Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Vermont Legislator Takes Birthright Trip

Kesha Ram, a Vermont State Representative, recently visited Israel for the first time — but not on the kind of Israel trip most American legislators take. The 25 year old (who happens to be the youngest state legislator in the country right now) went on a free Taglit-Birthright Israel experience together with other people her age.

Ram, whose mother is of Eastern European Jewish background and whose father is an Indian Hindu, wrote in her application for the program: “In Jewish culture, my understanding is that if your mother is Jewish, you are considered Jewish. In Hindu culture, if your father is Hindu, you are considered Hindu. I have lived in both worlds and have gone to synagogue and temple; I have been to India three times, but I have never been to the sacred places of my Jewish ancestors. I would like to better understand Israel and my heritage for both my personal and professional knowledge.”

Arutz 7/Israel National News caught up with the elected official with long brown hair and olive skin as she checked out the scene on the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall in downtown Jerusalem. “As an elected official it’s really wonderful to open my mind to what’s going on here, the political spectrum, how people live and interact. But as a young Jewish woman, this is my first opportunity to open my heart and my eyes to what’s going on here and what I can learn about who I am,” Ram said.

She also spoke about meeting artists and Kabbalists in Safed, and of the imperative for American elected officials to learn about their personal heritages and to share that knowledge with others they work with in government. Asked what she thought of Israelis her age, Ram responded that she was impressed by their seriousness, maturity and sense of service. She thought that this was an important model for young Americans, in terms of the importance of giving back to one’s country.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.