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December 4, 1998/ 15 Kislev 5759, Vol. 51, No. 11
More Jews to Israel
JULIA GOLDMAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - Charles Bronfman unwrapped plans recently for "a gift from the Jewish people" that has given a major boost to those in the business of sending young Jews to Israel. The Birthright Israel initiative, announced during the UJA Federations of North America's General Assembly in Jerusalem, would create a $300 million fund to provide a first visit to Israel to every Jew aged 15 to 26.
"It's an opportunity for many Jews to find themselves, to identify with the State of Israel and to live meaningful Jewish lives," Bronfman said at a news conference announcing the project, which will be sponsored by a coalition of Jewish philanthropists, the Israeli government and local communities around the world.
The question for many Israel trip providers is whether the new campaign - spearheaded by Bronfman, a Seagram's executive, and Wall Street mogul Michael Steinhardt - will succeed in reaching new constituencies of young Jews who until now have opted out of the Israel experience in droves.
Of the total of 350,000 North American Jews in that age range, only about 3 percent go to Israel. And over the past decade, the numbers have remained fairly flat, according to Israel Experience, Inc., an umbrella service for Israel programs that will serve as the Birthright Israel's "franchise" in North America.
Promotional literature for Birthright Israel, printed on thick, parchment-colored paper, quotes Bronfman as saying, "Regardless of nationality, economic status or denomination, every Jewish youth will be eligible to participate in a trip that will change their lives. This is a gift from our generation to our children and grandchildren."
Currently that gift is estimated at about $1,500 per child, an amount that would cover round-trip airfare and what it now costs for a 10-day educational program in Israel.
Birthright Israel is by no means the first such opportunity offered to Jewish youth. Synagogues, youth movements, local federations including the one in Phoenix, and the United Jewish Appeal have for years offered scholarships to put an Israel trip within the grasp of many interested young Jews.
"There are more scholarships than there are takers," lamented Sam Fisher, international director of B'nai Brith Youth Organization, which offers a variety of Israel experience programs that average about 500 teenage participants each summer. That number has not increased significantly in recent years, despite the communal push to send more youth to Israel.
"People don't go not because they don't have the money," said Fisher.
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