In a powerful display of solidarity, the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) is orchestrating a massive volunteer effort, aiming to send 1,000 North American Jews to Israel. The "Serve Israel" program is designed to bolster rehabilitation efforts in the country, which continues to grapple with ongoing conflicts in its northern and southern regions. Volunteers will contribute across various sectors, from revitalizing agricultural work to providing crucial support for displaced families and active-duty soldiers.

Under this program, the volunteers will embark on missions to Israel, committing to either 7-10 day stints or extended 4-week periods running through January 2025. The initiative casts a wide net, welcoming participants ranging from 16-year-old teenagers to students, young professionals at the outset of their careers, and adults up to 65.

The volunteers will be strategically deployed to farms grappling with severe workforce shortages across various regions of Israel. This effort serves a dual purpose: bolstering the country's economy while simultaneously shoring up its food security. Beyond agricultural assistance, volunteers will lend their hands at logistics centers, engage in food packaging operations, provide support to displaced families and soldiers, mentor students, and contribute to a range of other vital activities.

In the wake of the October 7 attack, thousands of North American Jews have already answered the call, traveling to Israel to volunteer. Many have focused their efforts on farms, which have seen their workforce dramatically diminish following the terror attack and subsequent outbreak of hostilities.

The influx of North American volunteers comes at a critical juncture for Israel. With tens of thousands of Israelis called up for reserve duty and a significant reduction in the availability of foreign workers, these volunteers play an indispensable role in supporting the country. Notably, volunteers have reported that their experiences have strengthened their connection to Israel and fostered a deeper sense of belonging to their home Jewish communities in North America.

The "Serve Israel" program is a collaborative effort managed jointly by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Israel Educational Travel Alliance. It receives support from Mosaic United, the Jewish Agency, and the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism. The initiative also partners with established programs like Birthright Israel and Masa Israel Journey.

Shira Hutt, Vice President of the Jewish Federations of North America, underscored the significance of the program: "Over the past 10 challenging months, we've witnessed the pivotal role played by Jewish volunteers from North America. They've been instrumental in helping Israelis navigate the profound challenges they face, while simultaneously strengthening the bonds between North American and Israeli communities. These programs serve as a vital lifeline for Israeli citizens during this critical period. We take immense pride in the fact that, once again, the unique position of the Jewish federations organization enables us to forge strategic partnerships, leading to community-wide mobilization in response to Israel's pressing needs."

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President Isaac Herzog addressed Sunday evening the annual Taglit-Birthright Israel gala event that marked Israel's 75 years of independence.

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"Tonight we are celebrating an impressive and truly amazing project that has brought together a million Jewish youth from the Diaspora," Herzog said. "Each nation has deep-rooted aspects of their identity and character – and the Jewish people have a profound connection to their national home, the State of Israel."

"This connection is tangible, immense, and profound. It helps build the crucial bond within the Jewish people, a small nation facing immense challenges both externally with many communities worldwide, and internally within its own nation-state, which itself faces numerous challenges. It is important to integrate the story of the Jewish people into the story of the State of Israel."

Video: President Isaac Herzog at the event / Moshe Ben-Simhon

Philanthropist and Israel Hayom publisher Dr. Miriam Adelson, who together with her husband the late Sheldon Adelson, through the Adelson Family Foundation, have contributed nearly $500 million to Birthright Israel in the past 15 years, was awarded a certificate of appreciation at the event.

"The investment in Taglit is an investment in our children, grandchildren, and all future generations," Adelson said. "My late husband Sheldon Adelson and I used to say that Taglit is the highest-yielding investment: the eternity of the Jewish people. Taglit has brought close to a million people here so far, and each one of them will say that Taglit has changed their lives, and each one of them is more determined to defend Israel. This is a path that needs to be nurtured, and the more people who walk on it, the better."

Taglit CEO Gidi Mark also addressed the gathering.

"This year we see greater importance than ever in the annual Taglit gala event. We are experiencing an unprecedented demand for registration, and in addition to the 25,000 participants who will come for tours in Israel by the end of the year, there is a waiting list of around 25,000 more young people whom we are unable to accommodate without additional resources.

"Taglit creates tens of thousands of ambassadors for the State of Israel every year, who continue to serve as a growing support network for Israel worldwide," he said.

To date, over 800,000 Jewish youngsters visited Israel as part of the Birthright program.

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"I'm the best version of myself here," Erin Schrode says after an hour-long conversation on her unique career.

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Schrode, an up-and-coming Jewish-American entrepreneur and social activist, had arrived in Israel to give a speech at the Birthright Israel Excel conference, sharing her own insight on how the program that brings young Jews from all over the world on a 10-day tour of Israel changed her, and possibly even her career.

Schrode is no stranger to public life and fighting for causes she believes in, both in her community and for the greater good. 

She formed an environmental NGO as a teen and even ran for Congress at the age of 24, and she continues to promote a whole host of environmental and social causes to this day. 

Schrode's statement about how she is her best version in Israel is particularly interesting since says this feeling of belonging to Israel has not worn off ever since her first trip to Israelonthat program. She was brought up in a home where Judaism was loosely observed and Israel was not a major part of life. But then, in 2010, a 19-year-old Shcrode joined Birthright Israel's 10-day without even really knowing what to expect, only to discover that it was a life-changing experience.

After coming back to the US, Schrode set her sights on national politics, becoming a rising force on the Left, to the point that 6 years later she was on the verge of becoming the Democratic nominee in the race to represent California's second congressional district, a heavily democratic area. Had she won the nomination and then gone on to win the general election (as most Democrats in California do), she would have become the youngest member of Congress at 25. 

Schrode's path to social activism began at a very young age when she saw her mother's non-stop pursuit of answers in the face of an unexplained rise in cancer cases in Marine County, California. 

"By all accounts, it was an idyllic place and one of the most affluent counties in America, but it had the highest breast, prostate, and melanoma cancer rates. It was plagued with a public health crisis, and people were dying. The supervisors said there wasn't enough money to do the testing but that didn't sit right with my mom, she organized a grassroots campaign from our living room. And so my mom had this idea ー I was 11 years old at the time ー to organize volunteers to go to households on one day, and ask why. Everyone must know why your cancer is off the charts. So 3,000 volunteers went to 50,000 households on one day and asked that question, and everybody had their own ideas. There are so many things I've learned from my mom throughout my life, but one is that you don't stand idly by in the face of injustice, and you take action."

Having caught the political bug from her mother, Schrode resolved to follow her example and founded the environmentalist NGO Turning Green when she was only 13. 

"I think, for me, that's the beauty of youth is that we questioned the status quo, that we don't blindly accept things, and that our minds are still malleable, which is why I spent the last 17 years of my life working with young people. Because that's such a right moment where we set ourselves, our communities and our families, our societies, and our peoples up for the rest of our lives. So we started organizing teenagers. It's now a nonprofit, 17 years later if you told me that, this is what I'd be doing. I'd say you're crazy. But it's who I am."

Q: I want to take you back to Birthright. Obviously, something clicked on that trip in 2010, because six years later you ran for Congress. Why do you think a 10-day visit to Israel put this in motion? 

"A friend asked me when I was 19 if I wanted to do Birthright. I said, 'What's Birthright?', and she said it was a free trip to Israel. Now where I'm from, everything that I told you that went along with all of those bullet points, those talking points, those ideologies, was anti-Israel. I wanted to come on Birthright to go to Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, and the West Bank. I have friends in all those places, activists who fought for environmental and social causes. And for me, it was a plane ticket to a part of the world that I had never thought I would see. And I landed at Ben Gurion and I walked across the street and I felt this visceral sense of warmth as if I were home, and it was something that I've never felt in my life. And I have the privilege of doing work that's very aligned with my values. That's very true to my core, and 12 years later I have tears in my eyes, and I spent the next 10 days seeing so many of my values in action. I saw my progressive values in action in Israel, I saw the renewable energy and the biotech and the female representation in the judiciary. I was going, 'What is this place?, these aren't the images that I think I was fed of Israel as an activist growing up in the States, and my mind was perpetually blown.

"I also had the privilege of bunking with a 21-year-old officer in the Intelligence Corps. Here I was sitting with my peer, who shared my same values. And I also met environmentalists and activists and I was sitting with her and this was probably one of the most powerful moments in my life. She kept using the word Zionism. And I said, 'What does it mean?'"

Q: You had never heard of that term before?

"I  had heard it tossed around. But no, if you'd asked me to define it at the age of 19, I couldn't. And there we were, probably staying up far past our bedtime, talking about a movement towards and a struggle for self-determination of our people, you know, in our ancestral homeland. And I looked at her and I said, 'I think I'm a Zionist.' And I spent the next 10 days, realizing that I was. But then I left."

During the interview Schrode makes it clear that Israel was more than just about history, it was about a path forward too, for her own experience in the US, and that she would not be defined by the regular mantras surrounding Israel in the progressive discourse on the American Left. 

"I had this unbelievable gift of a journey. But I knew what I was going back to. I knew from whence I came. And talking about Israel and the movements that I was a part of, wasn't something that people did, I marched in the first Women's March [after President Donald Trump was inaugurated], I was in the streets with Black Lives Matter before BDS was written to the platform. I was at Standing Rock [pipeline protest], and they had a sign that said, 'We stand in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people living under the apartheid state of Israel.' I crossed the line. I started to see Israel popping up."

Schrode said that she could not accept such slogans, especially in light of the sides of Israel that she saw first-hand as part of her social activism, to which other organizations were blind.

"I was in Haiti after the earthquake, and I launched an education project and I saw Magen David Adom there, I was in Lesbos in Greece with the refugee crisis, I heard Hebrew being spoken behind me, and it was IsrAid on their shores; I was in Puerto Rico, where I ran a very large humanitarian feeding program following Hurricane Maria and there was this Israeli agricultural and water technology being used in the wake of the hurricane.

"Birthright changed my life. Personally, it had connected me to a land, to a people to history to a living, breathing, current vibrant society, with which I not only wanted to connect or was invited to but professionally outwardly. That wasn't anything that I talked about."

Having stood against her own camp's anti-Israel agenda, it did not take long for her to channel this determination into a political cause and run for office.

"I've always believed fiercely in the power and importance of policy and legislation and politics. I've operated mostly at the local level, we fought for a lot of bills and pieces of legislation at the county and state level because so goes California so goes the nation. I never saw myself as a politician but then I gave a speech, a talk in the Bay Area, in Marin County. And I walked offstage and two people said, 'How do we get you to run for office?' and this was in early 2016. I looked at them and said, you have got the wrong girl. I was 24 years old at the time, I'd never held elected office."

Q: Why why why would you consider yourself being the wrong girl? I mean, you literally had it in you from day one. 

"In my mind, politicians were a different breed of human. I hadn't spent decades in corporate boardrooms or law offices in the halls of government. I didn't own millions in the bank. I didn't fit the mold of what I thought of as a politician. I've been involved in policy but not politics. And I have three weeks until the filing deadline. And I started having conversations with people who are wiser than I. And for me, I've always been very clear in my purpose and had to figure out why I was doing it. What if I didn't know why I was running for office? Why would anybody vote for me? So I had to become clear on why I was doing it. And really, it was to redefine civic engagement."

Q: At the time, you said there was no one under 30 in Congress. You were the champion of the under-represented.

"Yeah, but I wanted to reinvigorate a culture of public service, and expand the definition of who could be a politician. Yes. I haven't seen anybody who looked like me who talked like me in office at the time. But I wasn't in it to make history, I actually want to make a difference. I think that's what caught people by surprise. At the time, I'd been working in this field for 11 years. That's not normal, for a 24-year-old; my life has taken a very circuitous path."

Schrode ultimately filed to compete in the Democratic primaries in March 2016, just as the nation was rocked by the stunning rise of Donald Trump on the Republican side, effectively taking away any attention from all other candidates on both camps. In California, the Democratic nominee for the 2nd Congressional District was all but guaranteed to win against the Republican nominee in November, so Schrode was essentially running a general election campaign not for the nomination but for the actual seat. Despite falling short, her candidacy made an imprint on progressive politics in California, which is not an easy thing to achieve, especially by creating a sense of urgency among young female voters who want to be heard in Washington. 

Q: In one of your speeches on YouTube, you don't even stand at the podium, you just walk around and go to the audience for questions, which was like a dialogue. Is that what transformed your campaign, even though you lost? Do you think that that was what made you different?

"I made contact with people, I break that fourth wall, I jump off the stage if there is a stage I shake the hands. I'm 31 years old now, but I still feel like a kid. I still feel like a college student. But in our campaign, I think what surprised people was that I wasn't afraid to have the hard discussions."

Q: Including on Israel?

"Yeah, but that wasn't something that I came out with. That wasn't something that I led with. That was something that I put forth as a policy decision and five days before the election I was actually so excited these two small Jewish publications reached out and asked to interview me. Did I want to do an interview? Of course, I remember I was up in the northern part district on my cell phone walking around a convenience store looking for nuts. The vegan snacks were few and far between. And the headline said, 'Progressive, pro-Israel and potentially youngest person in Congress.' I know exactly where I was when I read that headline. Pro Israel? That's a dirty moniker where I come from. And I read the article. And it actually represented what I said where I stood. But my campaign manager looked at me and he said, 'Eric, this is going to cost us.'"

Q: Do you think this is what cost you the primaries?

"I don't. I don't I think that. My number one piece of advice to anyone running is start early. We launched the campaign seven days before the election. And that's just not enough of a ramp to get to where we need it. And I think with more time, we could have closed that gap. But this article that came out, within hours, there was a newsletter circulating inside saying it's like spitting on the grave of a murdered Palestinian child."

Q: Who wrote it?

"A local newsletter, by activists who had worked with me for more than a decade. And that was the first time that I saw that there's this litmus test imposed on people on the Left by progressive Democrats and liberals. You can't be pro-Israel and pro-progressive, it didn't matter that I agreed with them on 99% of the issues. Suddenly, they had some oversimplified litmus tests on it. So I failed. So I remember my campaign manager said, 'We need to respond to this.' I wanted to, I woke up the next day, and I had my phone six inches from my face. I opened it and I opened my email and I saw my face with a yellow Jude scar on my chest next to a monster. And it said, 'Get out of my country kike. Get back to his real where you belong.' And I scrolled through my email and there were dozens of emails, as well as voicemails on my cell phone. And there were thousands of pieces of hate speech and acute death threats on social media and across the internet."

Q: People say that if you're attacked by both sides, you're probably right.

"I have always felt like that. My mom is a Democrat, my dad is a Republican, and I grew up hearing both of them, falling somewhere in the middle. But it was this very bizarre convergence of the extremes. One side, coming from the extreme Left, says that it is fine to be a Jew, but if you're a good Jew, you have to be an anti-Israel; and on the other side, [on the extreme Right] they say, 'You filthy Jew, get out. This is in your country, you do not belong, you're inferior.' I think so many things in my life changed in June of 2016. But more than anything, for the first time, in my life, I was seen as Jewish in the eyes of the world. I was armed to the board but I was equipped with facts, with experience with personal anecdotes. Because of a 10-day journey that I've been gifted with on the ground in Israel, I just went back to that moment, which at that point was six years prior. And I, I really fundamentally see that trip as one of the largest turning points in my life, like running for Congress, but I saw so many young people being faced with that false choice. Are you an activist or a Zionist? Will you stand for Israel? Or will you rise up behind Judaism and social justice? I've never been one to be put in boxes. I face the same stuff around environmentalism. This is what I was talking about last night. This isn't a binary choice. But over the past six years the Left, the progressive movement, has become even more vitriolic and anti-Israel. And I understand why people fall prey to that because it's just thrown in there with a myriad of other causes, that people do believe that they do understand that they are willing to fight for. And unfortunately, 750,000 young people being brought to the State of Israel on a trip is one of the greatest feats, I think, in the history of the Jewish people."

Q: A lot of Jews in the US, I guess the Bernie Sanders camp, are pro-BDS. Maybe even this anti-Israel rhetoric is just as strong coming from some Jews as it is from non-Jews. 

"I think that there is a small vocal minority that is making a lot of noise; they are not representative of the American Jewish community. They are tokenized and used by the Left when you see If Not Now and Jewish Voice for Peace popping up in every progressive space. There are a couple others but the list is not so long…contrary to the little Twittersphere, or, you know, these liberal arts institutions, most people are not talking about Israel 99% of the time. We're not the center of attention. There are massive domestic policy crises happening in my country that we need to address. Now, if you come at me, because of my support of Israel, because of my Jewish identity, great. But I'm going to lead with other stuff. I'm going to work and I think for me, it's about refusing a litmus test, I can be all of these things, and support the State of Israel. But I'm not going to lead with that. Because I don't think that that's the most important thing for the success of domestic policy agendas in the US today. There are moments, certainly, that's what we need to be talking about it first, but not most of the time."

Schrode made sure to point out her active involvement in pro-Israel organizations during the interview, making it clear she is not just about talking the talk. "I sit on the boards of Zioness unabashedly progressive, unapologetically Zionist, IsraAID (a global humanitarian organization), and Birthright-Israel's education committee that plans curriculum and follow-up around trips. I am deeply proud of pushing the needle and making a real impact with all three. As well as three environmental organizations."

Q: I guess a lot of counties I mean, districts are having their primaries ahead of the midterms. So what's your advice to progressive, pro-Israel candidates?

"Do the work? I'm much more interested in what candidates are doing than what they're saying. What matters to your district, That's what you should be talking about. Yes, if you are confronted and asked, certainly go on the record with what you believe and what you want to talk about regarding the State of Israel, and the heart of your discussion, part of your agenda, the heart of your campaign should be about the issues that matter most and affect the daily lives of people in your district because that is what matters to them."

Q: Will you run again? 

"I think so. I can't tell you for what office…I believe fiercely in the importance of a diverse base of elected officials who represent constituencies that there's seeking to serve. I'm very proud of where I'm from in the San Francisco Bay Area. But I think anybody who tells you what they'll run for, and in five years, 10 years, 20 years, don't understand the landscape. And you should be running because of the issues that matter and the people that you're seeking to represent. I think local office is very, very important. And I think the place where I feel I can be most impactful right now is outside of elected office. And I'm incredibly proud of the work that our nonprofits doing. And eight months of the pandemic we served 20,000,090 point 7 million, but almost 20 million organic meals source packed and served in Northern California. And that's coming from local organic farms, local businesses, for local students, so positively impacting local soils, local economies, local health, and local family. I'm an activist. everything I've talked about with anybody is dirt, about carbon sequestration, healthy soils, and climate resilience."

Q: And you will run ー if you runー as a Democrat?

"Yeah. I believe that unlike Israel, where there are umpteen political parties, we do still have a two-party system. And while I have a problem with the polarization that's happening in the States, that the pendulum swung to the extremes both on the Left and on the Right, the way to impact change in the most effective way, I believe, is still running through the Democratic and Republican Party. And I believe in a lot of the tenets of the Democratic Party and have for my entire life. I don't believe that this extreme anti-Israel bias is true to the heart of the values to the core and the bulk of the base of the Democratic Party. And I think we need people, especially young people, and progressives, who share a lot of the values and platforms that I do, to proudly stand up as a part of the Democratic Party, whether we're voters or were running for office and redefine what that actually looks like and not let it be hijacked by a few non-representative voices who think that they have some monopoly on truth as it relates to Israel."

Q: Are you considering moving to Israel?

"I cannot say that I don't think we're making aliyah. The sensation that I had when I landed at Ben Gurion on Birthright-Taglit for my first time in Israel, at the age of 19, is a sensation that is a sensation that I get every time I'm here. I started crying on the plane here. My friends always ask me, 'Do you think it'll wear off? Do you think that the magic and the sensation you feel when you come to Israel, will wear off?' Twelve years strong and I actually have tears in my eyes looking over the city (Tel Aviv). I think I have a role to play in my country in the US as an activist fighting for so many of the climate and social movements with which I'm deeply embedded, and also, as an American Jew, and I don't take that responsibility lightly. I've never been more grateful for the existence of the State of Israel, as a literal safe haven and refuge, but also as a place that safeguards and nurtures and elevates and catalyzes so many things in which I believe not only around faith in history and culture and peoplehood, but also about progressive values and, and climate and social movements. I am the best version of myself here. I am one of the best versions of myself here. I was at the event last night and walked in and people said, 'You have curly hair?' and I said, 'Yes, because in the states I straighten it, and I think it looks more professional, whatever.' And here sitting on the beach in Yafo and I can really tan. I was not surrounded by Jews when I grew up, definitely not Israelis. I think about that a lot. I think one of the greatest things is that the door is always open."

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After more than a year of pandemic silence, Taglit-Birthright Israel participants have returned with all the gusto of young adults who have waited out the year of coronavirus restrictions with visions of Israel dancing in their heads.

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Take Conor Mullaney, who applied for a Birthright Israel trip months ago with little hope of going at the time.

"I'd been looking forward to being in Israel for a very long time," said Mullaney, a third-year finance student at the University of Maryland's Global Campus who arrived on May 24 with the very first Birthright Israel group to set foot on Israeli soil since the pandemic shut the program down more than a year ago.

"Even though I've read a lot on Israeli politics and history, never having been here until now, I didn't fully understand how it all fits together," he said. "Being here has changed my life and the way I see the world." It also included holding the bar mitzvah he'd never had at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City with his new friends cheering him on.

Or take his fellow Birthright traveler Sami Marshak, an aspiring attorney who after the Birthright experience will be starting a summer internship with a Tel Aviv-based international law firm. While the Rutgers University junior visited Israel years ago with family, she noted that "it's extremely cool being here with friends."

Jack Berkey, who was busy exploring the country with friends from his school, the University of Michigan, said: "I came with zero expectations of what I will experience," he said. "I've always wanted to come but with COVID, it wasn't happening last year. So when I heard I could come on Birthright this spring, I thought, 'This is my chance; I'm not going to miss out on it.'"

These three young adults were indeed fortunate to secure a spot; some 6,000 applicants are now qualified and looking forward to going, reports Birthright's vice president of Global Marketing Noa Bauer. Most of these are expected to be able to enjoy Birthright this summer, with another 20,000 waiting in the wings for winter, spring, and beyond.

When they go, they'll join the whopping 750,000 young adults aged 18 to 32 from 68 countries who have experienced the unforgettable sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Israel through a free Birthright trip over the last 21 years.

A recent Pew Research Center study of American Jews found that while just under half of Jewish adults have been to Israel, among those aged 25 to 34, over a quarter reported having been on a Birthright trip.

According to Bauer, more than a third of young Jewish adults have been on a Birthright trip, "which makes it a potent force for influencing how an entire generation feels about both Israel and their Jewish identity. And now, after more than a year of isolation, they're so happy to be free to come and explore at a time when Israel is back to life and more exciting than ever."

Professor and social psychologist Len Saxe, who directs the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University and has been following how college students have dealt with pandemic isolation this past year, says the time is ripe for them to go.

"For this generation coming off the loneliness and emotional challenges of COVID, the hunger to engage with peers makes this a propitious moment to go to Israel and an important moment in our history for young Jews to establish personal relationships with their peers, including the young Israelis they get to know on the trip."

That's because only face-to-face contact works for establishing bonds, he maintains.

"Online works only if you've already formed the relationship in person, and grow and deepen it on the phone and online."

Scott and Amy Jaffee's involvement in Birthright began five years ago when their oldest son returned from his trip. "We saw how energized and inspired he was when he got back, including the rapport he had with his Israeli peers and the beginning of understanding what a young Israeli's life is like."

Amy, who now serves as co-chair of Birthright Israel Foundation's Long Island Leadership Cabinet, said that "we began thinking about all the Jewish kids who need to go to Israel but can't afford it, and we wanted to pay it forward."

'An important time to strengthen Jewish identity'

The rise in antisemitic acts in the last few months, including but not limited to anti-Israel pressure from college campuses to social media to online hate has not escaped the notice of Birthright participants.

"We've had our fair share of pro-Palestinian rhetoric on campus," said Marshak, noting one professor who had said Israel was an apartheid state and the Jews have no historical right to the land. "The media also influences what people think, including all of us who came here questioning our beliefs and not knowing how to feel about Israel," she said.

"Despite Israel's problems, here I see Jews of different politics and religious views all feeling the same way about the rise in antisemitism, the importance of Israel, and the fear that history could repeat itself," she said.

Berkey, too, had heard anti-Israel positions at his school: "I've heard a lot about Israel, and it wasn't necessarily positive, but I refused to believe any of it until I could come with an open mind and see it for myself."

The Jaffees recall meeting one young woman who'd bad-mouthed Israel on the flight over – an attitude that lasted until she got off the plane. 'She said as soon as she arrived, she began questioning her own assumptions and wound up falling in love with Israel and the idea of being Jewish," says Scott Jaffee. "This kind of transformation was something we wanted to be a part of."

Rabbi Shlomo Gestetner, who directs the Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, one of Birthright's providers, said: "The rise of antisemitism in Europe and now in the United States makes this such an important time to strengthen Jewish identity. And the only lasting way to do that is to come to the land filled with Jewish history, where you can hear our ancient language spoken on the street and walk on the same 2,000-year-old stones our ancestors walked on."

'The sense of unity that I never expected'

Many a Birthright participant has reported that those few days in Israel truly strengthened their connection to the Jewish people and Israel, says Barry Shrage, former president of Boston's Combined Jewish Philanthropies, who now teaches at the Brandeis Hornstein Program in Jewish Professional Leadership.

"It's a transformational experience, and though we know you can't get back what you lost, so the kids who should have gone this past year might go later or we may have missed them altogether, but now is a particularly important moment to go.

"Here I see Jews of different politics and religious views all feeling the same way about the importance of Israel," they said.

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In a time of "woke anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda, fighting it with information and advocacy can go only so deep, and facts can and will be distorted by our enemies," continued Shrage. "The only thing that really works is getting to know their brothers and sisters in Israel and truly understanding the heart of the Israelis. You can't educate someone to love and identify with the Jewish people and Israel. Falling in love has to be experiential, and Birthright is the best way we have of giving them that experience."

Bauer added that "just getting them here and showing them the real Israel is the single most powerful way to fight BDS [boycott, divestment, and sanctions] attacks. And though they're not necessarily going to wave the Israeli flag on campus when they get back, they have a much better chance of questioning the hate they could face from a place of deep connection after having seen firsthand what the Israelis are made of and what they're dealing with."

Bauer says when they do hear accusations, former Birthright participants tend to "pick up the phone and call their Israeli friends and ask them what's really going on over here."

While zipping up his backpack as the plane touched down at Ben-Gurion International Airport, Berkey said: "I've always identified Jewishly, but this is my chance to find out what that really means."

Upon arriving at Israel's national cemetery on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl, Marshak said: "I wasn't really expecting much, but we saw a bunch of soldiers mourning over one grave, and everyone in my group just stopped and mourned with them, staying for the prayer. It really felt like one of us had died.

"I know I'll always remember that moment – the sense of unity that I never expected and never felt before. You never know how things will affect or change you. But I guess after this, I'm feeling more open to new experiences shaping me and my understanding of things," she said.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The first group of Birthright Israel, the largest educational tourism organization in the world, landed at Ben- Gurion International Airport on Monday , for the first time after a yearlong halt due to the pandemic.

"The participants are vaccinated students from the United States, arriving Israel for a 10-day educational tour," the organization said in a statement.

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Before the outbreak of the global pandemic, Birthright Israel had provided trips for more than 750,000 young Jewish adults from 68 countries. In 2019 alone, the organization hosted 45,777 participants; that number was topped only by the 48,000 participants it brought in 2018.

"Dozens of more trips are expected during May and June, with many more tour groups planned for July, August, and October, the company said.

Gidi Mark, the CEO of Birthright, which is also known as Taglit, said he was "extremely excited that we are renewing the connection between the young Diaspora and Israel. We've developed the best plan to safely and efficiently resume our trips, which play such a critical part in strengthening the Jewish identity of hundreds of thousands of young people around the world and connect them with the State of Israel.  Following the rise of antisemitism over the past weeks, this is now more important than ever before."

To attend a Birthright Israel trip, "all fully vaccinated or recovered participants with one vaccine doze will be required to provide a negative PCR test before boarding a flight to Israel as well as take an antibody test upon their arrival at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport."

Israel is one of the early nations to have achieved a high level of inoculation of its citizens due to the modern and effective vaccine distribution and due to the early orders secured by the government from Pfizer and other vaccine makers.

The return of Birthright Israel programming marks the end of the only cancellations in the organization's 20-year history.

The Adelson family, which has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Taglit-Birthright Israel, owns the company that is the primary ‎shareholder in Israel Hayom.‎

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"While tens of thousands of Jewish young adults were planned to visit Israel this summer, the organization quickly turned to online high-quality engagement with its alumni and prospective participants. Since mid-March, we have reached 4.4 million people around the world," says Noa Bauer, Birthright's vice president of global marketing.

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It is now launching an interactive video "Choose Your Own Adventure" on a platform called Eko, allowing people to select in real time what sites in Israel they want to "visit."

This means that the online tour led by Navee, a real Israeli guide, allows users to choose between visiting Masada or the Western Wall, stopping at a vegan restaurant or winery, seeing Birthright's Tel Aviv Center for Israeli Innovation, and then "floating" in the Dead Sea or "surfing" the beach.

At each location, Navee introduces visitors to local Israelis providing a deeper perspective about Israeli culture.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Zohar Zisapel, the president of Rad-Bynet Group and prominent Israeli entrepreneur, and Yoram Tietz, the managing partner at Ernst&Young (EY) and chairman of Birthright Excel, led the discussion.

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"Despite COVID-19 and this year's fellows being unable to arrive to Israel, the 2020 cohort of Excel took part in a virtual 10-week program with both the educational and internship components of the program taking place online (including internships for Deloitte, Viola Credit, Mobileye, Lemonade and EY)," the organization said in a statement.

"Fellows participated in lectures by professionals from all sectors of Israeli society, workshops and leadership training, and weekend activities beyond the boardroom. It was in fact one of the very few internship programs for non-Israelis in Israeli companies that were not canceled due to COVID-19."

According to Birthright Israel CEO Gidi Mark, the event marked the end of "one of the most prestigious summer programs in the Jewish World, which will be remembered as our first virtual program. This privilege and honor comes with a commitment."

Mark had the following message to participants in the Zoom meeting: "We trust you to act, influence, succeed, and be business leaders investing in their community and in Israel."

Tietz agreed, saying, "Alongside business-doing there is always room for being involved in society and the community. This is the best way, in my opinion, to make a true impact, and I believe it will also serve your professional career".

When asked about the global pandemic and its effect on Israel's technology sector, Zisapel said: "COVID-19 is an opportunity. You must remember that every change is an opportunity. And COVID-19 is the biggest change I have seen in my lifetime. I ask you to not be bothered by what COVID-19 has done, but think about what you can do to COVID-19. This is the time for innovation, initiative, and entrepreneurship, and I am sure you all have what it takes to succeed".

Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, the project's largest ‎donors, have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Taglit-Birthright so far. ‎Dr. Miriam Adelson is the publisher of Israel Hayom. The Adelson family owns the company that is the primary shareholder in Israel Hayom.

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A Jew living in a hostile Arab country went out of his way to celebrate Hanukkah this week, despite the fear that he would be punished by the authorities.

The Jew, whose name Israel Hayom cannot disclose except for his first initial A., lives in a country that has no diplomatic relations with Israel. Despite some of his family members being killed in the past, presumably over their Jewish faith, he decided to celebrate the Jewish holiday and has even taken a photo of the traditional lighting of the candles on the menorah this week.

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The Orthodox Jewish outreach organization Yad L'Achim ("a hand for brothers") has been in contact with A. and met with his acquaintance in Israel.

"When A. approached us several months ago, to return to his Jewish roots and heritage despite his family living as crypto-Jews, we went on to look into his past and we realized just how dedicated this family has been over the years when it comes to holding on to the Jewish faith despite all the risks," the organization told Israel Hayom. "We were very excited to get the image of the menorah with the candles lit, showing how the Jewish flame burns all over the world; it shows that the Jewish spirit is eternal."

Meanwhile, in Israel, participants in the Birthright Israel program, which brings young Jews on a ten-day trip to Israel, celebrated Hanukkah in a special candle-lighting event.

Birthright Israel, also known as Taglit in Hebrew, brings Jewish youths from around the world to Israel free of charge. The tour is aimed at fostering a bond with the Jewish state and increasing awareness of Jewish identity. ‎A number of Israeli students and soldiers usually join each group for a portion of the tour.

Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, who have provided hundreds of millions of dollars to the program over the years, took part in the event.

Dr. Adelson told the participants that they were "experiencing Israel, Judaism, and Zionism at their best." She went on to urge the participants to "cherish these experiences and protect them, and upon your return home, you will look at this experience as a great honor; you will continue to spread the light in keeping with Jewish tradition." She said she hoped "this journey will convince you to come back here soon, but until then, continue to make our people proud."

Dr. Miriam Adelson is the publisher of Israel Hayom. The Adelson family owns the company that is the primary shareholder in Israel Hayom.

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Boteach, a rabbi, bestselling author, TV host, and public speaker, is known for his efforts to bring Jews closer to their heritage. He also heads The World Values Network, an organization that promotes universal Jewish values.

This week he has been accompanying a group of participants on a 10-day tour organized by Birthright Israel (Taglit), an organization dedicated to bringing young Jews on short visits to Israel.

"Birthright brings more young people [to Israel] than any other Jewish organization in the world. The [pro-Israel US lobby] AIPAC reaches many people who are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. Chabad reaches people all over the world, but young people [are a hard demographic to reach]," Boteach told Israel Hayom this week as he toured Israel with the group.

"[They] come to Israel and they have no connection to Israel whatsoever, many don't even have any connection to Judaism. So I think it is very important to me, as a rabbi, as a Jew, and especially as someone who loves Israel, to be connected to this program. To be with young people, to experience Israel with them, to see Israel with them, it is the right thing to do."

Boteach, who spoke to Israel Hayom as the group of some 40 participants traveled to their next destination Israel on a bus, "About 99% of them came to see how they interact with Israel, how they connect to Israel, how they absorb Israel. It's a very inspirational thing; it's an uplifting thing; it's a spiritual thing. Most of us who love Israel – and who either live here or who have visited many times, sometimes we think it's magic because we are used to it, but to see people experience it for the first time – it is an amazing thing."

Boteach said that what motivated him in coming to Israel on this trip was his hope that he would be "able to offer something in terms of Judaism, in terms of my love for Israel, in terms of defending and protecting and standing by Israel."

He added that "on top of that, I really wanted to come on Birthright because it is under attack; you have people who are infiltrating Birthright groups, they're encouraging young people to lie and to get on the trips so fraudulently, and there's a lot of fraudulent stuff going on."

Boteach was referring to efforts by left-wing organizations to undermine the Birthright Israel program because of the way it presents the Arab-Israeli conflict to participants.

"I have no issue with political differences; I have no issue with political disagreements, that's the beauty of democracy. I have an issue with [one of the organizations critical of Birthright], which is encouraging people to lie that they want to go on a Birthright trip when really they want to go to disrupt the trip," Boteach said.

"They want to go to ruin the trip, so how is that acceptable? [Nowadays], I'm involved in communications and media, so when I heard last year what was happening with Birthright, I really wanted to show my support and to participate. [The attendees] are not fans of President Donald Trump, and they may not be fans of the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu either, that's about 70%. About 30% support Trump, and love Netanyahu."

The Adelson family, which has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Birthright Israel, owns the company that is the primary ‎shareholder in Israel Hayom.‎

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They had applied to the Birthright Israel Excel program for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to intern at Israeli offices of top global companies, such as Facebook, Visa, Microsoft, Ernst & Young (EY) and Barclay's.

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And certainly, when it comes to skill-building and contact-forging, and to strengthening tomorrow's business ties between Israel and North America, Excel delivers. After all, the development program has been mentoring Jewish college students and young adults in Israeli firms – nearly 800 of them to date – since 2010. And because the program has a field of 2,000 applicants to choose from, it accepts many of the brightest Jewish American college students who apply.

Livvy Gordon was among them. Over at the offices of venture-capital firm Greenfield Partners, the Georgetown University global business student pulls up a report which she had generated with data that was crucial to the team, to help them decide whether or not to invest in a particular company that had approached them for funding.

"It's been an amazing opportunity to get experience inside the Israeli economy," says Gordon. "I've learned so much during a really short time."

The value goes both ways, says Gordon's mentor Raz Mangel. "Livvy's contributed so much to our sourcing research on these companies. She's been able to pick colleagues' brains, and in a steep learning curve for a college kid got quickly up to speed, saving the rest of the team endless hours of research and compiling."

In addition to new skills, like other Excel fellows over the years, Gordon has also picked up the confidence needed to present her findings and analyses at the team's weekly meetings. (Of the 54, only 44 interned at Israeli businesses; the other 10 were involved in an accelerator for future entrepreneurs).

So, where exactly does the "so much more" enter into it?

The program was designed to create bonds that are as personal as they are professional. For starters, the mentors take a deep interest in their fellows. Gordon, for instance, was a guest at Mangel's wedding this summer.

What's more, each American student is paired with an Israeli peer, and they all share a living space in a Tel Aviv hostel, spending evenings and weekends together at lectures, parties, and tours.

"These are bonds that continue to grow over the years," says Excel executive director Idit Rubin. "Their connection to the Jewish homeland is so strong that when they get home, they'll be ambassadors able to tell everyone they meet about the Israel they know – that the Israel they see in the news isn't necessarily what Israel really is."

'Powerful connections that last'

Excel was born a decade ago when longtime Birthright funders Michael Steinhardt and Lynn Schusterman approached the Birthright team with an idea: We're already bringing thousands of young Jews each year to Israel for 10-day experiences, but what about future Jewish business leaders, their reasoning went. As tomorrow's leaders, they have so much to offer Israel, and it's a connection that needs to be built up, something that could take 10 weeks, not 10 days. Soon, Paul E. Singer of the Singer Foundation joined the group, and today, Rubin reports, Excel also receives support from the Birthright Foundation as well as from the State of Israel.

The idea intrigued Yoram Tietz, who as managing partner of EY, the largest accounting firm in Israel, is in a position to connect the fellows with top mentors from across Israel's business world. "I felt it was time for me to give back and, since time is the scarcest of all resources, I wanted to use mine strengthening the bonds between Israeli and American businesses well into the future. So I told Michael (Steinhardt) I'm in it for at least 20 years; it's going to take that long to see results."

Only it hasn't. Now nearly halfway there, "I never expected we'd flourish the way we have," says Tietz. "It's turned out to be a great blend of professional and personal development – the brightest students and the top companies. The result is powerful connections that last."

One unexpected bonus: Tietz was pleasantly surprised when two summers ago, his son Jonathan told him that he'd signed onto Excel as an Israeli participant. His experience was so positive that he has just joined the Excel board.

In many ways, the heart of the program is the bond forged between Americans and their Israeli peers, who often show their new American friends places in Israel that most tourists never see.

"My peer is like an Israeli version of me," says Andrew Carlins, a Duke University junior who spent the summer helping EY develop a searchable database of hundreds of Israeli startups. "All the work I did, it was only at the end that the value of it came together for me."

Still, he says, "It was satisfying and I learned a lot, but that was not the main point of Excel for me. Mostly, it was amazing getting to know Israelis and how they live, and becoming friends without in any way judging each other."

'A long-term investment'

Adam Pukier, also an EY fellow, was inspired to apply after his cousin had raved about his Excel experience in 2017. "He had the time of his life," says Pukier. "But when I heard how selective it is, I never expected to be accepted."

Pukier is pleased to report that he was wrong. As an engineering major at Toronto's Queens University, Pukier was fascinated by "the interfacing between large multinational companies and small cutting-edge Israeli startups, and how to help the big companies engage the Israeli technology the world needs so badly now."

Excel, he says, "gave me the opportunity to see how big corporations work and get my fingertips into the Israeli startup world. That, plus being able to spend a summer living so closely with Israelis, gives me a deeper, more personal experience of Israel, the dreams and aspirations of the kids here, a new connection to these people and this place."

That connection is why Birthright Israel's vice president of global marketing Noa Bauer calls Excel "a long-term investment."

"We recognized many years ago that when we look into the future, these young students are going to play important roles in their home countries. The fact that they return home as part of a long-distance community with Israelis they have so much in common with and with supportive mentors, is key to a strong future," says Bauer.

So what was the proof of the proverbial pudding? Bauer recently met a 2017 Excel fellow now graduating from college.

"I realize now I only want to work with companies that build Israel," he told her.

Pukier says his view of his future has also changed in these 10 weeks. "Now I know I don't want to jump right into a corporate job immediately," he says. "Having had a chance to work with people doing amazing things right out of school or the army has shown me that I don't have to settle for anything I'm not passionate about. I want to have an impact and add value, and there are a lot more opportunities out there to do that than I ever realized."

To keep the momentum strong, Excel hosts a summit for the 780 former fellows in the United States each fall and promotes networking, grant opportunities and partnerships of varying kinds (at least two marriages have already resulted from the program).

"Excel is a lifelong fellowship," says Rubin. "This summer was only the beginning for them."

"I was already active in Israel advocacy at school," says Gordon. "But now that I have friends here, I'm part of Israel in a new way."

Adds Carlins: "Now I can tell everyone what it's really like in Israel. It's nothing I could have ever learned from a book or in class."

And who knows what these young Jews will decide to do with their future?

"Any time Livvy wants to come back here and work for us," says Mangel, "we'd be happy to have her."

The Adelson family, which has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Taglit-Birthright Israel, owns the company that is the primary ‎shareholder in Israel Hayom.‎

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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