My grandmother, who survived World War II hiding in Italy, has the mentality that nothing in this world should be taken for granted. She has a zero-waste policy – she is the type who brings the bread and butter home from a restaurant and when she heard about the gift of Birthright Israel, she insisted that I take advantage of it. Read More
On Monday, March 2, 2020, Birthright Israel Foundation continued our celebration of 20 years of Birthright Israel in Rancho Mirage, CA. It was standing room only as supporters gathered to hear amazing remarks from Dr. Zohar Raviv, International Vice President of Educational Strategy, Birthright Israel, and Shavit Rootman, former IDF soldier and Birthright Israel Mifgash Alumnus. Read More
On Wednesday, February 26, 2020, Birthright Israel Foundation celebrated 20 years of impact in South Palm Beach County with a private event at the home of Andrea and Mike Leven. The evening’s guests had the pleasure of hearing from local alumni, Bryan Drowos, Courtney Simmons Demri, Nicole Livadas, and Kyla Gladstone, who represent the voices of Birthright Israel’s 750,000 participants: “In Israel, I gained an intimate understanding of the Jewish people, my brothers and sisters today, and my ancestors of the past. Read More
The two weeks I spent in Israel were nothing short of transformative and to show you how much it changed my life; I need to go back a little bit. I went to high school in Boca Raton, FL, where my mom and stepfather still live. As many people already know, Boca Raton is a very Jewish community. Read More
This winter, thousands of young Jews are arriving in Israel and will be shocked at how much they can learn in 10 days on a Birthright Israel trip. By not only visiting sites but gaining insights from their tour educators and Israeli peers, these moments here and there turn into lessons they’ll appreciate for a lifetime. Read More
The idea of going on Birthright Israel had been in my head long before I turned 18, but it always seemed like a hypothetical, not something I would actually do. This was due mostly in part to my upbringing in a town of very few Jewish people. No one talked about going to Israel and I couldn’t name a single person who had taken the trip through Birthright Israel. Read More
“In Israel, in order to be a realist,” Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion said, “you must believe in miracles,” and for centuries in the diaspora, Jews under the oppressive arm of an undying anti-Semitism prayed for such a miracle to come into fruition –– to return to Eretz Yisrael. My ancestors of Romanian and Lithuanian descent immigrated to another land said to flow with milk and honey, and made a new life for themselves in America. I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA the product of an interfaith family. Read More
In the winter of 2012, a girl from Seattle, WA, and a boy from Charlotte, NC, both signed up for Birthright Israel hoping to get more connected to their Jewish heritage and have a fantastic experience, but little did they know they’d end up meeting their soulmate. This is the Birthright Israel Love Story of Ruthie Schorr and Simon Menaker. Ruthie and Simon say that neither of them went into the trip with the thought or intention to meet someone, but after looking back, told us, “it makes a lot of sense why people connect on the trip – there is something special being in Israel for the first time. Read More
Assimilation. A word we hear so often in the Jewish world. It’s a tragedy not quite as obvious as the many others that have plagued the Jewish people before. If you grew up Jewish, unlike me, you have likely not felt the sting of assimilation or been able to comprehend what that entails fully. Read More
Before I left for Birthright Israel in May of 2019, I was scared. I wasn’t nervous about the security situation, or sad about being far from my family— I was scared that I wouldn’t make the absolute most of this opportunity to make a difference. I’m glad I was scared because, as a madricha (trip staff), I had the responsibility to ensure that a bus full of holy souls would have a life-changing experience. Judaism is a huge part of my life. Read More
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