Each year, The Jewish Link recruits several interns to write for the publication during the summer. Every recruit comes from a different background and has their own set of interests. I had the pleasure of interviewing five of them. During each interview, I learned about the roles and accomplishments of my fellow interns, as well as some of their goals for the future.
The first person I interviewed was Dina Shlufman, a graduate of Tenafly High School. As well as writing about happenings in the greater tri-state area, she has written about a variety of topics, ranging from the poetry of Yehuda Amichai to the endeavors of the Tenafly Ambulance Corps. She decided to take up this internship because she enjoys writing and wants to learn about the inner workings of a professional paper. She has written for her school’s newspaper as well as their literary magazine and intends to continue writing when she starts college. She was also the editor of The Shofar, the online newspaper for BBYO. After her internship ends in August, she hopes to work for the newspaper at Cornell University, where she will attend in the fall. Her advice to future interns is to be flexible and open to criticism.
The second intern I interviewed was Eitan Nissel. He lives in Monsey and went to TABC before taking a gap year and spending it at Yeshivat Har Etzion. He’s relatively new at the time this article is being written, and has thus far written an article about a Teaneck resident who competed on “Jeopardy!”. Though mostly experienced with writing short stories and poems, he decided to become an intern at The Link to try his hand at journalism as well as to gain experience in a professional office setting. Once his internship is complete, he intends to return to Yeshivat Har Etzion to attend shana bet.
Next, I interviewed Shira Adler. After graduating Ma’ayanot, she took a gap year at Midreshet Lindenbaum and now goes to Stern College, where she majors in biology and minors in business. During her internship, she has written about Rabbi Jeremy Wieder’s plans to ensure our day schools’ financial future, the grand opening of the ice cream shop The Brickery, and the art of illustrator/muralist Abigail Glass. She joined The Link because she sees it as an opportunity to learn how to improve her writing as well as interview people. Once her internship ends, she intends to spend a few weeks in Israel before starting school. She advises future interns to be willing to ask for help when necessary.
Once done with Shira’s interview, I then went on to interview Daniel Jaffe. Being from Teaneck, he went to TABC before taking a gap year at Mevaseret (Sha’arei Mevaseret Tziyon). He now attends Yeshiva University as an English major and a business analytics minor. The eclectic subjects he’s covered include travel in Toronto, podcasts available during The Nine Days, sports and children’s books. He prefers writing in which he gets to give his take on the subject rather than simply reporting on events. He sees his internship as an opportunity to utilize his talents as an English major and gain experience, all while being close to home. Upon completing his internship, he plans to prepare for his next year at college. In terms of advice, he suggests trying different kinds of writing to take advantage of the experience.
Finally, I interviewed the intern coordinator, Hannah Kirsch, who is back at The Jewish Link after a few summers spent as an summer intern. Coming from West Orange, she spent her high school years at Kushner before taking a gap year at Tiferet. She is now a senior at Binghamton University, where she studies psychology and writing, and was a 2022-23 CAMERA Fellow. In part of her role of coordinator, she meets with the interns, collaborates on story ideas and helps edit their work. She has written features about local authors, a first-person account of a Chabad on Campus International delegation to Dubai, and editorials urging colleges to stand up to anti-Israel organizations. She joined The Jewish Link because she enjoys writing about community news, but she also likes short stories and poetry. Though she plans on continuing to write for The Link after her internship, she still has an open mind in terms of a future career path. In terms of advice, she believes that the more a person puts into their internship, the more they’re going to gain from it.
Of course, this wouldn’t be an article about The Link’s interns if I didn’t include anything about myself. Though I live in Bergenfield, I took a gap year at Netiv Aryeh after graduating from Frisch. I’m currently a freshman at Rutgers University, and though my major and minor are undeclared, I intend to major in English and minor in creative writing. As of now, I’ve only written about animals and what we can learn from them for the recently added column, “Jew at the Zoo.” So far, I’ve written about the determination of Sira poison frogs, the commitment of Masai giraffes, the hidden importance of Andean condors, the adaptability of coyotes, and the prudence of giant Pacific octopi (I also have one about snakes in the works, but I can’t give too many details yet). I became an intern so I could learn about what it’s like to be in an office setting and to experiment with different kinds of writing. Since I enjoy writing fantasy novels, I hope to become an author after graduating college. I don’t have too much to offer in terms of advice since I’m still learning about what being an intern entails myself, but what I can say for certain is that it’s important to be open to new ideas.
