Birthright by the Numbers
Record Breakers: A plane carrying TAGLIT-Birthright participants lands in Israel on the 10th anniversary of the organization?s founding. Image by COURTESY OF BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL
As most of the world celebrated the New Year, TAGLIT-Birthright Israel, the Jewish organization that provides free trips to Israel for young adults in the Diaspora, celebrated its 10th anniversary. Kicking off the celebration was a ceremony for a plane filled with 400 participants, alumni and donors that landed in Israel on December 29. At the event, the organization was entered into Guinness World Records for the largest collective work of art: a 13-foot-by-16-foot Israeli flag made up of 28,267 fingerprints of Birthright participants from the past two years.
But it’s the numbers that say it all. Here’s a look at some statistics from the past decade:
Number of participants from outside Israel: more than 220,000
Number of Israelis who have participated: 40,000
Dollars spent on trips: $500 million
Number of countries from which participants hail: 51
Only continent without participants: Antarctica
Number of participants in the first year: 10,000
Number of participants expected this year: 25,000
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
