32 | JUNE 2 • 2022 

B

irthright trips to Israel 
have picked back up 
again since the start of 
the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 “
After a long hiatus, we are 
excited and honored to bring 
back so many participants 
from North America on these 
important and exciting tours 
to Israel,
” said Birthright Israel 
CEO Gidi Mark.

About 2,000 Birthright Israel 
participants from 45 states and 
provinces in North America 
have made their way to Israel 
this past February and March. 
A few of those participants are 
from Metro Detroit. 
The JN caught up with Nicki 
Borovsky of Bloomfield Hills 
and Amanda Buchalter of 
Canton who both say they have 
been waiting to go to Israel 
for years and jumped at the 
opportunity as soon as it was 
available. 
“I’ve been trying to go on 
Birthright for three years now,
” 
Borovsky said. “The first time 
that I was supposed to go was 
May 2020. But because of 
COVID, that was obviously 
canceled. Then I was supposed 
to go this past December with 
my older sister. And a week 
before we left, they canceled the 
trips, and nobody was allowed 
into Israel.
”
In 2020, the COVID out-
break caused cancellations for 
thousands of young people reg-
istered to go. “They are doing 

everything they can to make 
sure that it’s safe, especially right 
now,
” Buchalter added. 
Birthright participants must 
be fully vaccinated. Birthright 
Israel continues to work closely 
with Israel’s Ministry of Health 
to ensure a comprehensive and 
dynamic COVID protocol, 
taking care of all participants’ 
needs while in Israel. With these 
rules in place, Borovsky said she 
felt more comfortable going on 
the trip. 
“Knowing that all the people 
I went with were vaccinated 
made it easier to be around 
people who were in the same 
situation as me,
” Borovsky said. 
Organizers say they are opti-
mistic about the future and look 
forward to the summer. 
“Our summer trips are filling 
up quickly, and we are excited 
and optimistic that we will now 
be able to accommodate the 
100,000 North American young 
adults who signed up for a trip 
over the last two years and 
couldn’t travel due to COVID,
” 
Gidi Mark said. 

Both Borovsky and Buchalter 
say they had a successful 
Birthright experience and 
would love to go back to Israel. 
“The biggest takeaway that I 
got from this trip was a sense of 
community. Both the American 
and Israeli participants in my 
group just meshed immedi-
ately. Bonding with people 
from so many different back-
grounds over this exploration of 
Judaism, an immersion into a 
place that is majority Jewish, is 
irreplaceable,
” Buchalter said. 

To find out if you’re eligible for a 

Birthright experience go to https://www.

birthrightisrael.com.

NEXT DOR

Birthright Trips Resume 
after COVID Hiatus

RACHEL SWEET ASSOCIATE EDITOR 

Views of the city of 
Jerusalem after touring 
Yad Vashem Holocaust 
Memorial Museum

An extremely 
content selfie of 
Amanda Buchalter 
on Masada

A 4:30 a.m. wake-up call 
was worth it for the stunning 
views on the top of Masada, 
according to Nicki Borovsky, 
right, with new friend Bella 
Sakolish of New York.

VOICE OF THE NEW
JEWISH GENERATION

