Birthright bar mitzvah

Editorial

Do not fear: this is a happy story, appropriate to leisurely reading on a sunny British Columbia summer afternoon. Admittedly, there is much going on in the world right now, including existential threats to Israel and signs that a showdown is imminent with the Iranian regime. Gloomy news, undoubtedly, but there are reasons for optimism.

Diaspora Jews are not keeping our voices down, as many did when genocidal threats emerged in Europe those decades ago. We are demanding that our governments speak and act against threats to the Jewish people. There are numerous reasons for our change in approach. Lessons learned about the price of silence, for one thing. Perhaps it’s a genuine realization that kol Yisrael arevim zeh la’zeh, for another. However, there is yet another difference, which might seem insignificant in the greater scheme but which may say as much as anything else about our dedication to the continued security of Israel. This year marks the 13th anniversary – the bar mitzvah year – of Taglit-Birthright Israel.

Philanthropists Charles Bronfman and Michael Steinhardt initiated Birthright, in conjunction with local Jewish federations, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the government of Israel and other funders. Birthright has been taking groups of young Diaspora Jews on free 10-day tours of Israel since 1999.

On the face of it, Taglit-Birthright Israel, as it is formally known (taglit is Hebrew for “discovery”), may be seen by outsiders as a “free trip.” For those who have experienced it – even for those who have merely witnessed the effect it has on returning participants – it is far more than this. Avraham Infeld, the president emeritus of Hillel International and a founding visionary of Birthright, has a succinct description of the program’s impact. “You don’t go to Israel to tour another country,” he has said repeatedly. “You go to Israel to tour your own soul.”

Seventy young British Columbians participated in the first Birthright cohort in 1999 and, since then, about 1,000 have traveled to Israel on the program. Beyond the 10-day formal experience, many, if not most, participants extend their stay and tour longer on their own or with friends. For countless young British Columbians, Birthright is the first step in a permanent relationship that has led to repeated visits, volunteer stints, study abroad, Israel Defence Forces service and even aliyah.

About 300,000 young Diaspora Jews, in all, have participated in Birthright from around the world (about 80 percent from North America), and about 50,000 young Israelis have participated also, many through mifgashim (encounters) in which young Israeli soldiers travel with Birthright groups, both for security and to share their experiences of growing up in the Jewish state and serving compulsory military service in defence of Israel. Participants develop tight friendships (and often more) not only with young Israelis, but also with young Jews from around the world. For Jewish young people who have had limited Jewish affiliation, this is significant in itself.

Birthright has its critics, of course. Some say it is as much a training ground for a global Zionist movement as a personal benefit for individual participants. But what, in the Jewish (or non-Jewish) world, is truly apolitical? By design or coincidence, it is true that Birthright has impacted the Zionist movement. The program began a year before the second intifada that destroyed the peace process of the 1990s. So, when anti-Israel agencies took their fight to university campuses throughout North America in the ensuing years, they were confronted with young Jews who had seen firsthand the reality of life in Israel and had the knowledge and the confidence to call out the falsehoods being perpetrated by Israel’s adversaries.

Birthright spawned a counter-program, of sorts, called Birthright Unplugged, which takes young people to the Palestinian territories – something Birthright does not do. There have also been discussions among Jewish leaders about the economic and moral issues around giving away – for free – very expensive trips to effectively every young person who demonstrates the most fleeting association with Judaism. After 13 years, however, the community has largely concluded that the long-range impacts of the Birthright program are a wise investment in our shared future. Most participants return with a new understanding of themselves, their heritage and the world.

The impact on individuals and on communities is immense. Having 13 years of Birthright alumni taking increasingly significant roles of responsibility in the community means we have a cadre of young leaders who not only feel an inherent connection to the Jewish state – which, arguably, most Jews have had since 1948, regardless of whether they have set foot in eretz Israel – we have hundreds of individuals who have built unforgettable personal, spiritual and emotional connections to the country. For whatever else it may have achieved, there is no doubt that Birthright has succeeded in this, its most primary mission.

Yom huledet sameach, Birthright!

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