Volume 67, Issue 4

Birthright Israel Invites Yeshiva Students

by Zev Nagel

It’s free, and it’s not even Dougie’s.  Birthright Israel, the famed program bringing thousands of college-aged students to Israel each year, has brought its campaign to Yeshiva.

Birthright Israel, a bold initiative of a tripartite collaboration involving private philanthropists, the Israeli government, and local Jewish communities, showed up on American college campuses as the brainchild of noted Seagram Beverage Corporation chairman Charles Bronfman and entertainment mogul Michael Steinhart.  The two joined forces to create a greater than $60 million a year campaign to bring the “Israel Experience” to those Jews who have yet to make it there.  Birthright Israel, which pays for the trip in full, has received astounding accolades from the Jewish community with over 28,000 participants since inception in 1999.

Although the program invites all Jewish post-high school adults who have never traveled to Israel before on an organized trip, most eligible Yeshiva students have never even contemplated the possibility.  So, when Birthright began advertising at Yeshiva for the first time, the campaign aroused student intrigue.  Birthright official Joe Wagner commented that, “recruiting for Birthright Israel trips is done by approved Trip Organizers who decide themselves what venues they feel are the most appropriate to market their specific Birthright Israel programs.”

Eli Golshan, a trip organizer as well as a Yeshiva alumnus, decided to target Yeshiva students for this year’s campaign.  “The reason for the exposure to the program this year more than any other, is that this year there are more YU students running programs. I was the only one who put up signs, I guess,” said Golshan.

This year’s program, Golshan added, “is especially geared to Orthodox students with the intent of providing all religious services, including three minyanim a day, as well as meetings with Rav Ovadia Yosef and other great Torah luminaries.  The trip that I am leading has also a special focus for Sephardim.”

Because of its wide-ranging list of potential invites, Birthright attracts students from all denominations.  In fact, some claim, that attracting less observant and non-affiliated Jews is precisely program’s aim.  The numbers show that secular colleges provide the bulk of Birthright participants, which has led some Yeshiva students to disqualify Birthright as a viable option.  “The decision to go on Birthright is not to be taken lightly,” commented one anonymous Yeshiva College sophomore.  “If the program cannot attend to basic religious standards it is not an option for us.  I guess it also has something to do with feeling comfortable.”

Although Golshan does not dispute the sentiment, he contends that the trip he will be running is geared for Yeshiva students, and will therefore include rigid adherance to halacha.

As far as competing with Yeshiva’s own Operation Torah Shield, the solidarity mission that brings hundreds of Yeshiva and Stern College for Women students to Israel during the winter break, both Golshan and operators of Torah Shield see no competition.  “Torah Shield is not a tour for people who have never been there.  The goal [of Birthright] is to make sure to give a chance to people who have not been there and even consider aliyah in the future.  Because if they never go there how can they think about it?” said Golshan.

Israel Club President Mordechai Raskas, echoed Golshan’s remarks.  “I imagine, Birthright will attract a small number of YU students who qualify, and, if there will be a YU mission, it will proceed unaffected by Birthright.”  Although Raskas cannot definitively say whether or not a Torah Shield mission will occur this year, he did assure that “the mission would certainly not exclude first timers, but, if the majority of the student body has been to Israel, it is only natural for the mission to focus on activities designed for people who have already visited Israel.”

Raskas could not comment about any interaction between the two programs; however, he did assert that, “the Israel Club and Birthright share one simple mission. We want people to go to Israel, enjoy it, fall in love with it, support it, and be active.  Whether they choose to do this through Tehilla, Birthright, Bnei Akiva, a YU student mission, or any other program, it doesn’t much matter.”

During the initial years of inception, Birthright came under fire from various positions on the American Jewish scene, which targeted its ideological goal as well as its sizeable budget.  Although Birthright may seem to fall under the category of an “outreach” program, some educators have suggested another concept more akin to “in-reach,” utilizing the notion of “the best customer is one who is already in the store.”  These critics, undoubtedly insular in their statements, felt that sending non-affiliated Jews to Israel would guarantee no strengthening of their Jewish identity and thus not be worth the money.

Dr. Leonard Saxe of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University has been tracking and studying the participants of Birthright since the initial group arrived in December 1999.  A recent study that he published, documents numbers supporting the “outreach” success of Birthright.  Just as an example, to the question “to what extent do you feel a connection to the Jewish people?” 38 percent of participants said “very much” before the trip, 64 percent after three months, and 65 percent after one year.  Thus, the study identifies success in Jewish “outreach” in at least some areas.

Birthright Israel has a mission scheduled for the beginning of January.  Interested students should contact Golshan at Nail97@aol.com.

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