Tablet Magazine Is Going to Israel
Birthright Israel will take 40,000 young Jews on a free trip to the Jewish state this year. We’re joining them.
Here is what it means to celebrate your bar mitzvah if you are Taglit-Birthright, the organization that provides free tours of Israel to young Jews from around the world. It means going from an annual budget of roughly $15 million in 1999, the first year in which Birthright operated trips, to one of $119 million—$34 million of which is provided by the Israeli government. It means going from 2,000 private donors to 25,000. It means going from bringing 10,000 Jews aged 18 to 26 to bringing somewhere in the neighborhood of 40,000 this year. Full article
Birthright has contributed $535 million to Israel’s economy
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Taglit-Birthright Israel has contributed more than $535 million to Israel's economy since the trip's inception in 2000, the organization said.
The contribution to Israel's tourism industry comes from providing transportation, lodging, food, training, security, entry to tourist sites and air travel during the free 10-day trips to Israel for Jews aged 18 to 26.
Since the beginning of the project, more than 7,100 groups have come to Israel, filling more than 2.2 million hotel beds and traveling around the country for more than 71,000 days in buses. The participants have spent more than $75 million in gift and souvenir shops, according to Taglit-Birthright. Main article
Professional Development and Networking
Read about local young adults
who have recently gone on Birthright trips:
Jonathan Smith of Mahomet went to Israel on a Birthright trip this past year (2010). He went with a group of 45 young adults on a trip coordinated through the U of I Hillel.
Going to Israel was, “One of the best experiences of my life, a memory that I will never forget going to Western Wall as well as floating in the Dead Sea or marching up Mount Masada as the sun raised, every single experience was a wonderful memory. Full Story
Give The Gift Of Israel
Josh Gottheil Youth to Israel Fund
Check out the programs below to find the best Israel Experience for you.
High School Programs
-- Summer Programs in Israel
College and Post-College Programs
-- Otzma
-- MASA
-- WUJS
-- AMIRIM Israel Summer Volunteering Program
-- Livnot U'Lehibanot
-- Volunteers4Israel
-- Habonim Dror
-- Young Judaea
-- Friends of Israel Scouts - Tzofim -
Birthright Event
3,000 party at Taglit ‘Mega-Event’ in Ramat Gan
Around 3,000 participants on Taglit-Birthright’s summer programs attended the organization’s “Mega- Event,” on Thursday night on the campus of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, the second of two such parties this summer.
The festivities were hosted by actor and singer-songwriter Michael Harpaz and featured addresses from Taglit-Birthright CEO Gidi Mark, the IDF’s chief education officer, Brig.- Gen. Eli Shermeister, and a speech from Dave Goodman, a Canadian Birthright alumnus who raised $700,000 for Israeli causes after participating in a Birthright tour.