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From the desk of Birthright Israel Foundation

Tens of Thousands of New Yorkers March to Celebrate Israel

by Haley Cohen June 4, 2019 at 4:45 pm
Elizabeth and Ira Savetsky with their two daughters at the 2019 Parade.

Tens of Thousands of New Yorkers March to Celebrate Israel

by Haley Cohen June 4, 2019 at 4:45 pm

Tens of thousands of Israel supporters gathered in Manhattan on Sunday for the 55th annual Celebrate Israel Parade – the largest celebration of Israel in the world. Beginning on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street and making their way up to 75th Street, marchers embraced this year’s theme of “Only in Israel” from the 1970s Hebrew classic “Rak B’Yisrael.” The parade, which began in 1965, has been organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of New York since 2011. Read More

What It Means To Me To Staff A Birthright Israel Trip

by Robyn Schneider May 28, 2019 at 8:02 am
Birthright Israel

What It Means To Me To Staff A Birthright Israel Trip

by Robyn Schneider May 28, 2019 at 8:02 am

When I was in college, a new program started that would allow Jewish young adults who had never visited Israel to go on a free trip as their birthright. Growing up in a very Zionist household, I had already been to Israel several times, and so did not qualify for this new-found opportunity. Read More

What People Get Wrong About Birthright Israel: Even After 18 Years

by Gil Troy May 21, 2019 at 8:17 am
Girls on Birthright Israel

What People Get Wrong About Birthright Israel: Even After 18 Years

by Gil Troy May 21, 2019 at 8:17 am

Eighteen years and 650,000 happy participants later, you’d think people would get Birthright Israel right. Yet it’s amazing how many people get Birthright Israel wrong. Few understand Birthright’s secret sauce – what I call the Zen of Birthright. They expect it to be as site-oriented as a grand European tour, as partisan as a Zionist pep rally, as self-involved as most student’s freshman years, and as staged-managed as a video game. Not so. Read More

How Birthright Israel Strengthened My Sons’ Relationship to Judaism and Each Other

by Stacey Cohen May 10, 2019 at 8:53 am
Ben and Lenny in the Dead Sea

How Birthright Israel Strengthened My Sons’ Relationship to Judaism and Each Other

by Stacey Cohen May 10, 2019 at 8:53 am

My two boys, Lenny and Ben, went on Birthright Israel this past winter and all I can say is THANK YOU from deep in my soul for this opportunity. This WAS the trip of a lifetime and everything I ever wished for; everything I worked hard to develop came to fruition on this trip.  I wanted to give my kids two things in their life. Read More