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February 6, 2004/Shevat 14 5764, Vol. 56, No. 20
Connecting to Israel
Dozens of locals participate in Birthright
BETH OLSON
Staff Writer
Participants in the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center/Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix Birthright Israel trip, along with some participants from California, tie tefillin at the Kotel (Western Wall). Picture in the front row, from left, are Daniel Sherr, Barry Abelsohn, Sam Kamyans and Rotem Bar. Back row are Daniel Kanter, Joshua Starr, Adam Teitelbaum, Shanne Sastiel, Art Levitt and Evan Schneider.
Photo courtesy of Sara Pear
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Despite recent attention to the financial struggles of the Birthright Israel program, the program is working - at least if recent participants from the Valley are any indication of success.
The Birthright program, which sends young adults ages 18-26 on a free 10-day trip to Israel, was created to provide Jews from around the world the opportunity to visit and connect with Israel.
Nineteen young adults recently participated in a Birthright trip sponsored by the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix. Hillel Jewish Student Center at Arizona State University sent 19 young adults on a separate Hillel trip.
Upon their return, the participants in the VOSJCC/federation trip report that they have plans to return to Israel, whether it be for a visit or to make aliyah, says Sara Pear, adult services assistant and single's coordinator at the VOSJCC, who participated as the staff member for the trip.
Pear and Eitan Ben-Ami, director of the Israel Center at the federation, were the organizers of the joint trip. They recruited participants through mailings to former Hebrew High students, advertisements and distribution of flyers, and held several pre-trip informational meetings. Efforts at recruitment paid off, with 32 people registering, according to Ben-Ami. While some were unable to attend because they were ineligible, the rest were put on a waiting list. The high local demand has the VOSJCC and the federation aiming at having another trip this summer.
The local Birthright participants headed to Israel for Hanukkah, sharing a bus throughout the trip with a group from California. The trip called "Israel Experts," was a blend of educational programs, sightseeing and social events. The tour was staffed by a tour guide, an armed guard, an armed medic and a bus driver, along with Pear and a staff member from California.
An important element of the trip is the interaction with Israeli young people.
"We don't want them to see Israel through the window of a bus," says Ben-Ami. "We want them to meet Israelis and talk to them in their own language."
For David Levi, a 24-year-old Scottsdale resident, "the best part of the trip was being able to speak with Israelis my age and get their point of view on Israel and America and the conflict they're having right now in the world - instead of hearing it from CNN, hearing their voices," he recalls. "It's amazing how tough they are."
It was not only the connection with the Israelis, however, that made an impression on the participants. Pear recalls walking with a girl from Russia on the day the group visited the Kotel (Western Wall).
"We were walking back from the Kotel and she had tears in her eyes and I turned to her and asked if everything was OK. She said that it was the first time in her life she felt Jewish," Pear says. "I thought that was a beautiful thing."
The participants also made connections with their American counterparts. Levi is expecting a visit from some New York Birthright participants, and Sari Beliak, a 19-year-old Scottsdale resident, had a visit from Birthright participants from Tucson and Long Beach, Calif.
Beliak says prior to the trip, she didn't feel a connection with other young Jews her age.
"I think the interaction between Jewish people my age is really important because I didn't have that a month or two months ago. I think that's an important connection for me," she says.
Arielle Silverman, a 19-year-old Tempe resident who went on the Hillel Birthright trip this winter, agrees with Beliak.
"In high school, when I tried to get involved with Jewish youth groups, I didn't really get that sense of Jewish connection," Silverman explains. The Birthright trip "was the first time I had that sense of connection with other Jews who were in my age bracket."
Silverman's experience has changed how she feels about being Jewish.
"Because I connected with the other people in my community, I'm more interested in doing Jewish things. I'm seriously thinking about doing a study abroad in Israel or working at the Hadassah hospital."
Pear says she and Ben-Ami selected this particular trip because it was the most pluralistic. The participants came from homes with different levels of observance. Many of the young adults knew very little about Judaism and Israel, but the outcome was similar for everyone. Ideas on intermarriage changed for the group, with the participants saying at the end of the trip that "it's important to marry someone Jewish," according to Pear.
For many of the young adults, this was their first trip to Israel, but Pear says everyone plans to return "whether to study for a longer period of time or to make aliyah or to just visit with family."
The participants also report feeling a sense of connection to Israel at home.
"It definitely makes you proud of who you are, especially when you see what the people over there are fighting for, what they have to deal with every day," explains Evan Schneider, a 25-year-old resident of Phoenix. "It makes you feel a lot closer to Israel and want to support Israel."
Silverman says that her visit to Israel has changed how she'll vote.
"I'm definitely going to look at the candidates' views about Israel," she says.
Some young adults who showed interest in the trip but chose not to come were concerned about safety, according to Pear. Or more specifically, their parents were concerned with safety. However, the participants all report feeling safe and secure during the trip.
"It was an amazing trip and anybody who has an opportunity to go, must go," says Levi. "Any parent who won't let their child go for safety reasons is just blind because it's safe - they keep you safe."
Contact the writer at beth_olson@jewishaz.com.
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