HALF-JEWISH PEOPLE AND BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL TRIPS
The Half-Jewish Network is often asked about Birthright Israel (Taglit Israel) trips, which are ten day group trips to Israel offered free of charge to young Jewish adults between the ages of 18 to 26. We are frequently asked: "I'm an adult child (or grandchild) of intermarriage. Should I go on a Birthright Israel trip? Will I be welcomed? What kind of experiences will I have?"
Our response is usually to outline the pros and cons of these trips, from the standpoint of other adult children of intermarriage, so that the young adult can make an informed decision.
We support whatever choice they decide to make. We urge you to read the entire article, as the subject is very complex, with no simple answers. There are both pros and cons with regard to such trips.
What Are The Goals of Birthright Israel Trips?
The goals of these trips, according to the Birthright Israel website, are:
"Taglit-Birthright Israel's founders created this program to send thousands of young Jewish adults from all over the world to Israel as a gift in order to diminish the growing division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world; to strengthen the sense of solidarity among world Jewry; and to strengthen participants' personal Jewish identity and connection to the Jewish people." See Birthright Israel website.
The Cohen Center of Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University, which studies these trips for Birthright Israel, describes the trips' goals as follows:
"Since 2000, more than 80,000 young Jewish adults from North America received the gift of a trip to Israel. The sponsor, birthright israel, developed this ten-day educational program for those young adults who had not been to Israel on a prior educational program, but who identify themselves as Jews. This large-scale experiment was conceived with the hope that engagement with Israel would strengthen participants’ Jewish identities and counter the threat to Jewish continuity posed by assimilation and intermarriage." http://www.cmjs.org//ResearchAreaDetail.cfm?idCategory=7
Now, from the standpoint of the Half-Jewish Network, these goals raise some concerns. It seems counter-intuitive to recommend that adult children of intermarriage go on trips intended to combat -- the "threat" of "intermarriage"! But please read on.
What Organizations Make Up Birthright Israel?
The Birthright Israel website states:
"The gift of the 10-day trip is being provided by our partners: private philanthropists through the Birthright Israel Foundation; the people of Israel through the Government of Israel; and Jewish communities around the world (North American Jewish Federations through the United Jewish Communities (UJC), Keren Hayesod and the Jewish Agency for Israel). Please take a few minutes to learn more about our partners, especially your local Jewish Federation, which is your gateway to community involvement, continued learning and leadership opportunities." See Birthright Israel website.
Note: Birthright Israel's founder and primary benefactor is millionaire Michael Steinhardt, a Jewish atheist who is anxious to keep Judaism, in all of its many forms, alive.
From the standpoint of the Half-Jewish Network, this list of organizations makes it clear that the Birthright Israel trips are not trying to present an objective view of Israel, but are designed to create a passionate affiliation with it. This has both positives and negatives, as can be seen later in this article.
Can Adult Children of Intermarriage Participate in Birthright Israel Trips?
Birthright Israel (Taglit Israel) definitely accepts adult children of intermarriage on its trips. Their stated policy is:
"Q. Who is eligible?
A. The Taglit-Birthright Israel gift is open to all Jewish young adults, ages 18 to 26, post high-school, who have neither traveled to Israel before on a peer educational trip or study program nor have lived in Israel past the age of 12. Eligible individuals are those recognized as Jewish by the Jewish community or by one of the recognized denominations of Judaism; or if either parent is Jewish and the applicant does not actively practice another religion."
A. The Taglit-Birthright Israel gift is open to all Jewish young adults, ages 18 to 26, post high-school, who have neither traveled to Israel before on a peer educational trip or study program nor have lived in Israel past the age of 12. Eligible individuals are those recognized as Jewish by the Jewish community or by one of the recognized denominations of Judaism; or if either parent is Jewish and the applicant does not actively practice another religion."
http://www.birthrightisrael.com/site/PageServer?pagename=about_faq#19
In fact, every Birthright Israel trip organizer we have ever spoken to has told us that in recent years that they have had many adult children of intermarriage participating, and that they actively encourage them to do so. They state -- we have not seen any solid statistics on this yet -- that they have sent hundreds of adult children of intermarriage to Israel.
One news report indicated that half-Jewish people may be as many as 30% of all Birthright participants, though that means we are still severely under-represented as compared to our actual numbers among young Jews.
Birthright Israel, unlike many mainstream Jewish organizations, has displayed a strong awareness that adult children of intermarriage are growing in numbers in the American Jewish community, and is explicitly aware of, and has had at least one internal, closed-to-the public discussion about the fact that we will likely become the majority of American Jews in the year 2040. This is greatly to their credit.
Choose Your Trip Sponsor/Organizer Carefully
Much depends on what organization is sponsoring the Birthright Israel trip you sign up for. Birthright Israel allows many different kinds of Jewish organizations to sponsor and lead the trips.
If you travel on a Birthright Israel trip sponsored by a liberal Jewish organization, your status as the adult child of intermarriage is likely to be no problem.
But if you sign up for a trip sponsored by a Jewish organization that is not friendly to adult children of intermarriage, you may find yourself subtly or openly discriminated against.
Birthright apparently leaves the conduct of the trip to the individual organizers, who can, a Birthright official informed us, say whatever they please and pretty much do whatever they please on the trip about "who is a Jew?" issues.
One patrilineal child of intermarriage told us that he unknowingly signed up for a Birthright trip with a New York City-based Syrian Orthodox group that was bitterly opposed to intermarriage, and did not learn about the other trip participants' views until after the trip had begun.
Trip Sponsors Are Sometimes Different From Their Labels
Now, it is not a strict Orthodox/non-Orthodox divide in terms of attitudes towards adult children of intermarriage. Sometimes sponsoring organizations act differently towards adult children of intermarriage than their official label would lead one to expect.
We heard about one trip conducted by an Orthodox hasidic Chabad Lubavitch rabbi or layman, who was uniformly kind to all trip participants, without regard to their parentage.
On the other hand, we are also aware of another adult child of intermarriage who is a biracial matrilineal, whose Birthright Israel trip, sponsored by a non-Orthodox Jewish organization, went very well until he began asking awkward questions, such as: why are we automatically expected to love Israel? why should we consider aliyah? etc. -- at which point the atmosphere towards him turned very chilly. Essentially, he was ostracized.
So be proactive -- there are many Birthright Israel alumni, and you will likely be able to find one who is an adult child of intermarriage and can be of assistance in picking out a good trip sponsor. Birthright Israel also offers, via its website, to put potential trip participants in touch with trip alumni who may be able to advise them on the best choice of a trip sponsor.
Also, if you do have any bad experiences, be sure to let Birthright Israel know about it.
Birthright does exercise supervision over the trips regarding security, hotels, Israeli sites visited, and the general atmosphere of the trip, and if large numbers of trip participants give the trip poor ratings afterwards, that organization can't sponsor another trip until they satisfy Birthright that the problems have been resolved. So in the very unlikely event that you are not treated well, please let Birthright Israel know about it.
Problems With Good Israel Trips for Adult Descendants of Intermarriage
Overall, we have heard very few bad stories from adult children of intermarriage about Birthright Israel trips themselves. Most of them seem to have a very good time. They enjoy socializing with other trip participants who have two Jewish parents, and their parentage does not seem to be an issue.
However, when Birthright Israel trips are good experiences for adult children of intermarriage, that creates another set of issues particular to us. Now, what could possibly be the problem with a good trip?
Many adult children of intermarriage come back from Birthright Israel trip feeling very positive about Israel. They start talking about staying in touch with the people they met on the trip, making aliyah, or consider studying temporarily in Israel, joining the Israeli Defense Forces, etc.
Many half-Jewish young people speak on Youtube and in the news media about how the trip made them "feel Jewish" for the first time. They claim that Israel welcomes adult children of intermarriage.
Unfortunately, that's not true.
Israeli Discrimination Against Half-Jewish People
What the half-Jewish young people broadcasting on Youtube are not aware of is that Israel's policies towards half-Jewish people have become a "bait and switch."
Under the Law of Return, adult children and grandchildren of intermarriage have the right to go to Israel and become Israeli citizens.
But once in Israel, they are often classified as "non-Jew" Israeli citizens, an umbrella term the Israeli media uses for both Israelis with no Jewish ancestry at all and many adult children and other descendants of intermarriage, who are expected to pay taxes and serve in the IDF, but treated as second-class citizens legally, and deprived of some basic civil rights.
The young half-Jewish Birthright Israel trip participants webcasting on Youtube were evidently not told on their trips about the enormous and pervasive web of social and legal discrimination against adult children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of intermarriage, a discrimination openly discussed in the free English language online versions of Israeli newspapers.
It is a huge issue within Israeli society, as there are thousands of us -- adult children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of intermarriage -- living there. For more information about this, see "Israel" and "AMF of Israel."
Because most Birthright Israel trips do not tell half-Jewish trip participants about the huge discrimination against half-Jewish people in Israel, they are in for some painful shocks later on.
When some adult children of intermarriage return to Israel or have contact with Israeli organizations outside of their Birthright Israel trip, they can sometimes be abruptly disillusioned as to certain segments of Israeli society's real feelings towards many of us.
One adult child of intermarriage reported being denied entry to an Israeli institute of higher learning after she had a very good Birthright Israel trip. Her application was rejected because she has a Jewish father, but her mother isn't Jewish. She had no idea that some Israelis don't accept children of Jewish fathers as Jews, unless they convert by Orthodox ritual.
Birthright Israel trips are mostly not intended to give a balanced, "warts and all" picture of Israel. They are Israel advocacy trips for the most part. We have seen reports indicating that some liberal Jewish organizations try to present a more balanced picture of Israel -- "yes, there are Palestinians!" --- but those Birthright trips seem to be few and far between.
The vast majority of these trips appear to focus on providing teens and 20somethings -- both people with two Jewish parents and adult children and grandchildren of intermarriage -- with extremely emotional "feel good" experiences that will turn them into strong supporters of Israel and pump up their Jewish identity.
And part of turning adult children of intermarriage into strong supporters of Israel is -- apparently -- avoiding discussing on a Birthright Israel trip how, say, 30% of a particular trip's participants -- the adult children of intermarriage -- would not be treated as "real" Jews if they decided to make aliyah or establish long-term residence in Israel or study in Israel.
In essence, adult children of intermarriage on these trips are being encouraged to love a country where some segments of the population don't love them back, and they are not told about how some Israelis accept them as Jews, and other Israelis don't.
Would Meadow Soprano Be Welcomed In Israel?
This was graphically brought home in a recent Jewish Telegraphic Agency article about the young woman who played Tony Soprano's daughter in "The Sopranos."
In real life, she has a Jewish father, and a Puerto Rican mother who converted to Judaism. She gave an interview to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about a very positive Birthright Israel trip she had been on, how she wanted to come and live in Israel, etc.
No one had apparently told her that if she ever makes aliyah, she would likely face some serious difficulties. Israel's immigration authorities would ask a lot of questions about her mother's conversion.
If her mother's conversion was not Orthodox and/or not Orthodox "enough" -- i.e., acceptable to the ultra-Orthodox who have seized control of big chunks of Israel's immigration bureaucracy -- well, she would likely still be allowed to make aliyah under the Law of Return, but she would become one of thousands of Israel's so-called "non-Jews" suffering from legal and social discrimination.
Now the former "Meadow Soprano" would likely be cushioned by her celebrity from the problems facing an average adult children of intermarriage. But most of us are not famous actors!
Birthright Israel's View
The Half-Jewish Network contacted Birthright Israel and asked, in a low-key way, if they had considered briefing adult children of intermarriage during or after these trips about the built-in discrimination in Israeli society against them.
We stressed that we do not oppose the trips, but have reservations, because of the possible post-trip let-down when adult children of intermarriage discover that Israeli society is not as welcoming of them as we would like.
A Birthright official replied that Birthright Israel is not an aliyah organization, so they don't feel the need to do such briefings. The official also informed us that "who is a Jew?" issues are left up to each trip organizer. Birthright Israel, the staff member explained, functions as an umbrella organization in arranging these trips, but each trip organizer represents the views of their particular Jewish background on adult children of intermarriage issues.
Are Birthright Trips A Jewish Outreach "Silver Bullet"?
The Half-Jewish Network has been approached by Jewish interfaith family outreach professionals about sending adult children and grandchildren of intermarriage on Birthright Israel trips.
Many Jewish outreach professionals have embraced Birthright Israel as a quick way of getting adult children and grandchildren of intermarriage to identify as Jews, a "silver bullet" for our personal identity questions, with the added bonus that we will become, in their view, strong Israel supporters.
So they ask us, "Why isn't the Half-Jewish Network sponsoring such trips?" or "Why don't you send out a message telling all of your group's young adult members to go on these trips?" "Why don't you send your organization's young adults to our Jewish organization X to go on our next Birthright Israel trip?"
So What's Our Problem With These Trips?
We have explained to the Jewish outreach professionals that we do advise adult children and grandchildren of intermarriage to go on Birthright trips on an individual basis if they wish, but that we have not felt comfortable yet becoming an organizational sponsor of such trips for the following reasons.
First, we explain to them our perception that the Birthright trips are not a permanent "silver bullet" for our identity concerns.
For example, the very name "Birthright Israel" is highly ironic to some of us, given that many of us aren't recognized as Jews by many Israelis, and that there is a lot of legal and social discrimination against us in Israel. Can we be considered to have a "birthright" to Israel?
Second, we point out that we have strong concerns with how the trips avoid "who is a Jew?" issues in Israel -- we don't want to set up adult children of intermarriage for later disappointment, when, after an enjoyable Birthright Israel trip, they then learn more about their real difficulties in Israeli society.
Third, we note that some of our group's members are practicing Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Wiccans, "undecided," "both," "not sure," "secular," etc. Current Birthright Israel guidelines would seem to suggest that we could not send some of them on these trips, due to their self-identifications and/or parentage.
Fourth, we are concerned that the trips would not link up adult children and other descendants of intermarriage with their true peers in Israel -- the other adult descendants of intermarriage, who live in Israeli society as Jews, Christians, Muslims, seculars, etc. Trip agendas suggest that our members would likely meet mostly Israelis with two Jewish parents.
Fifth, we are not sure that sending our members on a trip designed to inculcate love of Israel within them -- without telling them about Israeli society's actual treatment of its resident adult descendants of intermarriage -- is the right thing for an organization with our mission.
Jewish outreach professionals have generally reacted with surprise to these questions. Many of them appear currently unaware of the pervasive legal and social discrimination against adult descendants of intermarriage in Israel, and express pained astonishment when the Half-Jewish Network briefs them on the full depth and extent of the discrimination, and the existence of Israeli Jewish organizations fighting it. See "AMF of Israel."
Others react with bafflement, and, in very rare cases, anger. They feel that is that it is the duty of all organizations connected with Judaism in any way to increase support for Israel among their membership. In their view, our questions should not be asked in any context. The truth ("emet") must take a back seat to Israel advocacy.
Virtually all Jewish outreach professionals with whom we have discussed this subject indicate that our questions pose huge logical and emotional challenges for them, pitting their imperative to gather more support for Israel against their equally compelling imperative to do truthful outreach to interfaith family members.
What Happens When Interfaith Family Members Are Told The Truth About Israel's Treatment of Interfaith Families?
Several years ago, we began contacting other Jewish organizations arranging trips for members of interfaith families -- not Birthright -- in an effort to obtain discussion on these trips about Israel's poor treatment of interfaith families.
It is our contention that the truth will not necessarily alienate members of interfaith families, but will enable them to form realistic, compassionate bonds with Israel.
One organization, perhaps partly due to our advocacy, agreed to tell the interfaith couples and young adults on its next trip about the pervasive discrimination against their counterparts in Israeli society.
The results were very positive. While trip participants were repeatedly warned, in the words on one of the trip's organizers, that "the Israelis don't think you're Jewish," trip participants accepted the disclosure calmly, and returned from the trip with a positive interest in Israel, learning Hebrew, and stepping up conversions and other Jewish connections.
They told the trip organizer that they viewed Israel as the historic homeland of the Jews, and had an affectionate affiliation with it, but would not be considering aliyah. They would try to be committed Jews in the Diaspora (outside of Israel).
This is a very positive outcome.
Unfortunately, we were unable to persuade other Jewish organizations to adopt the same truthfulness about Israel's treatment of interfaith families. One rabbi, an American Conservative rabbi who had made aliyah to Israel, and now leads tours of the country for Americans, became very upset at the mere idea. His duty, in his view, was to increase Jewish affiliation with Israel, period.
When asked how he would handle questions about Israel's treatment of interfaith families, he said he would answer the questions if his trip participants asked them. When we pointed out that most trip participants don't know enough about Israel to ask such questions, he became very angry.
His comments to us reflected the pervasive belief among American Jewish communal professionals that Israel's poor treatment of interfaith family members simply cannot be discussed. Apparently, they believe that members of interfaith families would then terminate all ties with Israel and Judaism.
We believe that this "termination" idea is incorrect. It underestimates the intelligence and resilience of most members of interfaith families.
So What Does the Half-Jewish Network Recommend?
One Jewish outreach professional, who is himself intermarried, and aware that Israel does not consider his kids to be Jewish, jokingly suggested that we set up a "special trip for patrilineals."
We would like to expand on his useful suggestion, while noting that it is not "patrilineals versus matrilineals" -- some of us are matrilineals who feel that the patrilineals are our symbolic "sisters and brothers" and are entitled to our support. We also note that matrilineals experience discrimination in Israeli society as well, though not as heavily as patrilineals.
First, we urge adult children and other descendants of intermarriage who plan on going on Birthright Israel trips to choose the trip sponsor carefully, to ensure a good experience.
Secondly, we urge them to keep emotionally centered during the trip -- enjoy and accept the best of what Birthright Israel's trips can offer, but to remember that the presentations are, from our point of view, usually shown through rose-colored glasses.
Third, we believe that the adult children of intermarriage can bond with Israel, but we believe that it should not be a blind passion; rather, they should have a compassionate perception of Israel's many problems and an awareness of the negative manner in which descendants of intermarriage are treated by large segments of Israeli society.
We advise adult children of intermarriage to keep their eyes open on these trips, and to remember that best love -- in human relationships and with regard to countries -- shouldn't be blind.
Let's ask a few questions.
Is Birthright a success on its own terms? And does Birthright have any opposition?
Birthright Israel's Own Statistics Currently Show Failure Of Mission
As explained above, Birthright Israel was created to reduce intermarriage, increase the involvement of young Jews with Israel, and to increase the involvement of young Jews with the organized Jewish communal groups.
The intermarriage rate is still very high. Many young half-Jewish people do come back from Israel with an increased interest in the country and affection for it, but we have not seen any statistics on how this translates into more involvement with Israel.
As mentioned above, many of the half-Jewish Birthright Israel participants appear completely ignorant of Israel's discriminatory policies towards them, so it is questionable if the warm feelings generated by their Birthright trips will survive closer contact with Israel. Ignorance is not bliss.
Finally, a Birthright report indicates that the organization has failed in its mission of getting younger Jews more involved in the Jewish community. On March 23, 2009, an article in a Jewish newspaper, the Forward, described the results of the report as follows:
"The report shows that 44 percent of Birthright alumni who are no longer in college have not attended any Jewish program since their return from Israel. A further 39 percent have attended just one or two programs. Only 4 percent have taken part in more than four programs."
It is greatly to Birthright's credit that the report was publicly released and its findings acknowledged by the organization. Many organizations would simply have hidden such a report. Birthright showed great courage.
A follow-up Forward article disclosed another troubling aspect of Birthright Israel. The organization has rightfully been proud of its pluralistic approach, welcoming all kinds of Jewish organizations and young Jews to participate.
However, it has been revealed that the organization charged with doing follow-up on Birthright Trip participants in the New York City area, the Jewish Enrichment Center, has an ultra-Orthodox leadership with a baal teshuvah (return to Orthodoxy) agenda:
"But there are also those Birthright alumni who have been turned off by the JEC, sensing that it has a hidden, religious agenda that clashes with Birthright’s declared nondenominational and pluralistic stance. Their suspicions have now been substantiated with the revelation that the JEC’s rabbis were trained at Ohr Somayach, a Jerusalem-based ultra-Orthodox yeshiva with international branches and a publicly declared goal of turning secular and nonobservant Jews into ba’alei teshuvah. The JEC, it has emerged, was launched as an outreach arm of the yeshiva."
Birthright has begun work on national initiatives to link up Birthright trip alumni and encourage them to join Jewish communal institutions. It remains to be seen if these initiatives will work.
In October 2009, Birthright released a second report, entitled, "Birthright Leads to Jewish Marriages, Study Says."
The second report basically contradicts the first report.
The second report repeatedly states, in its text, that its findings don't contradict the previous report, released earlier in 2009, showing Birthright's efforts to be failing.
The first report says that there is little or no increased participation in the Jewish community by Birthright participants after their return from these trips. The second report says they are awash in good feelings about the Jewish people and Israel and marrying other Jews.
It's like the two reports were written on different planets.
The second report may be an attempt to mitigate the serious negative public relations impact of the earlier report, which showed that Birthright's efforts are not working. How can the two reports possibly be reconciled?
The second report claims that the trips cause children of intermarriage participants to marry Jews in much higher numbers -- but the claim is based on a ludicrously low sample. It appears that very few children of intermarriage participated in these trips during the first years of Birthright.
This is a real issue, because 48% of all college age Jews are now adult children of intermarriage, and that portion is growing rapidly. We will likely be the majority of young American Jews by the year 2020, if not sooner.
If we are not included in large numbers on these trips -- and not told the truth on these trips about Israel's poor treatment of people like us -- how valid is the Birthright strategy of increasing Jewish identity through 10 day "rah-rah" trips to Israel?
This question is examined at greater length in a Jewcy.com article by Robin Margolis, "The Magenta Elephant: When Interfaith People Visit Israel" at:
Turning to our second question, does Birthright have opposition? Yes.
Opposition to Birthright Israel
Opposition to Birthright Israel comes from several sources. The first source of opposition are some Jewish educators, activists, and communal officials.
Since Birthright is very popular within the Jewish community, questioning of its purposes and organizational behavior has been muted or off-limits in many Jewish circles, but some Jewish educators and activists have publicly and privately predicted for years that Birthright's ten day "rah-rah" format would fail to convince young Jews to increase their affiliation with the Jewish community.
Other Jewish educators and activists object to the millions of dollars being poured into Birthright, believing that such money is desperately needed by other Jewish educational programs, and that is is unwise to put so many financial eggs in one nest.
Additionally, some Jewish educators and activists object to the 'ownership' of Birthright by its millionaire founder, Michael Steinhardt, feeling that because of this, Birthright lacks accountability to the rest of the Jewish community, and does not easily accept criticisms or suggestions about its programs.
There is additional opposition to Birthright in Israel.
Birthright "Unplugged" Argues for Palestinian Birthright
A Jewish-led organization called "Birthright Unplugged," one of whose co-leaders is apparently the adult descendant of a Jewish-Muslim intermarriage, provides "Unplugged" trips for Jewish groups that wish to visit the Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel, a feature, they pointedly note, that "is largely missing from most Jewish-led trips to the Middle East."
Birthright Unplugged also provides "Replugged" trips for Palestinian children under the age of 16 from West Bank refugee camps, in which they arrange for them to visit the villages in Israel where their families lived before 1948.
For more information about "Birthright Unplugged," visit:
What Kind Of Israel Trip Would The Half-Jewish Network Members Like?
Finally, we have begun considering what type of Israel trip the Half-Jewish Network might some day like to organize, in addition to Birthright Israel and other trips made by our individual members. What might we like? Here are some preliminary thoughts.
(1) We would like to take all interested members, with our wide spectrum of faith-based cultures, so that our members who identify as Christians, and members of other faith-based cultures could come with us. After all, many of them are our family members.
(2) We would like to take Half-Jewish Network members of all ages, and work with a travel agency that accommodates persons with disabilities.
(3) We would like to visit the Israeli Jewish organizations that are fighting for the rights of adult children and other descendants of intermarriage.
These organizations range from Israeli civil rights organizations fighting for our rights to Israeli leaders -- politicians, academics, and spiritual leaders -- who are working for our inclusion in Israeli society.
(4) We would like to meet some of our Israeli peers -- the descendants of intermarriage living in Israel -- and hear about their lives. They range from adult children of European Christians and Israeli Jews to the adult children of Israeli Jews married to Palestinian Arabs.
(We have some Israeli members of the Half-Jewish Network -- this might be a good time to meet them.)
(5) We would like to visit Jewish, Christian and Islamic religious and secular sites of interest within Israel.
(6) We would also like trips that show awareness of the Israeli Arabs and the Palestinians, and feature some exposure to their concerns and needs, and visits to areas where they live.
There are undoubtedly more things we would like to do, but this is a preliminary "wish list." We welcome additional suggestions, which can be send to: binarystar@aol.com.
What About Aliyah?
Birthright Israel trips are not specifically intended to encourage aliyah (immigration to Israel), but some trip participants, after a good Birthright exerience, do consider aliyah.
Because of Israel's deeply ingrained negative social and legal policies discriminating against half-Jewish people, we do advise against aliyah at this time for half-Jewish people. For more information on the problems half-Jewish people face in Israel after making aliyah, see our essay on "Israel."
Because of Israel's deeply ingrained negative social and legal policies discriminating against half-Jewish people, we do advise against aliyah at this time for half-Jewish people. For more information on the problems half-Jewish people face in Israel after making aliyah, see our essay on "Israel."