Weekly Newsletter 1 June 23, 2017

BALTIMORE ONWARD
First Week of Internships:
We began our internships over this past week. After the first day, we all came back to the house and
you could hear the excitement in all of our voices! Everyone wanted to talk about their first day and,
likewise, hear about everyone elses. Throughout the week, we became more comfortable and
settled into a routine.

Shabbat Scoop!
On June 16-17, we went to visit their sister city, Ashkelon, for a Shabbat Experience with a host
family. The weekend began by going to Youth of Light, an organization that helps youths at risk by
training them professionally and making homemade candles. The organization hosted our students
and the group each made a candle to give to a local kindergarten. We then went to a local
kindergarten class to participate in a Kabbalat Shabbat. While we gave their students a candle for
Shabbat, the kindergartners made place settings and challah for our us as a thank you for coming
gift.

We then went for lunch, and at 2:00 p.m. the hosts families came to pick us up. At 6:30 p.m., a few
of us interacted with local Israelis to learn more about each other. On Saturday, many people went
to the beach and met up with one another or spent the day with their host family. The weekend was
very special for many of our participants.

Evan, an incoming Senior at Elon University, truly enjoyed his weekend.

I had a great time getting to know our partnership between Baltimore and Ashkelon. It was
amazing to learn about what it does for the people of Ashkelon and what it means to our Israeli
peers to be able to share such a great connection.

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Weekly Newsletter 1 June 23, 2017

Tuesday Tracking
On our first Tuesday, June 14, we had a Seminar Day: Jewish and Non Jewish Israelis - Majorities
and Minorities. We began the day by going near Haifa to visit Muchraka in the horn of the Carmel,
where there is a monastery of monks that follow the prophet Elijah. The group learned about who
Elijah was as they sat at a lookout point. We then went to Jesser al Zarka. We toured the Arab
village and the coast as we heard about the village from a local girl. After lunch, we ventured to
Usafiya, one of the largest Druz Villages in Israel. We learned about their village and culture from a
local.

This past Tuesday, June 20, we had an evening program. During the day, some of the group went to
the beach, went to the Carmel Shuk and the local art market, or went to Jaa. That night, we met
up to make a traditional Israeli dinner and had a reflection of our first two weeks.

Participant Spotlight - Emily Kader

Hi! My name is Emily Kader and I am a rising junior at the University of
Maryland, College Park. I am a communication major with a focus in Public
Relations and a business minor. I am planning to graduate in the Spring of
2019. I am currently the Executive Vice President of my sorority, Sigma
Delta Tau and I just finished my College Park Scholars program, Media, Self
and Society.

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Weekly Newsletter 1 June 23, 2017

I went on Birthright through the Marylands Hillel before Onward started. I then had about a week in
between the two programs, so I traveled to Vienna to meet my mom. This was my first time in
Europe, and in five days we were able to go to Austria, Hungary and Slovakia.

As an Onward participant, I have a marketing internship with Abraham Hostels in Tel Aviv. They also
have a hostel in Jerusalem and Nazareth. My main responsibilities include helping handle their
social media and completing assignments to assist with marketing for the hostel. For example, I
have been creating a page for a photo contest the hostel will hold. I was also asked to go to the
Jerusalem hostel for a day and take pictures as a guest at the hostel.

I also have the great opportunity to be an intern for The Associated while I am in Israel. I am also
helping The Associated with their marketing. I take pictures during the week and organize this
newsletter.

I decided to participate in Baltimore Onward for the summer because I wanted to get a global
experience. Not having to find my internship for the summer was a huge stress reliever. I am able to
spend an extended amount of time in Israel, yet I am still able to go to Europe to study abroad for a
semester. I am excited to travel the country more throughout the summer!

Participant Spotlight - Allison Bloom

Shalom! My name is Allison Bloom and I am 22-years-old and recently
graduated from Towson University. During my time at Towson, I studied
Health Care Management and a minor in business.

During my time here in Israel, I am furthering my business minor with my

internship at Glispa. Glispa is a global mobile ad tech company. They help
pair add developers with advertising publishers. I decided to do an
internship focused on my minor because I wanted to explore that field
while I had the opportunity. My responsibilities include helping the
company with data analysis and help gain campaigns. Although my time
in Israel is centered around Advertising, I still plan to start my career in
healthcare management once I return home.

I wanted to participate in Onward because I wanted to immerse myself in the Israeli culture and
explore my Jewish identity. I am so happy to be spending my time here. Over the past two weeks, I
have already met so many amazing people and experienced things I never would get to do at home.
I am looking forward to spending the rest of the summer in Tel Aviv and traveling throughout Israel.

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Weekly Newsletter 1 June 23, 2017

Internship Spotlight - Matthew Kasner from MinuteMedia

My name is Matthew Kasner, and I am a rising junior at the University of Maryland, College Park. I
am an economics major with a minor in law and society. I am planning to graduate in the Spring of
2019.

As a Baltimore Onward participant, I am interning at MinuteMedia. MinuteMedia is a sports media

company with three brands: European soccer, American sports and professional video gaming.
Since I knew that I could not have an internship in law due to the language barrier, I wanted to do an
internship in an area that I love: European Soccer. At MinuteMedia, I run 11 Facebook Pages owned
by the company, each are followed by thousands of people. I also post everyday about current
news for various teams. I help manage the companys Twitter feed, so I am basically on Twitter all
day trying to keep up with the news to share it as fast as I can. Finally, I write articles and make
quizzes about soccer. These articles and quizzes go on the websites front page, so its really cool to
see my work receive thousands of views. Its great working for them because I feel like I am truly an
employee instead of an intern.

The Week Ahead

This weekend, Thursday, June 22 - Saturday, June 24, there are two Onward Breakout Seminars.
One is a Shabbat Retreat Experience in Tsfat and another is The Beit Shean Valley. On Tuesday,
June 27, we have our Jerusalem Seminar Day. We will be meeting with the IRAC/the Secular-
Humanist Movement to learn about the many sects and aspects of Judaism.

Photos from the Week

Shabbat Shalom from Baltimore Onward!

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