Birthright slots still available
Local participants feel safe, connected to Israel
BETH OLSON
Staff Writer
Even with the allure of free 10-day trips to Israel, local organizations are struggling to generate participants for spring and summer Birthright Israel trips.
And if "free" is not a strong enough selling point, Birthright also offers specialty trips that cater to different groups and interests. There are more than 50 trips in all, including those for young professionals, medical students, law students, people who are deaf and hard of hearing and trips that focus on photography, bicycling and archaeology, as well as religious trips for all affiliations.
Michelle Frankford, program coordinator at Hillel, says that Hillel's upcoming Birthright trip has only three registered participants. For the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix's spring trip beginning May 27, there are currently about five registered participants, says Eitan Ben-Ami, federation's shaliach.
While both Frankford and Ben-Ami are hopeful that they will obtain more participants for the trips, the deadlines are fast approaching.
Frankford is aware that the current situation in Israel is a factor in the decision of whether or not to participate. Frankford traveled to Israel on a Birthright trip in June 2000, when she was a student at Ohio State University, but she says she probably wouldn't have gone if that trip were to be held today.
"I think the experience I had on the trip was really the only way to experience Israel," she says.
The students who participated in the Hillel trip in December 2001 had a very different experience from the one Frankford had two years ago, she believes.
"The students I sent in December weren't allowed to go out. (Trip organizers) tried to bring Ben Yehuda Street to them, and they brought shops into the hotels," she says. "I got to go out and spend two hours on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem and go shopping and eat in the little cafˇs. I really got to experience the culture of Jerusalem."
Benjamin Dudley of Scottsdale, 20, went on the Hillel Birthright trip in December. He says that the trip organizers had events planned at the hotel until 10 p.m. each night in an effort to keep the students busy; however, Dudley and other participants still went out to nightclubs without authorization - and lost their $250 deposit in the process.
"I felt very safe," he says.
In February, Michael Fox of Chandler, 24, traveled on a Birthright trip called Bike Israel. His tour included four days of cycling and six days of "typical" sightseeing. Although he says he got numerous phone calls prior to the trip from friends and family discouraging him from going, he felt "excited and couldn't wait to get on the plane."
While in Israel, Fox says he never felt threatened. "The touring organization in Israel that ran our program ... did a fantastic job with security and making sure we all felt safe without being conscious of the situation all the time."
Lauren Smoller of Tempe, 19, participated in Hillel's December Birthright trip. She says she didn't have the same apprehension as some of the other participants because she used to live in South Korea.
"We had to go through air raid drills (in South Korea). The country's still technically at war," she explains. "I had to learn a lot of safety procedures when we were over there because I was the oldest (child) in my family."
Likewise, her family lacked some of the concern other participants' families showed.
"I'm a journalism major and I want to be a war correspondent. I was actually told by my parents that if I didn't go, I would have to change my major," she says.
Despite the fact that the recent trips to Israel have been modified for safety reasons, the local participants still felt the trips were life-changing experiences that strengthened their bond with Israel and Judaism.
Smoller says she was always involved in her synagogue and she taught Hebrew and religious school for two years, but she says her beliefs were reaffirmed by her trip.
"I had more of a sense of this is why we need a homeland - more of a sense of this is what we're fighting for, this is what we're defending," she says.
Dudley says he always felt an attachment to Israel, but it was strengthened during his trip. He's in the process of applying to Hebrew University in Jerusalem for the upcoming school year. He says he has also become more involved at Hillel since his return and is hoping to run for the position of Israel chairman on the Hillel board.
He is also insistent that American Jews need to be supportive of Israel.
"We are their last hope. ... American Jews need to take political action if they don't like what the administration is doing," he says.
Although Frankford traveled to Israel nearly two years ago, the lessons she learned then are still clear to her today.
"I learned that you can be Jewish and do Jewish things and not have to be the most spiritual person - that's how people in Israel live," she says. "A lot of them don't go to shul every Shabbos, and they don't pray at the Wall every day. I learned that that was OK. It gave me some validation for my Jewishness."
Details
- What: Birthright Israel informational meeting
- Where: Tri-City Jewish Community Center, 1965 E. Hermosa Drive, Tempe
- When: 4:30-6:30 p.m. Sunday, April 7
- Call: Eitan Ben-Ami, 602-274-1800, ext. 130
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