Birthright Prepares for 2,000

With 2,000 college students (more than 50 buses) registered to participate in Taglit-Birthright’s Mayanot program this summer – after a recruitment of a record-breaking 6,000 participants – Mayanot’s Birthright office has been working around the clock to get the planning process underway, for what they hope will be Mayanot’s most successful Birthright session to date.

This week, Mayanot dean Rabbi Shlomo Gestetner met with Minister for Public Diplomacy and the Diaspora, Yuli Edelstein, who sits on the steering committee for Taglit-Birthright, to discuss the upcoming season. The meeting agenda focused primarily on post-Birthright issues, and in particular, the potential for Birthright participants to be ambassadors for Israel on campus across North America.

“Mayanot Birthright is not only a wonderful experience for our participants, but can also impact Jewish life in the Diaspora. We hope that we are able to leverage the success of Birthright and create a situation whereby participants return home, become defenders of Israel on campus and contribute to Jewish life in their local communities,” said Rabbi Gestetner.

Taglit-Birthright Israel announced in February a sharp increase in eligible applicants for the program’s summer session, up 12 percent from the same session last year. Birthright Israel said nearly 39,000 Jewish young adults had qualified, up from 35,500 last year. With 15,000 summer spots available, Birthright Israel faces the prospect of leaving at least 24,000 applicants home.

Since its first flight in 1999, Taglit-Birthright Israel has taken over 230,000 Jewish young adults from all over the world to Israel on a free, educational, peer-group trip.

Mayanot Birthright is one of the leading providers of Taglit-Birthright programs. “Hundreds of Mayanot alumni choose to study at the Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies following the program,” explained Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov, Executive Director of Mayanot. “They return to North America inspired to make a difference within their local Jewish communities.”

For more information about Mayanot programs, see the Mayanot websites: www.mayanot.edu, www.mayanotisrael.com, or contact [email protected].