BEYOND BIRTHRIGHT:
MAKING ISRAEL ENGAGEMENT LAST
by CHARLES EDELSBERG and DAWNE BEAR NOVICOFF
B irthright Israel is the phenomenon of a generation. It is an inspired idea that has succeeded far beyond what its munificent founding philanthropists envisioned. In a masterfully designed young-adult, liminal peer experience, hundreds of thousands of young Jews are sparked to experience Israel — notably, its people and mythical landscapes — in deeply meaningful ways.
Birthright presents the Jewish world with unprecedented opportunity. A growing body of research shows that the ten-day, immersive experience alters the sights of an impressive number of its participants. The challenge now confronting the community is to amplify an illuminated awareness that Birthright trip participants — and their peers — acquire world views that result in increasing numbers of Jewish adults who are palpably committed to ongoing Jewish learning and the enduring well-being of Israel and the Jewish people.
We see new evidence that the community is increasingly focusing its attention on fostering teen and young-adult Israel engagement. Our operating hypothesis is that the most promising path to a Jewish identity which includes a lifelong commitment to Am Yisrael emerges from a personal connection to Israel. In this regard, we conjecture that multiple immersive experiences in Israel are most likely to engender a person’s belief that a relationship to Israel is an essential part of that individual’s Jewish identity.
The growth of MASA Israel Journey holds promise for increasing the number of young Jews who are committed to Israel. MASA reports that in 2011 it will support 6,500 North American adults to participate in an array of long-term, Israel-based programs — academic study, internships and Jewish service learning. While we do not yet have a comprehensive approach to understanding and assessing what these experiences mean to their participants, previous studies (e.g., Steven M. Cohen & Ezra Kopelowitz, Journeys to Israel: The Impact of Longer-Term Programs Upon Jewish Engagement & Israel Attachment, MASA Israel Journey, 2010) indicate that immersion in substantive programs positively influences one’s connection to Israel. Moreover, it appears that a shorter-term immersive experience followed by one of greater duration leads to an even stronger association with Israel.
An obvious critical facet of providing young Jews with the motivation to develop an awareness of and interest in Israel as elemental to his or her Jewish identity is a continuous flow of formal and experiential educational experiences. On campuses across America, Hillel and the Jewish Agency for Israel have cooperated to place 50 shlichim as resources for Israel engagement. These Israel Fellows complement a growing fare of Israeli arts and culture programs that are finding their way onto the academic calendar. While we do not have exact figures on the numbers of Jewish students enrolled, nor on the effects of the coursework on students, the dramatic increase in the number of Jewish Studies centers and programs bodes well for adults possessing enhanced knowledge of Israel. In addition, this year, Hillel International launched the Center for Israel Engagement designed to bring Israel education resources directly to campuses by training staff, developing standards of excellence for Israel programming, and providing support for Israel education and engagement on campus (see next page).
Of course, thousands of young Jews encounter Birthright Israel after college. Birthright Israel NEXT was developed as a platform to connect post-college Birthright alumni and other Jewish young adults with one another. NEXT endeavors to present alumni with myriad opportunities to continue their journeys in ways that are individually meaningful and relevant.
On this point, Leonard Saxe and Barry Chazan, who have touted the positive effects of the Birthright trip since its inception, recognize that Birthright’s success is conditional: “Whether the impact of the program can be sustained once participants return to their home community is the key issue for the future... If Birthright Israel alumni can remain knowledgeable supports of Israel — not advocates per se, but individuals who care about the society because they see themselves as part of it and have a stake — the program will more than have justified its creation and the substantial resources necessary to maintain it” (Italics ours.) (Ten Days of Birthright Israel: A Journey in Young Adult Identity, Brandeis University Press, 2008).
We believe Birthright Israel should be viewed as the spark to ignite thousands of young Jews on their individual Jewish journeys of discovery. For some participants, the Birthright Israel experience awakens an interest in deepening their knowledge of Judaism and in connecting with their Jewish peers. Others are inspired to seek greater knowledge about an engagement with Israel.
In looking back upon the eleven years since the founding of Birthright Israel, one could argue that the pervasive conversation about Birthright’s contribution to a veritable revival of Jewish engagement among young adults has, in turn, precipitated heightened awareness of the need for the development of a bona fide field of Israel education.
Capitalizing on this new reality, a field of Israel education has begun to emerge, led by the work of the iCenter, the Israel Education Resource Center. The iCenter has just released standards for K-12 Israel education. It is certifying 19 students with Masters Degrees from six institutions of higher education in Israel education. The iCenter has brought fresh funding to the field and is becoming an engine fueling the field of Israel education. It is creating the impetus for a continuum of Israel education experiences offered more broadly across the Jewish adolescent and teen landscape that, in turn, could spur a more Israel-engaged teen population and ultimately lead to a more deeply engaged young-adult population.
Today, organizations working in the Jewish young-adult arena encounter increasingly greater numbers of Jews who have participated in an Israel experience and have been deeply affected by it. These organizations have an extraordinary opportunity to move young Jews along in their journeys of discovery. We believe that multiple enticing options for young Jews to experience self-initiated, personally relevant Judaism offer the most promising path to engagement. Unlike Birthright trips, where individual identity is necessarily subordinated to both group and trip hegemony (Shaul Kelner, Tours that Bind: Diaspora, Pilgrimage, and Israeli Birthright Tourism, NYU Press, 2010), individual Jews who choose to find meaning with those who have shared interests is a sine qua non of community building. Ultimately, it is from this relational Judaism that Israel engagement is most likely to emerge. ■
Charles (Chip) Edelsberg, Ph.D. is the founding Executive Director of the Jim Joseph Foundation, an $800 million-dollar private foundation whose mission is to support education of Jewish youth in the United States. JJF is an avid supporter of Birthright Israel and Birthright Israel NEXT. Dawne Bear Novicoff is a Senior Program Officer at the Jim Joseph Foundation. Prior to this, she served as Director of Israel & Overseas Planning and Programming at the Jewish Community Federation in San Francisco.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors.
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