I got off the plane at Ben Gurion Airport and I thought to myself, what am I doing here? After hours of inching along in traffic from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, I finally arrived to the stone-floored Aish dorms situated in the heart of the Old City. I set my things down in the musty dormitory room, took a tour of the premises, and was positive the crusaders lived in better accommodations, over 900 years ago.
My friends that I study with pray together while I play the guitar. The bond we have developed is indescribable.
It’s been 3 months since I arrived in Israel to study at Aish HaTorah and work at an internship. Jinternship found me a position working at the Society For The Protection of Nature, where I would be traveling around Jerusalem and the West Bank to take surveys of gardens. You’d think coming from the Garden State I’d be a natural, but dodging traffic to count olive trees wasn’t exactly the internship experience I was looking for. The next internship thankfully was a winner. I stumbled upon BOMAH-Brand Of Milk And Honey. A young Israeli named Itzik runs and founded the social media branding firm. He studied at Sapir College in Sderot, which at the time was under tremendous rocket attack from Gaza. He reported what was going on in Sderot via his Facebook and Twitter account and was able to get the word out when major news channels didn’t care about rockets hitting Sderot or Israel. It continues to impress me that Itzik was able to find a way of using the tragedy at Sderot to build himself a career.
Itzik and I on our way to give a presentation to one of BOMAH’s clients
This internship has been a win-win because I bettered my social media skills, while contributing to an organization that supports and fights for Israel. I was able to share the truth about the IDF and respond to enemies of Israel by a few clicks at a laptop. My Zionist beliefs have been strengthened during the war in Israel this summer, called ‘Operation Protective Edge,’ and my commitment to stand up for Israel in any arena that may exist has been vitalized.
Vacationing in Israel and donating to Jewish organizations are very helpful, no doubt. But moving to Israel and contributing to its society is the strongest act of Zionism in a world that needs Zionist leaders. Anyone looking for a positive internship experience in social media, I highly recommend visiting BOMAH. Thank you Itzik Yarkoni and Rachel Jetter for your guidance and help during my time working here.