Shalom Taglit,
A few weeks ago I was told by a few people that according to the new rules, I'm eligible to go on Birthright. Only days before my 26th birthday the changes allow a new set of Jewish young adults to experience Israel in a very special way. And yet amidst all the text messages and conversations that followed I continued to ask "but am I really?" Because I'm still not sure, I can only hope.
In 2007 I applied for the winter Birthright trip through my undergraduate institution. I was completely honest on my application and a few days after first starting my application, my account was locked. A quick call to Birthright informed me that my participation on March of the Living a year and a half prior made me ineligible, a new rule they had just implemented for this coming series of trips but hadn't publicized. On March I had spent a week in Israel primarily focused on discussing how the Shoah had resulted in a homeland for the Jewish diaspora. We had just spent a week in Poland and at 18 years young I was overwhelmed and still reeling from the emotional journey. My first memories of Israel are tinged with memories of "Never Again".
In the years since learning that I could not go on Birthright, I watched my friends explore and experience Israel like I've never seen. They told me stories of climbing Masada at dawn and looking out over Syria from the Golan Heights. They told me about waking up in a Bedouin tent and spending the trip getting to know Israelis who had just completed their time in the army. They told me about riding camels and watching their new friends finally become a b'nai mitzvah.
I have been to Israel a few times in my life now since March of the Living, however each trip was geared toward a specific purpose, one which could have been served in any country. And so, since learning about the new rules, I've been thinking about what the purpose of Birthright truly is. It cannot simply be about a free trip to Israel, there is surely more to it. Yet it seems that Jewish young adults who have spent a significant amount of time in Israel prior to college and even Israeli dual-citizens can participate if they have not been on a trip that follows certain parameters. I don't know if the trips I've been on fall into those parameters but I do believe that the original and key purpose of Birthright is to create a particular connection with Israel, one that I do not believe I have.
Those experiences I mentioned earlier that my friends told me about, I have experienced none of them. I read articles occasionally that my friends post on social media about Israel but I analyze them the same way as articles about the political situation in the United States, with a certain amount of disillusionment. I continuously hear twice a year about this connection with Israel that is inherently tied with going on Birthright, a connection that I cannot relate to. As a Jewish young adult I feel more disconnected from Israel in part because I have not been able to join my peers in these conversations about a land that I'm told is my home.
Growing up in an interracial household, I constantly have to explain my Jewish identity. And while I am extremely proud of who I am and where I come from, it makes me wonder where I belong among my fellow Jews. Combined with having never had this experience of Birthright that so many others have had, I continuously struggle with my connection, or lack thereof, to Israel. Is it just another country where many of my friends visit/live or would it be my home should I choose for it to be?
Opening the eligibility requirements to more Jewish young adults provides a beautiful opportunity for many more to connect to Israel in a way that is unique to the Birthright experience. And I hope, humbly, that I might be among them so that I may finally view this country through a new pair of eyes.
Lehitra'ot,
Sarah
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