Stop by the offices of j., wander back to the newsroom and you can’t fail to notice the upbeat presence of Ms. Lee Bialik.
She is spending part of her summer here as an intern, learning all she can about the swashbuckling world of Jewish journalism. You can see her handiwork in an article she wrote this week describing the Kohn Program, the very entity responsible for her being here at j.
The Kohn Program places college students in internships with a variety of Jewish communal agencies. It’s one of those “everybody wins” situations: The organizations benefit by having eager young staffers on board; the interns gain valuable work experience and exposure to possible career opportunities in the Jewish professional world.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Kohn Program, a perfect time for director Rebecca Bassin, along with her staff and interns, to take a bow.
Frankly, the organizations in the Bay Area Jewish community that employ Kohn interns would be much the poorer without the aid and energy of these talented young people. These are no Xerox room flunkies. Kohn interns are asked to plunge right in and do real, often demanding, work.
Some of those Jewish community organizations (besides us) include Jewish Family and Children’s Services, the Jewish Community Relations Council, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the Hebrew Free Loan Association, the Jewish Home, the Holocaust Center, various local synagogues, Traveling Jewish Theater and even Camp Tawonga in Yosemite (now there’s a plum gig).
From the beginning, the Kohn Program has been administered by Jewish Vocational Services and had the unwavering support of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation. Long ago, Phyllis Cook, the Endowment Fund director, saw that this program would provide both a short-term and long-term boost to the organizations’ need for new blood. She deserves much of the credit for its success.
So does Bassin, who most days is running around the region checking in on her flock of interns and making sure everyone’s happy. They usually are.
Perhaps most of the credit is due to the interns themselves. They devote their time and energy to the Jewish community, helping out in myriad ways. And if we’re lucky, when its time to choose a career path, they’ll throw in their lot with our community.
We salute the Kohn Program on its 20th anniversary and wish it many more years of happy matchmaking. Oh, and to Bialik and Emily Cohen, our summer interns: good luck. We will miss you.