for college students by college students
Inaugural TAMID Fellows
Five U-M students spent the summer learning and making hands-on business connections in Israel.
By Allison Berman
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ne of the most prominent les-
sons I learned this summer is
that to really know a place, you
have to do more than just look
from a distance.
As one of five University of Michigan stu-
dents who interned in Israel on TAMID Israel
Investment Group's pilot fellowship program, I
can confidently say my relationship with Israel
changed and strengthened. The fellowship pro-
vided me a concrete experience fully inclusive of
what life is like as an Israeli: the beauty, conflict,
dichotomy, directness and pride.
For 10 weeks from May-August, Idan
Goldbroom, 24, of Ra'anana, Israel; Jonathan
Hornstein, 20, of Baltimore, Md.; Kevin Zussman,
20, of Deerfield, Ill.; and Nathan Gilson, 20, of
Brookline, Mass., and I interned in Jerusalem
or Tel Aviv through TAMID, a U-M student-led
intiative connecting American students to Israel
through the economy.
My Sundays through Thursdays were spent at
BioLineRX, a preclinical and clinical drug devel-
opment company based in Jerusalem. I worked
in finance and administration alongside the CFO
and director of finance; but my experience was
not limited to that department.
I got a taste of nearly every sector of the
company and was able to get an inside look
at human resources, legal, biochemical labs,
archiving, in-licensing and
office management.
The real business educa-
tion occurred outside of
the office, during network-
ing meetings with Israeli
business leaders. We had
five functions pre-planned
through TAMID and were
able to set up more once
we arrived. We were for-
tunate to conference with
Jon Medved (Vringo), Elie
Wurtman (Benchmark
Venture Capital), Aharon
Horwitz (PresenTense
magazine), Hod Fleishman
U-M's 'amid fellows Nathan Gilson of Brookline, Mass.;
(GreenRoad) and Yosi Taguri
Idan Goldbroom of Ra'anana, Israel; Kevin Zussman
(Fiddme.com) as well as
of Deerfield, Ill.; Jonathan Hornstein of Baltimore, Md.;
dozens of other innova-
and Allison Berman of West Bloomfield
tors interested in further-
MASA, it will provide stipends from various
ing TAMID's mission of
donors and allow hundreds of students each
strengthening young American-Israeli business
summer to work and live in Israel in a capac-
connections.
ity different from a tour trip or study-abroad
People loved TAMID, especially ()hm (immi-
program. The fellowship transplants American
grants to Israel). They were genuinely excited
students into the Israeli working environment,
about the program and its potential impact on
gives them the tools to live independently for a
students who otherwise would have little or no
summer and lets them define their own relation-
connection to Israel.
ship with Israel.
If and when TAMID becomes a household
Because of the high level of independence,
name on par with Taglit-Birthright Israel and
the fellowship provides true insight
into Israeli society. We lived in apart-
ments, were responsible for food and
transportation and were generally on
our own.
It was a more meaningful experi-
ence for me than the organized trip I
did two summers ago. This summer, I
was able to see a more realistic pic-
ture of Israel. It was not always the
glossy portrait I saw last time; but
the fellowship is more mature and
has greater depth.
With the first successful fellow-
ship summer over, big plans are in
store for the program, including
an expansion beyond Michigan to
Harvard University near Boston,
Yeshiva University in New York and
the University of Maryland where
"pre-TAMID" chapters will develop
curriculum to launch full-fledged orga-
nizations in fall 2011. Next summer, 10 interns
from all locations will work, live and experience
Israel as TAMID fellows.
For more information about TAMID or to
make a tax-deductible donation, go to www.
tamidgroup.org . @
Allison Berman, 19, of West Bloomfield is a sopho-
more in the Ross School of Business at the University
of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Cooley's January and May students can continue a
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