Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Taglit-Birthright Israel, a free 10-day trip to Israel for young adults with Jewish heritage.
Birthright
The Latest
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Community Has Birthright Been Successful?
Launched in 1999, Birthright Israel was a “disruptive innovation” designed to arrest the assimilation of the next generation of Diaspora Jews by seeking to universalize an Israel educational experience. The program had many skeptics who, though committed to Jewish education focused on children and teenagers, believed that Birthright was too brief, too superficial, and too…
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Life How Birthright Fixed My Jewish Imposter Syndrome
The El Al security officer’s dark gaze bored into mine, then flicked over the middle name on my passport. “Shay. That’s Arabic, isn’t it?” “No, it’s Irish.” I was being questioned for my Birthright boarding pass for my first trip to Israel and it wasn’t going well. The rapid-fire inquiries left me reeling: Was I…
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Fast Forward More Than 100 Protest Birthright HQ, Call For Jewish Boycott
More than 100 people protested outside Birthright Israel’s New York headquarters Sunday as part of a campaign calling on Jewish young adults to boycott the free trips to Israel that Birthright provides. The event, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, is part of that organization’s #ReturntheBirthright campaign, which includes a pledge to refrain from the…
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Opinion No, The Orthodox Aren’t Stealing Birthright. They’re Attracting Young People
Last week, Haaretz ran an explosive story. “Orthodox trip operators are taking over Birthright Israel Programs” proclaimed the headline. The article examined Birthright’s recent decision to drop the Reform Movement “as a certified trip provider,” attributing this “split” between Birthright and the Reform movement to the “aggressive” and often misleading “marketing” of Orthodox trip providers…
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Fast Forward Why Birthright Is Getting More Orthodox
Participants on Birthright Israel, the popular free Israel trip program, are increasingly turning to programs run by Orthodox groups, Haaretz reported Sunday. According to Birthright figures, Orthodox Jews comprise less than 5% of participants, but more than 25% of participants go on Orthodox-affiliated trips. Part of this is due to the decline of non-Orthodox trip…
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Opinion Stop Demonizing Birthright — It Has Every Right To Focus On Jews
Imagine a peaceful future 60 years from now with two states side by side, an Israel and a Palestine. The democratic State of Palestine sits on 95% of the West Bank and all of Gaza. It has a Palestinian majority, but there are also Jews living in towns, formerly known as “settlements,” and they constitute…
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Community Birthright’s Move To Exclude Arab-Israelis From Its Narrative Is A Crisis — And Here’s How We Fix It.
Birthright Israel’s education department recently announced that all providers of its signature 10-day trip to Israel for young Jews must stop including meetings with Israeli Arabs in their programming. The move has hit a nerve. It has brought out the raw feelings surrounding the funders of the program, those who safeguard the educational content and…
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Opinion Why Doesn’t Birthright Believe In Israeli Democracy?
So they will never know Wadeea. This was the thought that came to me as I read the disappointing news that Birthright has chosen to end meetings with Arab citizens of Israel, who make up one-fifth of Israel’s population. Birthright’s official statement explained that “there is a need for further analysis” of such meetings before…
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