that the children don’t only know people from their own society. MITF opens their eyes to another world, and shows the students that there are people from outside their immediate sphere. It is important to me that they see different people as examples and role models

The children want to speak English. They know it’s important for their future and their studies. They know how the world works, and understand that without English they won’t succeed as much as they’d like. They want someone to push them and give them this initial help. And that’s what happens in the project – the kids have nowhere to escape to. The only option is to talk with the fellows in English, and so suddenly the kids hear themselves speaking English. It’s a success that’s hard to describe.”

When the teaching fellows arrive there is a pre-orientation. I always take them to some cool bar here in Netanya, that’s my tradition. First of all, they meet me in a bar and not at the school, and we meet a bit beforehand. For all of the group members that come to Netanya, this is the place that they hang out in the city – a bar near the beach. So first of all I tell them that I’m going to introduce them to the hottest place in town. I take them there and invite them to dinner. I have pictures from almost every year in that pub. And I tell them that they will be the first to introduce it to the rest of the teaching fellows

I’ve been almost like their mother. Even when their families came to Israel I host them: I take them on outings, to restaurants, they come to my mother’s home for a Shabbat meal. They know me, know my siblings, my nieces and nephews who talk to them on Friday evening and fight over who will sit next to them at dinner. It’s important to me that they get to know me, my family, and see what Israeli life is like

I turn them into actual teachers. They’re involved in everything and teach all the time. On ‘normal’ days they go out with study groups and focus on all the children. That’s a bonus that I wouldn’t have in any other option apart from them. I see them as a part of my body, like my right arm. Today I can’t see myself working without volunteers – it’s part of me

I forge very warm contacts with the students’ parents, and the parents thank me for this later on. Americans come to them for Friday night dinner and they also have a chance to see their children speaking English. They see that there’s a dialogue: the kids connect with the volunteers in English and they answer. Afterwards the volunteers feel free to get in touch with the family and invite themselves over for a meal.

The issue of the connection with the Diaspora is very important to me. I think that we shouldn’t neglect the connection with Diaspora Jews in any way, including Israelis who have moved and currently live abroad. Unfortunately, for many years this connection was one of one-sided donations, and I believe this should be a reciprocal relationship. We have to preserve them also from the point of view of their Jewish identity and also in terms of anti-Semitism. These relationships are extremely important to me personally and I try to maintain them as much as possible. The Masa program has this element of reciprocity, of mutuality.

I believe in things that start in the grassroots. There’s nothing stronger than the connection between people – not politicians, not managers. The simple connection between people. MITF program offers the opportunity for that.

Fellows see people here who are open. People who, even if their economic situation is not great, are ready to accept everyone and host them. They show love for everyone and really appreciate the fact that people are essentially contributing a year of their lives in order to do something to help others – in this case, for the children of Bat Yam.

I tell potential MITF fellows that this is different than everything they ever going to experience in the best ways possible. They are going to learn how to be themselves and how to be confident in themselves and live an independent life. You come and you fully immerse yourself into the Israeli culture. You are not here on a guided tour, you are not here with someone watching you 24/7. You are living in Israel, and you get to meet people and become a part of society.

Moving to Israel felt right. My husband and I kept trying to decide: if we would move to America, where would we live in America? Everywhere that we think to live in, I just kept wanting Israel. I thought that Israel is better. When I was in America I was miserable half the time: the cultures are so different, and things are more relaxed here, things are more chill. There is an easy-going vibe, and life is so important here. I just decided that Israel is home. Israel is where we both are very happy, it wasn’t anyone sacrificing something. I knew that I would love living in Israel. I have a great job here. I love what I’m doing: help people come to MITF all day everyday it’s like literally a dream. I think I’m very lucky.

My connection to Judaism comes from my grandmother – she's a holocaust survivor. I dedicated a lot of my adult life to learning more about Judaism; We did the American version of Judaism but I've taken it into my own hands in college to integrate it into my life. Such a motivation was brought in questions like "What can I do during this time to be productive and meaningful?" MITF was the answer. I wanted to live in Israel and my grandma told me how much she loves it. I'm learning new things about my family and their connection here every day. I related so much to Israel when the entire country came together to commemorate on Yom Hazikaron Eve - no matter what, we were born Jewish and that could have been me. I feel a sense of pride when I see the soldiers here

I love Beit Shean. We became so close as a cohort and we found local friends, which made the experience so amazing for us. There was a point in quarantine that random people brought us a ton of food and supplies - we never even met them and they became our entire support system in town; They're our family here, my forever friends. Them and my host family are my Israel family. And speaking of family – I didn't even know I had cousins here; I have become so close with my family here that I didn't even know i had!