World
Identity Booster
Birthright program shows success in building Jewish bonds.
RACHEL POMERANCE
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
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B
irthright Israel, the free trip to
Israel for diaspora youth,
makes a profound impact on a
participant's Jewish identity, according
to a recent study.
Findings from the study, conducted
by independent researchers at Brandeis
University, were released Dec. 15 at a
conference in Herzliya, Israel. The full
report has yet to be
7vor, released.
"It changes Jewish
identity," Leonard Saxe,
co-author of the study
and director of the
Maurice and Marilyn
Cohen Center for
Steinhardt
Modern Jewish Studies,
said of Birthright.
Before going on Birthright, partici-
pants typically are less engaged with
Judaism and Israel than those who
participate in other Israel programs,
who often have strong Jewish back-
grounds.
That may not be surprising, since
Birthright is open only to those who
have never been on a peer trip to
Israel, a segment that is likely to
include youth less interested in Jewish
identity.
Afterward, however, Birthright par-
ticipants show levels of identification
similar to those who go on other pro-
grams, Saxe said. Birthright alumni
may not become more religiously
observant; but they are more likely to
take Jewish studies courses at college
and return to Israel on other pro-
grams, paving the way for increased
Jewish commitment.
The study comes as Birthright Israel
kicks off its sixth year amid ongoing
struggles for funding. The general con-
sensus in the Jewish community is one
of widespread support for Birthright
Israel, but funding constraints have
been cited as an impediment.
Begun in late 1999 as a five-year
pilot project to strengthen the identi-
ty of young Jews, the $210 million
program was to be funded evenly by
three partners: a group of 14 philan-
thropists led by Jewish Renaissance
Media (JRM) Chairman Michael H.
Steinhardt, the Israeli government
and world Jewish communities, pri-
marily the North American Jewish
federation system. JRM publishes the
Detroit Jewish News.
But the Palestinian intifada, which
began in late 2000, drained Israel's
resources and scared off some would-
be participants. In the end, more than
$150 million was invested in
Birthright its first five years, with the
lion's share — $71.6 million — com-
ing from philanthropists.
Israel contributed more than $35
million and world Jewish communi-
ties donated more than $44 million,
said Sandy Cardin, executive director
of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman
Family Foundation, one of the philan-
thropists involved. Many of the phi-
lanthropists, most notably Steinhardt,
have voiced outrage over the failure of
other funding partners to honor their
commitments.
But Cardin has faith: 'All the partners
in the program are committed to doing
their best to share the cost," he said.
Some 70,000 youth have taken part
in Birthright, and the program has
pumped $110 million into the Israeli
economy, according to Birthright
officials. In year six, Birthright is
receiving $10 million from the Israeli
government, $12 million from phi-
lanthropists and $10 million from the
federation system, half of which is
being provided by its overseas part-
ner, the Jewish Agency for Israel, said
Jeffrey Solomon, president of the •
Andrea and Charles Bronfman
Philanthropies, which contribute to
Birthright.
Funding is secure for the more than
15,000 young people expected to visit
Israel on Birthright in 2005, Solomon
said. The program is expected to con-
tinue indefinitely, he said, but enroll-
ment depends on funding — and
there's not enough space for everyone
who wants to go
"At a time when everybody is decry-
ing the sad reality of how many young
Jews are disaffected, to turn away
thousands who want to go to Israel,
to connect to Israel and to connect to
their Jewish selves is very unfortu-
nate," Solomon said. "As long as
there's one kid on a waiting list, the
status is not as good as it should be."
.
Solomon, who hadn't seen the
newest study, said the challenge
would be to communicate the
study's message to Birthright's fund-
ing partners.
Among the report's findings, 35
percent of participants and 39 per-
cent of non-participants — who
applied for the trip but didn't go for
one reason or another — said they
felt very connected to Israel before
Birthright. Several months after the
trip, 60 percent of participants said
they felt very connected to Israel.
Two to four years after their trip,
more than half of the participants
said they still felt very connected
to the Jewish state, and almost all
participants evaluated the trip posi-
tively.
"It's unlike anything seen in the
evaluation literature of educational
programs," Saxe told the Herzliya
conference.
Additionally, 85 percent of
Birthright alumni at college said
being Jewish was very important to
them, the same percentage reported
by alumni of other Israel programs,
who typically are more Jewishly iden-
tified to begin with.
In a Brandeis study three years ago,
there wasn't enough evidence to judge
behavioral changes. But now there is
such evidence, Saxe said, noting that
many student leaders of Hillel: the
Foundation for Jewish Life on
Campus are Birthright alumni. In
addition, he noted, many Birthright
alumni later return to Israel on study-
abroad or other programs.
"We know that many of these peo-
ple would not have been in these
programs were it not for Birthright,"
he said. The program "has signifi-
cant effects, and it has fairly large
effects."
For many young Jews, Jewishness
may rank low among the identities
they feel, Saxe said. But Birthright
"pushes it up on the list so that it
becomes much more important,
much more central," he said.
Still, it will take years to determine
the program's long-term impact: In
10 to 20 years, behaviors such as
marrying a Jew or raising children
Jewishly will offer more insight,
Saxe said.