Now, with a two-year grant by MASA Israel Journey, or MASA, that has the potential to bring the university $50,000, many more Spartans will have an opportunity to expand the MSU presence in Israel through travel and study.

MASA is a project of the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency for Israel that was founded to increase participation and promote different international study opportunities in Israel, MASA Director of Academic Affairs Daniel Schuval said.

MSU was one of eight universities funded as part of MASA’s recent initiative to attract students to study in Israel, Ken Waltzer, Director of the Jewish Studies Program, said.

“MASA was offering seven grants to start new programs or to expand existing relationships, and we decided we would go for it,” Waltzer said. “Michigan State has a summer program in Israel and therefore we send students largely in the summer. We thought we would try and create an opportunity to send students during the academic year for a semester.”

Schuval said MASA was able to open up eight grants to universities instead of the originally planned seven after it found more funding.

“We asked universities how they envisioned a new approach to study abroad in Israel, and Michigan State University came forward with some really innovative ideas,” Schuval said. “This grant will help MSU realize its potential in Israel in a new and different way.”

MSU will use the grant money to build an infrastructure for a spring semester program and to market the program itself, said Cindy Chalou, associate director of the MSU Office of Study Abroad. Chalou said MSU could start sending students on a spring study abroad program to Israel as soon as spring 2012.

“I’m very honored that we were chosen as one of eight,” Chalou said. “There really is no place similar to Israel. It’s the center of three major religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. To have an opportunity to study in a location that merges those three religions is unique to Israel.”

Waltzer said the Israel study abroad program was created in 1996 and was briefly suspended from 2001-05 because of a State Department travel warning. Students were allowed to resume travel to the area in 2006, he said.

Spivak said although he was warned to be cautious while traveling in Israel, he felt incredibly safe for the majority of the time.

“It’s mandatory to join the military after high school (in Israel),” he said. “Everyone my age was carrying a gun and it’s strange because you would think that would make you feel more unsafe, but it actually had the opposite effect because everyone was on the same page and communicated very well.”

The intent of the new spring semester program is to target a more diverse array of MSU students including those who normally would not be interested in studying in Israel, Waltzer said.

“We were particularly interested in working with the College of Business, the College of Communication Arts and Sciences and the College of Social Science,” he said.

Spivak said his experience was unlike anything he’d ever done before and that study in Israel has changed him as a person.

“There’s nothing else like the language and the culture,” he said.

“I feel like a lot of times people get a view about Israel, that you’d rather not if you’re not Jewish. No matter what you’re interested in, there’s something for you.”