College & Beyond WUJS

WUJS Intern is open to self-identifying Jewish college or university graduates between the ages 21-35. Participants can be single or married without children. In order to participate in the program you should have a decent level of English. This ensures that you will be able to understand, speak, read and write on a level that will allow you to participate in discussions and to communicate with the staff and your peers.

Upon successfully completing the program, you will receive a certificate of completion from WUJS Intern. In addition, you will receive a letter of recommendation from the WUJS Intern staff and the internship in which you were placed.

All classes and activities are conducted in English, apart from the Hebrew language ulpan. While participants of WUJS Intern come from around the world and speak a variety of languages, all of the official communication between the staff and participants is in English. Those participants who can communicate in Hebrew will have a wider choice of internship placements available to them.

Yes. WUJS Intern is a great stepping-stone for someone who is considering Aliyah. Spending five months in Israel before Aliyah can help ease your transition to Israeli life. Additionally, being on WUJS Intern will help you build professional and personal connections as well as a sense of community. WUJS Intern makes special efforts to expose its participants to Israeli society and to help them feel comfortable in their surroundings.

Yes, we will help you through the exciting yet bureaucratic process of making Aliyah. In the middle of the program there is an Aliyah seminar where you will hear from experts about Aliyah rights and benefits, education, employment, army, and navigating the Israeli bureaucratic system. Additionally, a WUJS staff member will help you create a resume in Hebrew and in Israeli standard, and will meet with you multiple times to help you with apartment hunting and navigating employment websites.

Absolutely! If possible, we will try to create separate apartments for all those who keep kosher. In cases when this is not possible, we will provide you with your own utensils. In regards to Shabbat, all program activities will be “Shomer Shabbat” but participants are allowed to behave according to their own beliefs in their apartments. Being religious can mean different things to each person and the level of observance can vary significantly. If you have more specific questions on that matter, please contact us at wujsr@yji.org.il.

Yes, but it will depend on your own efforts to take advantage of the opportunities. Depending on the number of applicants who come on the program we invite Israeli peers – either participants or young professionals – to take part in some WUJS programming. The program also tries to build connections with Israelis through events and combined activities. These opportunities allow participants to meet Israelis of similar age, to learn about Israeli society and culture, and create new friendships with Israelis that will last a lifetime. Participants also live in rented apartments which are surrounded by Israeli neighbors.

WUJS provides Hebrew classes to enable our participants to engage deeper with Israelis and within Israeli society. At the beginning of the program WUJS participants undergo a mandatory 1 week intensive Hebrew course. Over the next 4 months, WUJS participants will have the option to join an Ulpan class twice a week, 2 hours each class totaling roughly 80 hours of Hebrew learning!

Should WUJS participants take the classes seriously they can greatly improve their Hebrew ability! At the end of this 4 month course, with enough interest there is an option to continue Ulpan for the last month of the program.

While it is true that participants tend to use English outside of the Hebrew classroom, you will find that you can speak as much Hebrew as you desire. Our participants are highly motivated learners and the participant body is homogeneous in terms of age. All this creates an atmosphere of serious study and enables motivated participants to advance rapidly.

Your fluency in Hebrew upon leaving WUJS Intern will depend on three factors: how much Hebrew you started with, your own linguistic ability, and the extent to which you apply yourself during the program. WUJS Intern is proud to provide its participantswith a firm foundation of Hebrew and we are confident that our participants will have a strong enough base to successfully work in Israel. If your profession is not one in which fluency is a necessity, you should have enough Hebrew by the end of the course to begin working. However, certain professions – such as law, psychology, and social work – require more interaction with the Israeli populace and may pose a challenge if you are not fluent in Hebrew.

Yes, it is possible to explore a different field than your own on WUJS Intern. However, having a background in a specific field increases the likelihood of receiving an internship in that field. Please keep in mind, skills, experience, and background are key factors in attaining any internship on WUJS Intern. If you wish to intern in a field in which you have no experience, you may have to begin with an entry level position. WUJS Intern seeks to provide you with opportunities and experiences that will be most beneficial to you and your career.

Yes. Many WUJS participants have interned for international companies. Many of them have received job offers and are now paid employees of these companies, both in Israel and in their home countries.

Yes. WUJS will arrange a meeting between you and your internship option(s) to see if the placement is a suitable fit – for both you and the organization.

As a general rule, we do not encourage participants to switch internships in the middle of the program. Internship placements prefer candidates who are able to commit to a significant period of time because of the intense training and mentoring involved. Interning with one company for the allotted 5 month period will also look better on your resume. However, if a participant feels that his internship placement does not meet the criteria the WUJS Intern staff will do its best to coordinate an alternative.

If after a short period of time you find that the internship placement does not meet your expectations, we will find you a new placement. Please keep in mind, the longer you wait, the harder it will be to find a meaningful internship.

It is possible to explore different fields on WUJS Intern. However, having background in a specific field of interest will make it more likely for you to receive an internship in that field and to receive meaningful work as an intern. Again, skills, experience, and background are key factors to an internship.

If your behavior was the cause of the termination of the previous internship – being late, rude or unprofessional – it will be your own responsibility to find a new internship placement. If you’re let go for another reason, we will work hard to find a new opportunity.

WUJS Intern coordinators are in constant contact with you and with the internship placement to make sure both sides are satisfied. The coordinators send your internship your entire schedule so that the internship is aware of your extra activities. If there are minor issues between you and the internship placement (usually deriving from cultural differences), the coordinator will help you resolve them. If in the rare case things do not work out between you and the internship placement, the coordinator will find you a new placement.

Absolutely YES! Many of our participants have received job offers from their internship placements and are still working for them either in Israel or in their home countries.

WUJS Intern is the only post-college program that offers weekly classes and monthly field trips, along with occasional overnight trips, speakers, holiday celebrations, and parties. On top of those program activities, your madrich (counselor) will help you put together activities according to the interests of your specific group – be it a football match, joint learning of Jewish texts, or meeting with Israeli soldiers. Programming is offered 2-3 nights every month.

During the first month of the program all activities are mandatory in order for participants to be exposed to the different options WUJS Intern offers. After the first month, you can choose to join a class, a field trip, or any other activity. The only mandatory activity throughout the program is attending a group meeting once a month. This is your time to meet as a community, to pass along information, and to discuss burning issues.

WUJS Intern accommodations in Haifa and Tel-Aviv are conveniently located close to the cultural centers of the cities. During free time, participants are encouraged to explore the many cafes, restaurants, bars, clubs, museums, theaters, shops, beaches, and more. Over the weekends, further exploring can be done around the country including camping, hiking, and other leisure activities. WUJS Intern employs a weekend consultant who can help participants plan their time effectively.

1. We are happy to introduce you to out gay participants from current and past semesters who have offered to share their experiences with potential future participants.
2. We will facilitate networking between out gay participants in the same semester who indicate a desire to meet these peers, both prior to the beginning of the program and once it has started.
3. We will connect you to the wider network of organizations that serve the gay community in Tel Aviv. Some examples include:a. Gay Pride Center Tel Avivb. Recommendations from members of the community on health clinicsc. Gay Pride Parade organizers
4. In addition to the field trips that are a core part of the program, there will be field trips of specific interest/relevance to the gay community.
5. The staff of Young Judaea Israel is a microcosm of the larger population and as such there are staff members who identify as members of the LGBTQA community and are open to sharing their personal and professional expertise with you.

Each city has an internship coordinator and a city coordinator who is responsible for the education, well being, and personal connections with participants. For the Art Track we also have an art coordinator.

WUJS Tel Aviv apartments are near the neighborhood of Florentine.

WUJS Haifa apartments are in the neighborhood of the Carmel Mountains.

WUJS Intern participants live in apartments suitable for 4-6 people. Each apartment has at least two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and living area. Participants should expect to share a room. The apartments are furnished with basic items – beds, closets, sofas, table and chairs, and all kitchen equipment needed to live comfortably.

Please note that apartments in Israel may have lower standards than what some participants are used to. Tel Aviv and Haifa are major cities, and like in many major cities, buildings are usually older and a bit run down. However, the apartment locations in each city are second to none.

If you would like to apply for a single room, you need to mark it on the online application form.

A few days before the program begins, when we know for sure how many participants we are expecting and how many of them have requested a single room, we will have a lottery between all those who have asked for a single room.
If for some reason a single room is not available, WUJS will notify you in advance and reimburse you.

No. The program has a fixed price and all participants pay the same amount whether they live in program housing or not.

All participants of WUJS Intern MUST have a cell phone.

There are two options for getting a cell phone while on WUJS Intern. You can either arrange for yourself a monthly contract with any of Israel’s cell phone companies or you can rent a cell phone from Israel Phones. The monthly contract is usually cheaper per minute and is better for smart-phones. Israel Phones allows participants to call each other free of charge and also offers special rates for overseas calls.

Israel Phone can be arranged in advance here. Israeli cell phone companies do not have English versions of their website. However, once you are in Israel, every city has a customer service center with English speaking representatives.

The most efficient way to keep in contact is online. All WUJS Intern apartments have wireless access. In addition, you can receive packages through the WUJS Intern office in Jerusalem.

Mailing address for WUJS participants:

Your name, WUJS Intern, Gad Street 8, Jerusalem, 9362207, Israel
Phone: 1-866-599-2534

There are wireless routers in all WUJS Intern apartments. It is important that you bring a laptop/smartphone or tablet computer with you, since a significant amount of information is sent to you via e-mail. This includes weekly e-mails with schedules, sign-up documents for trips, program activities and information on cultural activities taking place where you live. People who are unable to go online daily will have a harder time following everything the program offers. It is important to note that internet connection might not be as fast or as reliable as you are used to. Many local restaurants and coffee shops also offer internet access.

Summers are very hot in Israel. Tel Aviv and Haifa get humid due to their proximity to the Mediterranean Sea. The winters in Tel Aviv and Haifa are pleasant and mild.

Participants do their laundry in one of the local laundromats. For a small fee, participants can leave their laundry with the laundromat to wash for them.

No pets of any kind are allowed in WUJS Intern apartments.

You can become a member of local a gym in all of the cities.

You will receive a monthly bus pass that provides free transportation within the city of your program choice. In addition, there are direct buses from all cities to almost anywhere in the country.

The banks in all cities offer all of the banking services that you’ll need including ATM machines.

If you wish to open a bank account in Israel, it is highly recommended to contact the bank in advance to find out what kind of documents you will need. In most cases, two identification cards with pictures on them will be enough, but some banks may want to see a transcript from your home bank.

It is highly recommended you bring enough cash for the first two weeks of the program in the event that there’s a problem with your credit card or bank account

WUJS Intern arranges for all proper security measures on every excursion, including an armed escort and medic when necessary. We encourage participants not to visit potentially dangerous areas such as the West Bank while in Israel. Further security instructions are given upon arrival to the program.