I recently had the had the honor of guiding a group of college students from North America for ten days here in Israel. It seemed miraculous to me watching the metamorphosis from wild and partying, typically uninterested youth to caring, aware and interested Jewish young adults. Believe it or not, those ten days have made a world of a difference in the lives of those students.
When I first came to Israel in 1990, during a relatively peaceful period in the Arab-Israeli conflict, there were less than 1,000 North American college-age Jews making the journey to their homeland. In 2003, during this latest war, there were 15,000 students and only because of the Birthright program. Imagine how many students would come during a period of calm. There are estimates that over 20,000 North Americans may come to Israel in 2004 if funding is continued.
I had come to Israel because my parents knew the direction I was heading, and that direction did not include anything Jewish. Their positive trips to Israel in the 1960s and involvement in Zionist movements at Rutgers University gave them the insight to urge me to visit Israel after college. I managed to finagle a backpacking trip around the world by including Israel in on my fictitious itinerary. Eventually, I did make it to Israel during that trip and it changed my life forever.
Being the guide and educator for a ten-day whirlwind tour of Israel for 50 college students gave me the unique opportunity to look myself in the face 15 years before and see the effect Israel had on me happening in others.
On the first day of the trip, I asked them why they had come to Israel and the majority answer surprised me: ?A free trip abroad.? I asked them how many cared if they raised their children Jewish, and not many seemed to even care one way or another. The most common answer I heard to that question was that their parents ?would kill? them if they brought their kids up outside the ?religion?.
By the end of the trip, their tune had changed. One student told me he learned more about the Jewish people in ten days than he did in all of Jewish Day School. Every single one of them promised me that they would be back. Several were already making plans to study here for a year. When I asked them again if they would bring their children up Jewish every hand immediately shot up. One student approached me the last day and thanked me for showing her that Judaism was not just a religion, but a culture, which is an intricate part of a nation of which she feels a part. I would be very surprised if more than 10% of these students married someone who was not Jewish or not committed to having a Jewish family.
Not only has Birthright injected Judaism into over 60,000 Jewish young adults since its inception, and a good dose of Zionism into America?s future leaders, but it also gave a huge shot in the arm to the Israeli economy as well. Speaking only for me and not for the hotel, bus, leisure, restaurant, tour operator, airline and shopping industries, I was able to go back and do what I really love in 2003, being a full-time guide. According to the Jerusalem Post, ?Since its [Birthright?s] inception, the program has received a total of $35 million in grants from successive Israeli governments, yet it is estimated to have generated more than $90 million in return for the economy.?
You can imagine my surprise when I learned that funding for Birthright by the United Jewish Communities and the State of Israel was being slashed. Cutting funding to this program is a huge mistake. I wholeheartedly believe that the future of the children of Israel is at stake, and funding for this miraculous program should be the very last thing cut, no matter what the economic forecast.
When I first came to Israel in 1990, during a relatively peaceful period in the Arab-Israeli conflict, there were less than 1,000 North American college-age Jews making the journey to their homeland. In 2003, during this latest war, there were 15,000 students and only because of the Birthright program. Imagine how many students would come during a period of calm. There are estimates that over 20,000 North Americans may come to Israel in 2004 if funding is continued.
I had come to Israel because my parents knew the direction I was heading, and that direction did not include anything Jewish. Their positive trips to Israel in the 1960s and involvement in Zionist movements at Rutgers University gave them the insight to urge me to visit Israel after college. I managed to finagle a backpacking trip around the world by including Israel in on my fictitious itinerary. Eventually, I did make it to Israel during that trip and it changed my life forever.
Being the guide and educator for a ten-day whirlwind tour of Israel for 50 college students gave me the unique opportunity to look myself in the face 15 years before and see the effect Israel had on me happening in others.
On the first day of the trip, I asked them why they had come to Israel and the majority answer surprised me: ?A free trip abroad.? I asked them how many cared if they raised their children Jewish, and not many seemed to even care one way or another. The most common answer I heard to that question was that their parents ?would kill? them if they brought their kids up outside the ?religion?.
By the end of the trip, their tune had changed. One student told me he learned more about the Jewish people in ten days than he did in all of Jewish Day School. Every single one of them promised me that they would be back. Several were already making plans to study here for a year. When I asked them again if they would bring their children up Jewish every hand immediately shot up. One student approached me the last day and thanked me for showing her that Judaism was not just a religion, but a culture, which is an intricate part of a nation of which she feels a part. I would be very surprised if more than 10% of these students married someone who was not Jewish or not committed to having a Jewish family.
Not only has Birthright injected Judaism into over 60,000 Jewish young adults since its inception, and a good dose of Zionism into America?s future leaders, but it also gave a huge shot in the arm to the Israeli economy as well. Speaking only for me and not for the hotel, bus, leisure, restaurant, tour operator, airline and shopping industries, I was able to go back and do what I really love in 2003, being a full-time guide. According to the Jerusalem Post, ?Since its [Birthright?s] inception, the program has received a total of $35 million in grants from successive Israeli governments, yet it is estimated to have generated more than $90 million in return for the economy.?
You can imagine my surprise when I learned that funding for Birthright by the United Jewish Communities and the State of Israel was being slashed. Cutting funding to this program is a huge mistake. I wholeheartedly believe that the future of the children of Israel is at stake, and funding for this miraculous program should be the very last thing cut, no matter what the economic forecast.