Fundraising efforts help
more local young adults
experience
Birthright Israel.
•••••• ■ mh.,no.... ■••■••■■•••■■ ••,
Mandell "Bill" Berman of
Franklin looks on as Dorothy
Gerson of Franklin, Birthright
Israel Foundation President
Robert Aronson and Mitchell
Mondry of Bloomfield Hills
chat at a fundraiser for the
Birthright Israel Foundation.
M
y most memorable moment
came while visiting Mt. Herzl
National Memorial in Jerusalem
when the Israelis shared stories of their
time spent serving their country and some
of the brothers and sisters they had lost.
"While embracing each other with tears
rolling down our cheeks, our trip leader,
Asaf, turned to us and said, `You are always
welcome here in Israel. This is your home.
At that moment, whether you were Israeli
or American, we were one people. I felt
complete, whole, with my heart and soul
filled."
That's how Amber Poiselli, 24, of Ferndale
defined her Birthright Israel experience last
winter before a group of 100 people at the
Bloomfield Hills home of Karen Davidson,
who hosted a fundraising reception for the
Birthright Israel Foundation last month.
Community philanthropists, Birthright
Israel trip alumni, parents, grandparents
and two Israel Defense Forces officers
were at the event, which raised $525,000
so more young adults from the Detroit
area will have the opportunity to go on a
Birthright Israel trip.
"There are few new, really exciting and
effective new ideas in any given genera-
tion, and Birthright is one of those ideas,"
Davidson said.
"For years, diaspora Jewry has searched
for the proverbial 'magic bullet' to ensure
the continuity of the Jewish people," said
Dr. Lynda Giles, Midwest Region co-chair
of Birthright Israel. "Recent analyses clear-
ly indicate that Birthright Israel has an
incredible and powerful long-term effect
on the behavior of the participants privi-
12
June 30 • 2011
leged to be a part of this experience
Because of the success of Detroit-area fun-
draising, as of December 2010, 2,350 young
Jewish adults from Metro Detroit have gone
on Birthright Israel trips. In addition, 3,784
students from local universities also have
gone. Nationally, more than half of all appli-
cants are turned away for lack of funding
capacity. For the summer trips now under
way, a record 40,000 young adults applied
from North America; only 15,000 were
accepted because of funding limitations.
More Funds, More Trips
"We need the support of this community
to continue to support this program —
not only for all the young adults whose
lives are changed by it, but for the com-
munity as an investment in its continuity
and in producing its next generation of
leaders?' said Robert Aronson, president
of the Birthright Israel Foundation.
The reception at the Davidson home
was one of more than 200 events celebrat-
ing the achievements of Birthright Israel
held in communities and synagogues
across North America during May. Since
its inception in 2000, Birthright Israel
has brought nearly 300,000 young adults
from 54 countries on the free 10-day trip
to Israel.
Birthright Israel Month also aimed
to raise awareness of the new goal of
increasing participant numbers — from
30,000 a year today to 51,000 annually by
2013, almost doubling the number young
adults going on the Taglit-Birthright
Israel trip. Reaching this new level of par-
ticipants would mean that one of every
Left: Dr. Lynda Giles, Midwest Region co-chair of Birthright Israel, with Karen
Davidson, who hosted a group of 100 people at the Davidson home for a fundraising
event for the Birthright Israel Founda tion.
Right: Amber Polselli in Israel during her Birthright Israel trip.
two young Jewish adults will be able to go
on a Birthright Israel trip. Significantly,
the new participant goal will enable the
tens of thousands of applicants currently
waitlisted the opportunity to go to Israel.
Speaking at the event at the Davidson
home were two IDF officers — Capt.
Mickey, a naval patrol boat commander,
and Capt. Marina, an engineer responsible
for the early warning system for rockets
aimed at Sderot and southern Israel. The
two officers are among the 50,000 young
Israelis, most of them in the IDF, who join
the Birthright trip in Israel. They spoke
of the profound impact the program has
on Israelis and how it better helped them
understand the larger Jewish world.
"After the trip, we see ourselves differ-
ently," said Marina. "It makes me feel my
role in the IDF is very important and it
motivated me to continue my service'
West Bloomfield resident Judi Schram's
son, Justin, and daughter, Alison, went on
Birthright Israel trips.
"We can't lose this next generation that
was born after the creation of Israel:' she
said. "Many of us here know the inde-
scribable impact that a trip to Israel has
had on most of us here. I feel that because
they went through Birthright Israel, the
trip's impact is exponentially multiplied,
in the case of our children, at a critical
time when they are forming their life
views and making their attachments?'
For more about Birthright Israel, visit www.
birthrightisrael.org . To help send more Detroit
young Jewish adults on Birthright, contact
Joey Selesny at (248) 408-8338 or by email
at joey.selesny@birthrightisraeLorg.