It's been a few years since I participated in the Birthright Excel leadership program, yet over the years our paths have crossed again and again.
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On Hanukkah of 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, when the skies were open and thousands of young Jews from all over the world arrived in Israel to take part in Birthright's winter program, I met Sheldon and his wife, Dr. Miriam Adelson, at a Birthright event in Jaffa.
The event was attended by many important people – celebrities, colleagues, donors – but the Adelsons were interested only in the young people sporting Birthright shirts. "Where are you from?" they inquired with bright eyes, "What have you enjoyed the most so far?"
Throughout his long career, as a businessman but mostly as a philanthropist and visionary, Sheldon never forgot those for whom he worked tirelessly. Birthright's mission – fostering warm ties between Israel and youth in the Diaspora – was dear to his heart.
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Exhibiting incomparable dedication, determination, and generosity, Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson truly influenced the future of the Jewish people. I was witness to this influence at first hand, meeting new friends in that summer of 2014; seeing their wish to continue visiting Israel and to return with their families; observing the interest they began to take in the State of Israel – its politics, government, and even its culture and music; and hearing of the couples who met and married and the thousands of Birthright babies subsequently born.
It is hard to imagine the Jewish world today without the dedication of Sheldon and Miriam Adelson. Thanks to them, hundreds of thousands of my young Jewish peers learned to love and take pride in the State of Israel.
Hadar Tzur is a graduate of the Taglit-Birthright Israel program
