The February 2010 session of Career Israel began on February 3rd with 91 participants from 10 different countries including the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa and Australia. The session began with a 5-day orientation session in Jerusalem. Programming for the week included group bonding, learning about Israeli society, touring Jerusalem and experiencing Shabbat in Judaism’s holiest city.

During the second week of the program, Career Israel transferred to Tel Aviv for Ulpan, an intensive Hebrew-study program. In Ulpan participants studied Hebrew for 5 hours each morning in one of five classes. Afternoons were spent touring Tel Aviv, volunteering, participating in lectures and seminars on topics such as Israeli politics, NGO’s in Israel and text study about the Jewish holidays. Programming also included a three day tour to the Negev Desert.

After Ulpan some of the participants moved to Jerusalem for the internship segment of the program and the majority of the group remained in Tel Aviv. Internship placements for the current session include: leading newspapers, hi-tech companies, the Knesset, hospitals, 5-star hotels, schools, advertising agencies, NGOs, legal-aid organizations, museums, research assistants in universities, photography studios and more.

In addition to their internships, in the upcoming months Career Israel will have the following activities: Religion and the State Seminar, Dialogue Seminar with Israelis, Disengagement from Gaza and Sderot Seminar, Galillee tour, Haifa tour and an ending seminar in Shfayim. Optional volunteer activities are also available for participants.