36 | MAY 16 • 2024 
J
N

W

hen the JN 
featured Royal 
Oak’s Cole Levine 
in late 2022, he was gearing 
up to spend his next eight 
months in Israel. A year and 
a half later, Levine, 24, has 
accomplished that and then 
some.
Levine first headed to 
Israel in December 2022 
and completed his two-week 
Birthright trip. After that 
ended, he stayed in Israel and 
started on the MASA Career 
Israel internship program, 
which helps young Jewish 
professionals jumpstart their 
careers with on-the-ground 
internships and networking. 
He worked as a business 
development intern with 
D-TLV, a small tourism 
company that mostly focuses 
on nightlife, but also offers 
other services for tourists 
such as hotels and hostels, 
and daily activities such 
as watersports and biking 
rentals. 
The focus of Levine’s 
work was bringing on new 
partners. When new bars and 
clubs opened, he would meet 
with them and see how they 
could collaborate. Having a 
role so involved in nightlife 

was perfect for Levine, who 
was looking to “escape” a little 
bit after having just submitted 
law school applications, 
working for almost two 
years outside of school and 
studying for the LSAT. 
“I wanted a break to enjoy 
life a little bit but still gain 
experience, and that was 
exactly what I did. I was 
living in Tel Aviv and had 
probably the greatest job 
I could’ve had for myself, 
working with amazing people 
and giving tourists a great 
experience,” Levine said. 
During this time, Levine 
was also taking Hebrew 
classes at an Ulpan with his 
program peers. 
Levine eventually got 
offered a job from a different 
company in the nightlife/
tourism realm where he 
worked for two and a half 
months while immersing 
himself in Tel Aviv society as 
much as he could. 
Levine says that with 
everything going on right 
now in Israel, he’s happy 
he was able to see Israel in 
such a positive light where 
everybody is welcoming and 
extremely proud to be both 
Jewish and Israeli.

Levine has helped restart the Wayne 
State Jewish Law Student Association. 

DANNY SCHWARTZ SENIOR STAFF REPORTER

NEXT DOR
VOICE OF A NEW GENERATION 

A Proud Jew, 
No Matter 
Where

Final Shabbos meal of Levine’s intern program at their apartment in 
Tel Aviv. Levine is shown with other program participants. 

Levine with his brother and father at the Western Wall. 

