At the Birthright Israel Foundation's board meeting on Tuesday, philanthropists Dr. Miriam Adelson and Charles Bronfman stressed the need for added funding from the greater Jewish community.
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They noted the need for not only increased support from current donors but to educate and inspire new support from the Jewish people to maximize the number of Jewish young adults that can participate in Birthright Israel, which provides young Diaspora residents with 10-day trips to Israel to experience the wonders of the contemporary state in the ancient Jewish homeland.
The meeting, held in New York, comes after months of discussions on the need for additional funds due to inflation and higher travel costs, which could result in a reduction of up to one-third in the number of participants the project can bring to Israel next year.
Adelson and Bronfman called on Jewish organizations in the United States and worldwide, the State of Israel, and individual Jews to become what they termed "fellow investors" in the organization.
In the board meeting, conducted by video conference, Adelson assured Birthright Israel that she and her family "will remain the biggest donor" to the organization, reflecting "our proud and unswerving commitment" to it.
She and her late husband Sheldon Adelson, through the Adelson Family Foundation, have contributed nearly $500 million to Birthright Israel in the past 15 years, but now she is turning her attention to the Jewish community as a whole, encouraging "others to step up," Adelson, speaking from Boston, said.
"We are creating space for others to commit, to re-commit or to increase their commitment," Adelson said.
Bronfman spoke highly of the Adelsons' impact on the Jewish world through the program and echoed her call for more support from the Jewish community.
"Miri continues to believe in the program and continues to magnificently support it. She and I believe it is time for us to return to one of our early mantras about Birthright Israel: It is a gift of one generation of Jews to the next."
He added that they both believe that all Jews "should bear responsibility for this gift" by donating, too.
"The challenge is not beyond us. It is calling out to us," he said.
In his comments, Bronfman cited the Pew Research Center's findings, in a study released last year, that Birthright Israel participants are 58 percent more likely than their Jewish peers to "feel a lot in common" with Israelis, 54 percent more likely to "feel a great deal of belonging to the Jewish people" and 160 percent more likely to have a Jewish spouse. The findings demonstrate anew that Birthright Israel is "a strategic asset of historical proportions," he said.
Adelson and Bronfman read to the board what they termed a "call to action" in the form of a joint statement:
At this crossroads in Birthright's historic path, reaching the 1 millionth-participant landmark deserves the support of the global Jewish community.
We are all stakeholders. Every Jew who cares about our people, our story, our young generation, and our precious State of Israel should see Birthright as a crucial mission. Every Jewish organization and foundation should celebrate the privilege of being involved with Birthright.
The sages tell us, Kol Yisrael arevim zeh la-zeh: All Jews are responsible for one another. A success story like Birthright can continue, chapter after glorious chapter, as long as we all rally around it and share in this great vision for generations to come. Everyone should contribute according to his or her ability. Everyone has a role.
Birthright Israel in 2022 brought a record 35,000 Jewish young adults from around the world to the Jewish state, a number that could be reduced to 23,500 starting in 2023.
Dr. Miriam Adelson is the publisher of Israel Hayom.
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